The Wonderful Storm

Flash Fiction

The Wonderful Storm

“That wind is blowing hard! What did the weather say?” Jane asked.

“Wind all day, and intermittent snow, depending on where you are…” John answered.

“Pftt! as here… we always get the ‘maybe’ snow…”

“Thankfully it’s Saturday, we don’t have to go out in it. The storm will end by tonight. Tomorrow, will be clear and warmer, perfect for shoveling.”

“Did you hear that?” Jane said.

“Yes, it was on the weather station…”

“No, not that… I just heard a weird little noise.”

“Like something is falling down because of the wind?”

“No. A smaller noise, listen.”

They both stopped moving, listening intently, finally John said, “I just heard it. There’s something out there. On the porch it sounds like. Maybe a racoon?”

“Let’s be really quiet and see if we can see it through the window…”

They both tiptoed over to the back window. They couldn’t see anything, but the noise came again.

“Whatever it is, it’s too close to the house to see. Let’s see if we can open the door, quietly, before we scare it away…”

They tip toed over, opening the door as softly as they could. Suddenly the noise came again, but they still couldn’t see it. Not wanting to upset something that could bite, Jane grabbed some bread off the counter and slid it out. Then hearing noise that they hoped was it eating the bread, they moved out, just far enough to see it.

It was a puppy! It was small and brown, covered with leaves and little broken sticks, a puppy!

Jane forgot to be quiet, saying “A puppy!”

But the puppy ran over to her, as if he’d known her forever.

They never found his owner, so they named him Storm. And Storm lived with them for the next twenty-two years.