The Beast in the Rain is about a pig named Shane forced to relive a tragic point in his life when he has to venture out into a raging storm and confront his past.

Today’s story is the first of two parts of “The Beast in the Rain” by Sean Duroc Silva, originally featured in the anthology Different Worlds, Different Skins. He also had stories featured in the Coyotl Awards Anthology and Roar Volume 4. He was the founder of the Furry Writers’ Guild and currently lives in Texas with his partner and numerous puppies while focusing on his career in the utility industry.

Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.

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https://thevoice.dog/episode/the-beast-in-the-rain-by-sean-duroc-silva-part-1-of-2

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog. I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

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and Today’s story is the first of two parts of

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“The Beast in the Rain”

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by Sean Duroc Silva,

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originally featured in the anthology

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Different Worlds,

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Different Skins. He also had stories featured

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in the Coyotl Awards Anthology and Roar Volume 4.

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He was the founder of the Furry Writers’ Guild

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and currently lives in Texas with his partner and numerous puppies

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while focusing on his career in the utility industry.

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“The Beast in the Rain”

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by Sean Duroc Silva,

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Part 1 of 2 I placed my shaky cloven hand against the glass,

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watching the tiny streams of water trickle down the other side of the window like rolling teardrops.

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They reminded me of her;

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just like how everything else in this world had a strange way

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of resembling Becky in one way or another.

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Her smile, her laugh, or even the way her eyes sparkled when she woke up next to me in the morning.

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But the rain… there was something so different about it.

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Those tiny droplets of cascading water

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were the only noise that still managed to haunt me,

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with her muffled cries for help.

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And I knew why. It was because the water carried the sound of his voice too.

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The sound of the beast that swallowed her up

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and devoured her soul; and he did it

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on a night just like this one.

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That’s why it wasn’t going to stop raining. Not tonight anyway.

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Not with him out there.

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I could hear his claws dancing on the rooftop,

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filling the lobby with a low, rumbling growl that made the hairs stand up on my nape.

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Then a wicked burst of light filled the horizon,

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flashing momentarily before the beast

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let out an echoing roar

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that snaked its way to my drooping ears.

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He was hungry tonight,

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searching for another victim.

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That’s when I knew

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I’d have to go out there.

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Somewhere, in that vast, dark ocean of streets and roads,

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I was going to have to confront the monster, whether I wanted to or not.

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“Shane?” God, I hated that name.

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It felt so unnatural,

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so… painfully human. It reminded me just how different I was every time I heard it.

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I could smell Allison long before I heard her soft,

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feminine voice call for me.

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Her body actually had a pleasant scent,

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like a crisp blend of faint spices

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and a hint of vanilla that seemed to fill the entire room,

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even from the other end of the hall.

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I closed my eyes for a second,

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listening to the sharp clicks of her heels against the tile floor as I breathed heavily out of my snout

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and turned to meet her.

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She was gazing at me with that glowing smile, and those perfectly innocent little blue eyes of hers.

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No matter how much I hated to admit it,

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Allison sure was pretty-

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-for a human. “Are you okay?”

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she asked, taking a moment to look up at the clock on the wall before she shifted her attention back to me.

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“It’s nearly twenty after.

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Is Stephenson making you work late again?”

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I didn’t respond.

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As usual, I couldn’t find the words,

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and Allison took the opportunity to let her eyes wander.

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It wasn’t her fault,

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I suppose. They all did it.

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She carefully inspected my porcine body,

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looking it up and down like she was searching the shelves of a grocery store.

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It made me feel naked;

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and I couldn’t help glancing down just to make sure I was still fully clothed.

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This must have been the way my ancestors felt during the auction at the county fair,

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like a damn slab of meat.

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My spine tingled as her examination continued to draw out, and I couldn’t help but wonder,

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“What is she really looking at?

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Are you sizing up my lungs?

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My kidneys?” I realized that’s what we were engineered for to begin with, but Christ--the notion still made me cringe.

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But I guess I should’ve been thankful that

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human beings, in all their superior glory,

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were kind enough to allow ethics to come into play somewhere during the process.

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My knuckles popped

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as I tightened my fists,

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digging my hoofed fingers back into my palms.

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I wasn’t sure how successful I was at hiding the grimace, because

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what I really wanted to say was,

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“You treated our sentience like some sort of goddamned afterthought!”

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How… human of you.

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But not Allison though,

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she was different from the others.

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When she looked at me, her face never showed that fake looking human concern I’d grown so accustomed to.

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She was one of the good ones;

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and even if I had a hard time admitting it to myself,

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she didn’t deserve my bitterness.

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I just wish I knew how to control it better.

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“Shane? Earth to Shane, can you hear me?”

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Allison questioned jokingly

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as she waved her hand in front of my face.

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I glanced over her tiny frame,

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tracing those long strands of blonde hair and that light Caucasian skin till it disappeared into the elegant,

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navy blue suit she was wearing.

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Eventually my eyes traveled back up to hers,

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and I shook my head slightly, attempting to bring my mind back up to speed.

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I had to force myself not to grunt.

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That seemed to bother them. Well, most of them anyway. “No, I--I’m fine,”

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I muttered before glancing back at the wet windows.

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“It’s just… you know…”

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“Waiting for the storm to pass?”

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I nodded. She sounded concerned,

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and it made me want to respond, but the words just died in my mouth.

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I was never good with pleasantries.

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“You want a ride?”

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“No. I’ll be okay.”

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“You sure?” Again, I nodded.

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“I’ll see you tomorrow, Allison.”

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She smiled. “Just don’t stick around too late.

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They might think you like it here.”

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With that, she walked over to the door and opened it.

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The wind howled and screamed,

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echoing within the structure like the bellows of a wild animal trying to rip his way inside as Allison stood in the doorway with her umbrella in hand.

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It made me shudder, and the

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dark red hairs all over my body burned as they stood on end once more.

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The glass windows seemed to match my trepidation

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as I painstakingly watched Allison open her protective shield,

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preparing to rush over to her car.

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Then I heard the rain let out another wicked,

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thundering snarl that rumbled through the tenebrous sky toward us.

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It was as if the beast were trying to tell me he could smell the petite human getting closer,

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and it made me feel like my hooves were about to fold up and curl back inside of me.

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I knew something wasn’t right. I could feel it,

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like ice water flowing through my veins

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as I began to look at Allison

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a bit differently.

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Only it wasn’t Allison anymore-

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-it was Becky. I nearly gasped when I saw her porcine body standing there in the doorway,

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gazing back at me with those soft eyes and

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that pure, white Yorkshire skin.

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I almost called out her name, but Becky’s ethereal form soon faded from my mind,

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leaving Allison to solely take her place at the entrance of the building.

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I felt like I was starting to lose it,

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and I had to blink my eyes several times,

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hoping that it would get my head back on track.

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There wasn’t much time to think though.

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The beast had already made his intentions perfectly clear,

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and I knew something was going to happen tonight.

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But did that mean it was going to involve somebody else now; like this

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tiny, blonde female who was standing in front of me?

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There was only one way to find out.

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“Allison--wait.” She looked at me from the open door,

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her umbrella already outside and in harm's way.

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The fabric was being assaulted by the relentless drumming of water as I stepped closer.

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It gave me a nervous twinge I couldn’t hide.

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I wanted her to come back inside where it was safe,

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but I knew she wouldn’t understand.

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Nobody would. “You…

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you sure you don’t mind,”

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I said coyly as my throat started to tighten.

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The words felt like razor blades coming out,

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nearly causing me to choke;

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but Allison smiled

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like only she could do

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as she grabbed my cloven hand with those thin human digits of hers.

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They felt so tender,

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yet strangely inviting against my rough skin and coarse hair.

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No matter how hard I tried, the faintest hint of a smile

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managed to grace the edges of my mouth.

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It felt weird. I hadn’t smiled in a long time.

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“You ready?” Allison asked with a wink

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as her eyes met mine.

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It took a while, but I eventually nodded,

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and we headed out the door.

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I didn’t even try to get under the safety of her umbrella.

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I just ran to the car as fast as I could, and Allison didn’t have a problem keeping up with me.

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My hoofed feet cracked against the pavement,

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but every few steps,

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the snap of my hooves were silenced with a splash.

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It was almost as if the rain had decided to come down harder just for me,

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pounding on my stocky frame like a prisoner being beaten by his captors.

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I didn’t give it the satisfaction.

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I fought my way through the bombardment

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and entered the safety of her vehicle,

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slamming the door shut.

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Allison quickly closed her umbrella and did the same,

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dulling the noise outside

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as she sealed herself inside the car.

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I could have sworn I heard the beast roar as I glanced at the roof of her vehicle.

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The water continued to pelt the car,

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and it sounded like somebody was

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vigorously tapping their claws across the metal.

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I breathed another sigh of relief

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and leaned back in the seat, trying to give myself a moment’s peace from the cacophony outside.

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That’s when I heard Allison

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began to chuckle.

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I shifted to the driver’s side, where she was trying not to stare at me.

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I was probably burning holes through her with my eyes,

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because she forced herself to stop giggling

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as she settled into her seat. “Sorry,

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it’s just that…” Allison started to say as she tossed her umbrella in the back.

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I didn’t have to ask,

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“What?” I did it with a simple twitch of my floppy ears, and surprisingly,

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Allison seemed to understand.

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She reached across the car

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and flipped the visor down on my side, exposing the mirror behind it.

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I hesitated, but lifted my head ever so slightly to see my reflection.

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She started laughing again.

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I looked soggy. The hair all over my face and snout was dripping wet,

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and I felt like a soaker hose that was running full blast and perspiring all over the floorboard.

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I twitched my nose and wiped the water away from my snout

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as I let out a disgusted grunt.

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I didn’t say another word as I relaxed my body against the now slightly damp seat.

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It was time to get this over with,

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and Allison seemed to figure it out on her own.

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She put the key into the ignition,

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fired the car’s engine,

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and started driving

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deeper into the storm. >*<

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This was a mistake.

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I shouldn’t have got in the car with Allison,

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and it seemed like everything around us was trying to tell me that.

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The wipers sounded exhausted,

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straining to keep up with the thin layer of water that was blurring the window.

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I could barely see,

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and Allison didn’t seem to be faring much better as she leaned forward,

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her head hovering

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just over the steering wheel.

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The vehicles that sailed by us in the opposite lane

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looked like nothing more than vague shadows with glowing eyes

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as they streaked through the night,

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only to be consumed by the looming darkness that trailed behind us.

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I tried to ignore it all by narrowing my eyes and shifting my focus toward the dark,

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uninviting road. Yet all it did was help me avoid the blinding sheen of the oncoming headlights. “Ain’t

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this somethin’?”

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Allison chimed in

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as she made a quick glance at me.

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“I haven’t seen it rain like this in a long, long time.”

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I saw her look at me out of the corner of my eye,

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and I nearly answered with,

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“I have,” but I remained stoic,

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glaring out the car’s front window.

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“You don’t like to

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talk much… do you?”

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The ensuing pause

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seemed to draw out for hours, and I’m still not sure why,

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but I eventually gave in with a heavy,

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almost painful sounding,

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“No.” I thought it would discourage her, but it didn’t work.

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“Shane… is something wrong?

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Because you look

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really, really tense.”

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The exasperated grunt

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just seemed to be the natural response. I couldn’t hold it back.

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“Does it have something to do with the weather?”

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That made me stir,

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and my body finally started working in unison as I shifted to look at Allison.

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She was persistent;

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I’ll give her that much.

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“I just don’t like the rain, that’s all.

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It bothers me.” I could tell she was trying to pull together an appropriate response.

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Something sincere that wouldn’t sound offensive.

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She didn’t give herself enough time.

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“Is it an animal thing?”

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I nearly laughed, but it came out like a quiet,

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uncomfortable sounding squeal.

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“No… actually--it’s more of a human thing.”

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I noticed her grip the steering wheel a little tighter

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as an abrupt flood of rain started rattling against the roof of the car like a child wailing on a demonic bongo drum.

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It made my heart stumble.

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I sucked in a breath

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as my curly tail began to twitch inside my jeans,

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forcing me to shift in the seat.

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I needed something to concentrate on, something to take my mind away,

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and I couldn’t help looking back at the cars that were speeding toward us from the opposite direction.

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Then I saw it. A blurred message was glaring at us from the side of the road.

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I squinted, struggling to see the flashing mobile billboard

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that read, “Road Closed Ahead.

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Use Detour.” “It looks like we’re gonna have to take the long way around,” Allison said,

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attempting to sound upbeat with her positive tone of voice.

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I wasn’t nearly as calm.

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Don’t make me do this.

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Please God… don’t make us go down two-forty.

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I heard a rattling inside the car, and it took me a moment to realize

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it was my hoof clacking against the floorboard

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as if the carpet wasn’t even there.

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The nervous twinge slithered up my body, and the door handle let out a strained creak as I tightened my hand around it.

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I thought it was going to snap off as we came to the stop sign.

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The large, yellow arrow stared at me from the middle of the intersection,

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telling me exactly what I feared.

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It was pointing me

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back to her accident;

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to the place where the rain had sprung to life and swallowed my Becky’s soul.

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My ears flicked at the hammering clatter of the water,

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which was echoing inside the car

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and matching my quivering heartbeat.

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The beast knew I was close,

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and he called to me with another crack of thunder that blasted the sky.

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It made me jump in the seat, which startled Allison and

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momentarily paralyzed her.

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My lungs began to heave

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and I inhaled deeply,

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hoarding what air I could

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as if I were taking my last breath before plunging into the ocean.

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Thankfully, no one was behind us, because it seemed to take forever

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for Allison to finally step on the gas pedal

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so the car could creep onto route two-forty.

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For a moment, I thought my shakes would never subside.

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“Shane…” Allison muttered nervously,

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glancing at me from the sides of her eyes.

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Her voice was strained now. Fearful.

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And the last thing I needed was to have her frightened while she was driving the car.

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“I’m sorry about that,”

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I quickly answered as I took in a deep,

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soothing breath. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

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I could tell she wasn’t pleased with my response,

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so she dug deeper.

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“Di… did something happen to you, Shane?

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Something you’re not telling me?”

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Her tone was still apprehensive,

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and even though I didn’t want to speak,

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I knew I was going to have to.

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“Yeah. Something did happen.

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Something I’ve never told anyone.”

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“Well… yo--you can tell me. If you want to.”

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I managed a nod.

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Even with all the water pelting the outside of the vehicle, my mouth suddenly felt as dry as a desert;

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and it seemed as if the words were raking across my tongue on the way out.

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Everything started to hurt, but I still wanted to answer her.

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I needed to. “It actually happened here-

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-on this road. And it was raining just like it is now…

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when I lost her.” “Her?”

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I closed my eyes and nodded.

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“Her name was Becky.

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And she was my…” I couldn’t finish the thought, but it didn’t matter.

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I had already opened the door.

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The events of that night flashed in my mind like a ubiquitous burst of light,

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making my eyes sting.

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I tried to hide behind my eyelids, but it only made the images seem clearer.

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I saw myself standing there again

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as they pulled her vehicle out of the water

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and removed her lifeless husk from the car.

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And then there was the rain.

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Oh God, that rain.

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It just wouldn’t stop.

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He wouldn’t let it stop.

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I inhaled a ragged, painful sniffle

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in an attempt to stifle the pending sob.

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I hated it when that happened.

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Our instincts didn’t understand the need for tears,

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and when anthros started to cry, the brain naturally tried to fight off the confused animal instincts like an infection,

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causing a jagged ache

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to pierce through our brains.

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It made my snout twitch.

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I had to blink back the sadness,

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wiping away the stray tears with my shaky hand

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before I was finally able to continue talking.

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I was surprised how easy it came after that.

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I swallowed the lump in my throat,

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and the words just started

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pouring out. “She drowned.

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She lost control of her vehicle and it went into the canal.

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The one that runs along the road just up ahead.

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They’re not exactly sure what happened but they…

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they think maybe she was trying to avoid something.

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Like an animal or… I-

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-I don’t know what.

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But the police said that if…

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if it weren’t for the wet conditions that night,

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they think she might’ve…”

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I paused, my eyes dropping into my lap.

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“My God, I… I’m so sorry.”

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I straightened myself up in the seat,

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rolling my shoulders in a failed attempt to hide the pain.

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It never worked. “It’s fine, Allison. That happened nearly two years ago now… and

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I guess I… I need to learn to get over it.”

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“Shane--you don’t get over something like that.

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It’s no wonder you’re so tense. I’d be too.”

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“Yeah, well--it’s still no excuse to be scared of the rain.

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Not like it’s coming after me or anything.”

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After less than a mile, the pitch of the tires changed.

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We were crossing the bridge,

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and the beast knew it

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as he greeted me with a low, cackling grumble.

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My heart sank into my gut,

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and when the vehicle came in contact with solid pavement once again,

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I couldn’t help but glance to my right.

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Our headlights caught the reflectors on the newly installed guard rail,

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making it stand out like a makeshift grave stone.

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I could see the water running parallel with the road behind it,

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like a long, scaly dragon chasing after the car.

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I shivered in my seat

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and turned back to the thumping wipers, which still couldn’t keep up with the pouring rain.

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I wanted us to go faster.

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I wanted to get away from the beast while he was lying dormant,

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but a single red light glared at us in the distance,

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growing bigger as we approached.

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The wet brakes squealed as Allison

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stopped the vehicle at the T-shaped intersection.

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My teeth were chattering.

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The red hairs on my neck stood on end,

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and the spasm in my shoulders ripped at my muscles so violently,

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I couldn’t hold back the aching grunt.

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It felt as if Becky were attempting to reach out and claw me with her hoofed fingers,

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trying to escape from her watery prison

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which was no less than twenty feet away from the car.

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I couldn’t even bear to look at the water;

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for fear that it might lunge forward and grab me

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just like it did her.

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I peered through the wet front window,

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staring at the car that was waiting in the opposite lane across the intersection.

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It was difficult to tell in the heavy rain,

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but the driver looked like a young anthro feline,

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which made me relax just a little bit.

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I hadn’t seen many of them around.

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They were a newer creation,

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engineered toward the end of the organ harvesting fiasco,

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and mostly for cosmetic purposes.

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Swine weren’t exactly considered aesthetically appealing,

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and humans seemed much more inclined to buy a heart or a kidney from a more glamorous looking cat or canine anthro.

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I cringed at the thought,

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but at least it took my mind off the rain for a moment.

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I blinked my eyes several times, trying to see through the layer of water that blurred everything

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as if I had just woken up from a deep sleep.

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I knew it was just in my head,

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but God, that cat reminded me of Becky.

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Then again, everyone seemed to look like her on days like this.

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But why did it feel so different this time?

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And why did it feel

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like Becky was trying to tell me something?

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That’s when the light turned green.

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The feline across from us didn’t hesitate, but we did.

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I made sure of it.

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I reached over with my trembling hand and grabbed Allison’s arm.

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My legs were stiff;

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and my hoofed feet cramped up

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as I pressed them into the floorboard, like I was trying to reach for an invisible brake pedal on my side of the car.

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It delayed us for only a second,

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but that was all we needed.

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From our left, a blazing pair of headlights pierced through the darkness,

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illuminating the gold fur of the young feline as if she were caught in the rays of a giant spotlight.

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She was in the middle of the intersection,

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looking at the oncoming truck

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and watching its glaring beams

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grow brighter and bigger in her vision.

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It looked like she opened her mouth to scream, but it was already too late.

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There was nothing any of us could do to stop it.

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The massive vehicle sped through its red light

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and careened into the side of the cat’s vehicle,

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as if God were playing billiards with the two automobiles.

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They erupted upon impact,

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spraying wet shrapnel in all directions

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that pelted the window of Allison’s car even harder than the huge droplets of rain.

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The heavy truck barely even jumped as it drove the feline’s much smaller car through the intersection.

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Metal popped and crunched like agonizing screams as the two vehicles went sliding in front of ours,

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heading towards the canal.

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The truck finally came to rest,

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but the tires on the other vehicle squealed

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as it continued across the wet pavement

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and banged into the low guard rail.

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The momentum flipped the car onto its side,

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causing the barricade to buckle like a flimsy piece of caution tape

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as the vehicle rolled over the top of the metal guard rail.

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Then I watched as the cat’s vehicle flipped once

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down the embankment,

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partially crinkling like a soda can before it plunged into the water

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upside down. I quietly let out the word,

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“No,” but the events had already been set in motion.

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She was in his grasp now,

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and the beast could smell blood

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as he started coming to life.

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His wet fangs slapped and splashed against the vehicle,

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pulling it under as he attempted to swallow the car whole

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like a snake trying to ingest an egg.

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I was frozen in my seat,

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watching the carnage unfold

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until Allison finally grabbed my shoulder

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and jarred me from my fixed trance.

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By then, the car was almost completely submerged.

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I expected to wake up at any second.

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I figured this was all in my head and the beast would eventually just

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go away and everything would be fine.

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It had to be a bad dream;

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but as the rain continued to pour down from the clouds

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and time kept rolling by,

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I knew it wasn’t a nightmare.

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That feline was going to die,

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just like my Becky did.

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“Call 9-1-1,”

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I said to Allison before stepping out of the car.

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She hesitated for a moment,

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unsure of how to respond.

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I could smell the fear radiating off her body, just like mine was.

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“Shane--wait.” “Do it!

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Now!” She muttered something back to me,

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but the downpour silenced her with a deafening rumble

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as I started running toward the sunken car.

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I watched the canal bounce in my vision,

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growing more and more imposing with each step that drew

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me closer to the water.

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I think the rain could sense what I was doing,

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because it started pounding on my body as I bounded over Becky’s broken metal tombstone

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and ran within ten feet of the monster’s mouth.

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I breathed in deep,

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filling my lungs with life

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while I sucked in some of the water that was dripping off my snout.

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I told myself I would never go near the beast after the accident,

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but now I was actually going inside-

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-and I was doing so willingly.

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This was the first of two parts

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of “The Beast in the Rain”

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by Sean Duroc Silva,

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read for you by Khaki,

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your faithful fireside companion. Tune in

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next time to find out how the story ends

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when Shane is forced to confront his fear

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and try to make amends with the storm raging all around him.

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As always, you can find more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,

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or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.

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Thank you for listening

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to The Voice of Dog.