“Where is it?!”
Camilla’s feet pounded into the carpet of the stairs. Despite her tiny frame, she did a good job of shaking the floor as she walked.
“Camilla, what’s wrong?” Camilla’s mother came rushing out of the kitchen.
“My old teddy bear is gone!”
Before her mother could offer any kind of consolation, Camilla turned her rage to the middle of the living room. Mia and Jessica lazed over the overstuffed couch, staring at the television. Their viewing was interrupted by the enraged girl who marched in. Camilla stood between the two girls and the TV set.
“Which one of you took it?” Acid poured out of every word Camilla uttered.
Mia and Jessica stared at each other, not sure how to answer.
“We’re not sure what you’re talking about,” Mia offered.
“ Don’t you lie to me you...dirty...freeloader!”
“Woah!” Mia and Jessica both sunk back into the couch with fear as Camilla’s face grew redder.
“Cammy, calm down!” Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder. “ I’m sure you just misplaced your bear. There’s no reason to accuse anyone.”
Camilla shot a hurt look at her mother. Being stolen from was bad enough, not being believed only rubbed salt into the wound.
“Yeah, especially since neither of us have even been in the house much today. I mean I was off at soccer practice until the storm rolled in, and Jessie…” Mia suddenly looked less sure of what she was saying.
She turned to her little sister. The young girl stared at the ground and twiddled her fingers nervously.
“Jessica, what have you been up to today?” inquired Mia.
Jessica’s eyes darted around the room. Mia let out an exasperated groan.
“Come on Jessie! Please tell me you haven’t been sneaking into people’s rooms again.”
Jessica didn’t respond.
“Okay,” said Mia. “Where is it?”
With a defeated sigh, Jessica reached behind her. She pushed back one of the couch’s thick pillows to reveal the teddy bear behind it. Camilla inhaled sharply.
“Uh, don’t take it too personally,” Mia said to Camilla. “I mean, if I had a nickel for every time she’s tried to take my makeup, I would … ”
Camilla didn’t let Mia finish. She whipped her arm down and snatched the bear out of Jessica’s hands. Jessica whimpered.
“Give me that you little brat!”
The room became choked with a quiet pressure.
“It’s bad enough that everything else is being taken from me, you can’t even let me have this?”
“Camilla, that’s enough!” her mother snapped. “ You need to calm down.”
“Why!? Why do I need to calm down?” Camilla stomped her feet and flailed her arms.
“This is my home, and my room, and my stuff that’s being messed with! And I am not going to calm down!”
“Listen, it’s okay to be mad! It’s okay to be frustrated because lots of frustrating things are going on, but it is not okay to lash out at people like this! You need to realize that you are not the only one going through things right now.”
Camilla scrunched her face up and shut her eyes. She did her best to tune her mother out.
“At the very least, you need to learn to share.”
Camilla’s eyes shot open. Her anger and fear threatened to pour out in tears.
“Okay,” she murmured, completely stone faced. “Let’s share. We can split it.”
Camilla shoved her hand between the bear’s shoulder and neck. In one swift motion, she ripped the teddy bear’s head clean off, spilling its cotton insides across the floor.
She didn’t stop to hear her mother scold her. And she didn’t stop to hear Jessica cry. She turned and ran.
She ran into the kitchen and grabbed her sketchbook and her backpack. She flung what she could over her shoulders, and carried the rest. Camilla burst from the kitchen door and out into the storm. The sound of her mother calling out to her was drowned out by the thunder that roared from of the heavens.
The curtain of rain that fell from the sky whipped across Camilla’s face as she ran. If not the rain or sharp wind that cut across her face, then surely the tears she shed kept her from seeing where she was really going. The only solace she took was in the fact that she was getting further from the house. Away was the only direction she needed to know.
Unfortunately, the lack of visibility soon became a problem. Camilla ran right into the path of a car coming out of the rainy fog. The driver stopped just short of hitting her. She didn’t stop to hear the driver swear at her. She merely turned another direction and ran that way, still unsure of which way was which.
Her hoodie and shorts became soaked as she pressed on. She could feel the cold weather pressing into her hair, and her socks, and her sneakers. As the shivering set in, so did the uncertainty. Where could she go? She was too ashamed and angry to go home.
Grandpa, the thought shot into her head. If there was anyone who could somehow make this better it was him. She had to see him.
She kept going, trying to make out a familiar path to the hospital. The wind and rain kept picking up, as if to say “Go back”, but she ignored it. She looked out in front of her and saw traffic cones come into view. Camilla had found herself at the end of a small bridge. A dozen other small signs and barricades blocked the way; the bridge had been closed for construction. She looked past the warning signs to the other side. There, behind the rain, she spotted it. A bus stop. A way out.
There was no crossing the bridge itself. Going around it would take too long. Camilla looked down. Under the bridge was a large, muddy, ditch, untouched by the construction. It’s sloping, grassy sides slanted down into a small stream. The water was shallow. It was nothing Camilla couldn’t jump across, or worst case, wade through.
Don’t cross under any bridges. Her mother’s advice rung in her ears. Any other day she might have listened to it, but an air of defiance rose up in her. Ignoring her better senses, she made her way down into the ditch. Crawling, then kneeling, and occasionally sliding, she descended down the muddy incline, making a mess of herself the whole way. She fell to the bottom, and crossed the water to the other side. She dug her hands in the ground, and began the climb up.
Going up wasn’t nearly as forgiving as going down. Any kind of grip she found quickly melted away into wet, plant- filled, muck. She slid back down, constantly fighting against the loose ground that kept dropping her. After more fighting and climbing, the young girl nearly found herself at the top, but not for long. The ground completely gave up on her and she slid down fast and hard back into the ditch.
Thunder and lightning cracked above her. Camilla stood up and flung her backpack against the ground. It was like the whole earth was cracking up, laughing at her. She stamped on the rocks of the stream. She punched at the mushy, muddy, ground that had dumped her so suddenly. She screamed out into the sky, as the thunder did its best to scream above her. She cried, wailed even, as the storm did it’s worse.
She pulled up the miniscule bit of resolve she had left and positioned herself to climb again. And that’s when she heard it.
It was rumbling.
It was rolling.
It was roaring.
It was almost there. The ditch shook. She looked to the right of her. She looked and saw it.
A giant, raging, howling wall of water came speeding from the other edge of the trench.
She froze. There was no time to think, or react, or even pray. Camilla saw the water crossing impossible distances to reach her.
And then she saw nothing.
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