It was still raining the next afternoon, only it had spread to the rest of the town. People didn’t know what to think. It had fallen harder and harder as the day wore on, pounding down like hammers on the roofs of houses. But the strange thing was, you couldn’t exactly call it a storm because there was no lightning or thunder. There weren’t even any clouds in the sky, so people had no idea where the rain was coming from in the first place. By 2:00, it had gotten so bad, Mom confined the three siblings to the house. Veronica immediately stormed up to her room and slammed the door, Thomas shrugged and ran off to play with his toys, and Coral sunk deeper into her chair. She had stayed there since the morning, getting up only to eat lunch and use the bathroom. She felt guilty about the rain that she had caused at the park. What if it never stopped? What if it destroyed the town? She hadn’t tried to stop the rain yet, clinging to the hope that it would go away on it’s own, but mostly scared that she would get caught or somehow make it worse. She realized now that she should have gone out while she still could. Now she was confined to the house, and she would have to either sneak out or convince Mom to let her go out. Both options seemed equally futile. It’ll stop on it’s own, she tried to tell herself. Last time you tried to stop it, it didn’t work. Why would it work this time? Stricken with a new idea, Coral slowly rose from her chair, and made her way up the stairs to devise a plan. ************************************************************************** Coral turned into the hall, and opened the door with the flower painted sign with elegant lettering that read CORAL’S ROOM. She turned the knob and went in. Coral was met with the warm smell of Pepe’s Lavish Lavender Perfume. (That was the substance she sprayed in every nook and cranny of her bedroom. It was a scent to die for.) “What up, Goldie,” Coral said to her new fish, Golden Gertrude. “Glub, bubble, bubble,” she replied. Coral and Goldie often had these kinds of short conversations. There isn’t much else you can do with a goldfish, of course. “What up with you, glub.” Golden Gertrude said. “Not much - wait… you can speak English!” Coral yelped. “Uh... no?” “Oh yes you can, Goldie! I heard you nice and clear. Tell me how you did it. Say something else!” “Well,” Goldie said in a bubbly voice. “I don’t think I can speak English. No. So the real question is… how can you speak Fish?” Coral gasped. “You don’t mean that I’m talking in your language?” “Seems like it.” “How!?” Coral spluttered. “I don’t know, I’m just a fish!” Golden Gertrude blubbed and made a pouty face. “I’m easily offended, you know.” Coral sighed. “I’m sorry Goldie, it’s just a lot of information, and this isn’t what I came in here to do anyways!” “Well, what did you come up here to do then?” “Okay, I’ll tell you, now listen carefully.” Coral explained the details of her plan while Goldie floated and listened in her tank. “I want to come,” Goldie whined. Coral checked her watch. “It’s 4:00. Do you think there’s still enough time to take action before dinner?” “Uh, sure, maybe.” Goldie still looked like she wanted something. “I’m sorry, Goldie. I can’t bring you.” Goldie was subdued. “Fine, but can you do something and stop calling me Goldie, it’s a baby name.” Three minutes later, Coral was ready to go. She was dressed in a dark purple windbreaker, and had on her fancy black boots. Dark enough to hide in, but not too suspicious. Of course, it was very unlikely for someone to be outside in this weather if they didn’t have a good reason, so that made it easier to do what she needed. Coral walked downstairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. The only part of her plan she hadn’t yet worked out was how she was going to get outside without being noticed. She had considered lowering herself out her bedroom window by tying bed sheets together, but she had ruled that out because: A) she only had one bed sheet (it was on her bed), B) she couldn’t figure out what to tie it to, and C) since Coral was afraid of heights, the whole idea seemed pretty terrifying. She decided to sneak out the back door instead. She was tiptoeing through the kitchen when she heard loud smacking, chewing sounds. Thomas! From the sound of it, he was eating a peanut butter sandwich in the dining room. Why, oh why did he love peanut butter sandwiches so much? Since you had to go through the dining room to get to the back door, she couldn’t get past without being spotted. The only other option was the front door, which would be okay, except Mom was sitting right in front of it.
Coral ground her teeth. She was beginning to reconsider the bed sheet idea. Suddenly she heard footsteps from the dining room. Thomas was done eating! She opened the fridge, trying to look like she was just getting something to eat. “Hi Coral, whatcha doing?” asked Thomas. “Oh, just getting a snack,” she replied, hoping he believed her. Apparently he did. “Want a peanut butter sandwich? I made two.” “Uh, no.” “Suit yourself,” he said, and walked away. Coral waited until the sound of his footsteps had disappeared, then ran through the dining room, opened the door, and was smacked in the face by a wall of water. Coral was sent bouncing back off the wall and landed unceremoniously on her rear end. She was dizzy, and stayed in her sitting position for a moment longer. Then she decided to take control of the situation. She got up and carefully felt around the edges of the barrier to see if she could squeeze through to get outside. Although it was made of water, the barrier felt hard, definitely not something she could push through. After feeling the whole surface, Coral sighed and slid to the floor, resting her back on the water wall. It’s no use, she thought. Now nobody will be able to stop the storm, and Mom will be so mad about the door! Coral, who had never been a person with exceptional patience, was thoroughly frustrated and started to cry.
