Fire, Black Dogs and Best friends BY Adrienne Pesito
Someone once told me that life is like a tapestry. People will weave and meet each other than meet again.
The moving truck left. Judy was gone. Me and Judy knew each other our entire life. I wanted to forget now that Judy was gone. I wanted to forget how me, and Judy saw each other every day. I wanted to start over. Not because I’m a bad friend. It would make me sadder to think about it.
I sighed. The snow danced in the air and landed in my hairs and my breath became little clouds. Without Katelyn I sat alone, walked home alone. Without Katelyn people talked behind my back and said I was the loneliest person on earth. Eve thought they said I was so lonely they never did anything to help it. As I walked towards my house a smell of smoke got stronger. When I finally got to my house, I saw it was up in flames. I took my phone out of my backpack then dialed my mom's number. When my mom finally picked up the phone, I yelled
“You’re joking right?’ said mom, trying to mean it but still sounded very worried.
“No, I'm not. I need to call 911. Go tell dad!”
Next, I dialed 911. It took the fire department 3 minutes to get to our new house. As I waited, I stared at the flames devouring my house and the sparks and ashes dancing in the hot and humid air. I was so surprised that such a big fire could ruin everything on a calm snowy day. The sound of sirens became louder and with a hose of water the fires died with a loud sizzle. While the fire was being put out, I saw a young black dog was being attacked by a snake. I was about to go and scream but the swift mother dog killed the snake. The mother dog made me think “Maybe I can help someone too.”
When my parents got there, the police asked dad, “why do you think your neighbors didn’t notice?
“We all know that a criminal did this. I don’t think it is a coincidence that there’s been 4 fires this week all set on fire undetected!” shouted dad with a cherry red face.
Mom whispered to me “Your dads right. There is a criminal!
As I picked up pieces of debris I thought “It’s so weird that the criminal decided to burn down MY house. Even weirder, Judy’s new house was also burnt down.” Mom set her hand on my shoulder and said, "go get your unburnt things we are going to a homeless shelter.” The walk to the shelter was 2 miles long. The miles felt like eternity. When we finally got to the shelter it was already sundown. The second I entered I knew the feeling of the people around me. Some were crying. When we came in only one person looked up at me. Judy. When I saw here my troubles were swept away and I practically flew across the room.
I sighed. The shelter was going to close. Everyone had to travel to a different shelter. This one was a three-day walk. Katelyn and I dragged our feet on the side walk.
“How much longer until we get to the closest rest stop?” I complained. “Probably a million millennia.” Katelyn said. When we finally got to the rest stop it was dark. The rest stop was dirty. Also damp and littered. Next to the rest stop there was a thick forest. “The border of Oregan to California!" I thought. Both families settled in under a small undercover area.
When I woke up the next morning all parents were already awake and looking very frantic. The air was very warm, but the parents didn't notice the weather or me. That’s weird that they didn't notice because it was a white Christmas and it wasn’t supposed to be warm. The only other thing out of the ordinary was Judy wasn't there. Then I realized what the parents were yammering about. “Judy’s gone missing.” Judy’s mom shouted
“Stop! You're not going to find Judy unless you stop panicking and look closer!” Katelyn shouted with a sharp tone. “there are foot prints in the mud that lead to the woods.”
“We should all listen to my daughter right now. Now she is the most sensible.” remarked my mother.
“Oh nose! I sleepwalked into the woods” I thought when I woke up on the soft bed of moss. I tried following my own footprints in the mud, but they were scattered like my thoughts. I marveled at the beauty of the forest, it looked like I was in a fairytale. I suddenly heard a loud rustling sound. I thought it could be a bear or maybe Katelyn. It was hard to think positive. Instead it was the beautiful black dog and her pup. She seemed young but wise. Her eyes were as dark as the moon. Her eyes seemed to say” Please, help me” Right now, I was the one who needed help. I used to sing when I got worried. So, I sang. I sang so much and so loud I started to cough. Katelyn told me that my cough was weird because my cough was quiet and gentle yet the rest of me was strong and outspoken.
I heard 4 repeated “coughs”. I knew the most thing that stands out about Judy was her cough. As I walked into the woods the cough got louder. While I was looking around the forest she bumped into Judy’s hard head.
“Ow!” said Judy’s loud rocky voice
“Who else could be in the woods” she muttered under her breath without looking up
Umm... Hi?” I said awkwardly. I know that Judy knows what my voice sounded like, it was soft and delicate.
“Huh? Oh Katelyn, what are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“The forest is the border of Oregan so most likely we are in California” I said completely ignoring Judy.
“ha-ha. Even when we’re out lost in the woods you can still be a nerd.”
I frowned “Ok, well my phone just told me the same person who burned down our houses is in the forest right now. It’s a statewide alert.”
“C’mon then. We should get out of here, both of us know how dangerous this guy is.” Said Judy who was already running ahead. The two of us raced, after all they were the fastest. When they got to the end of the forest. Instead of the trashed rest stop they were at a sunny road and saw a sign that said “WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA”
“UGH” I yelled as I looked up from my phone. “The same guy who burned down the houses is now in California and entered the same way!” I yelled in frustration. A few seconds later a guy dressed in black ran out of the woods with a big duffel bag filled with about 20 boxes of match. I guessed that he was probably in his late 20’s or early 30’s.
“Hey you. Stop it. Come back you criminal!”
“Don’t Hey you me. My life is none of your business.” The criminal said. He had a low gravelly voice.
“Excuse me! It is my business. You burnt down my house, my best friend's house and so many other innocent people.” I fiercely shouted.
“It’s not a big deal. Anyway, I’m just trying to have fun.”
“Yeah right, this totally isn’t a big deal and it’s totally fun.” I said sarcastically rolling her eyes
Still running, the criminal looked back and ended up crashing into a police car. Luckily for us there was a police officer nearby and took him to the police station for questioning.
Chapter five/conclusion Judy
“Congratulation's you two are heroes.” announced the town mayor in a proud voice. A sea of reporters crowded them in questions.
“We’re not really heroes. We only did what we needed to do.” I replied shaking my head. When we got back to our parents the mayor explained everything and said that he would help them get a new house and a new job! “One thing still isn't right. The black dog and her pup still need help. It’s not right we have everything while she has nothing. “I thought to myself. Now that we have a new house our family works at an adoption center. We adopted the black dog and her pup. We called her Luna. Luna is always there to make me feel better. Luna and I can communicate somehow. Even though I am a human and she is a dog she taught me that everyone is similar. My family are now a foster family. All of us know the pain of not having a home. Me and Judy are always sticking together at our new school and at home. People say we are knotted together tightly because we never leave each other's side. We always try to help at school and try to be kind to others. Me and Katelyn want to inspire people to save other things because some things don't last long, and we should be thankful for them just like Luna taught me. People say that me and Katelyn changed a lot after the fire. Maybe we did. If we did it doesn’t matter.
Thank you for reading this story!
