The storm was louder than ever, and Ben could feel the wind and the rain on his face, but at least things had stopped shaking. He waited just to make sure nothing else would rattle and thud down before opening his eyes and crawling out from below his computer desk. All of his favorite books and action figures had fallen off their shelves, and the window had broken into shiny pieces all over his bed and red voltorb-rug.
"Mom!" He cried out, then remembered she wasn't home yet. The rain was pouring in through the window, making his bed all wet, and he squinted at his curtains thrashing around in the rushing wind. His room was ruined, completely, and he started to cry, but then he heard Herdy yipping downstairs. Ben decided to go make sure he was alright.
He went over to his door, yelling "ow!" when he accidentally stepped on some glass, but the storm was scaring him so he kept going. He closed his door when he was out in the hallway, noticing how dark it was with all the lights off, then bent over and felt his foot to make sure it wasn't bleeding. It was, but Mom wasn't home and Herdy was still yipping downstairs. At least there wasn't any glass sticking in it.
The pictures had fallen off the walls from all the shaking, and the carpet was wet from the broken flower vase. Ben didn't know what to do about his foot, but he made sure he only walked on his toes as he went slowly down the staircase so it didn't get hurt more. There were spots of red where he stepped, and he hoped Dad wouldn't be mad at him.
Everything had fallen over downstairs. All the kitchen knives and jars had fallen and broken on the tiled floor, the little TV was on its side and was cracked like a spinarak web, and the tree branch outside was bashing against the window. Everything was dark from the storm, and the only lights were the sparks dripping from the living room ceiling onto the furniture and carpet.
"Mom!" Ben called out again, causing Herdy to yip louder. It sounded like he was stuck in Dad's office. Ben held back the tears and made his way all the way down the stairs, one by one, watching the branch smack against the window.
Ben held one of his little hands against the hallway wall to keep the weight off his foot, looking at the pictures that had fallen down. He had drawn a picture of his school and some wingulls - he had spent all day on it and Mom had told him what a good job he'd done, but now it was ripped and ruined.
Herdy was still yipping from around the corner, yip! yip! yip! yip!, so Ben tried not to think about it. Everything was so dark and broken, and his foot hurt, and he was bleeding, and his room was all messy. Where was Mom? He needed help! He shouldn't cry, though, he had to get to Herdy.
Ben made his way into Dad's office and saw how ruined it was. The fishtank had exploded water and glass and little rocks all over the floor, the two little corsola were on their backs, and Dad's magikarp was thumping around in the mess. He was going to be so mad when he got home!
Most of his books had fallen off the shelves, and they were all open and crumpled and wet from the fishtank. His lamp had fallen and broken, and the small office ornaments were on the ground.
Herdy was still yipping, yip! yip! yip! yip!, and was in the far corner of the room, trapped by the office chair and the big mirror that was all cracked. Ben slowly stepped onto the cold, wet carpet, watching out for glass, and kept a hand on the door. He made his way around Dad's big, heavy desk and kneeled in front of Herdy, who finally stopped yipping and started trying to push through the chair.
"Herdy, wait!" Ben said, moving around the chair and pushing the mirror away. He made sure it didn't fall over, keeping it leaned against the wall. Ben pulled the chair, making a book slide off and land on Herdy's backside, causing him yip loudly. "Oh sorry! Sorry Herdy, sorry!" Ben apologized, finally freeing the dog and holding him close. He was fine, though, just shaking from fright at the storm.
Ben tried to comfort him, getting into a sitting position and pulling him onto his lap, telling him shh and that that he was a good boy. Ben's foot wasn't bleeding as badly as he'd thought, though it still hurt a lot. Everything was such a mess! He wished he was still on the bus, or even at school with Danny and Amy. Where was Mom and Dad?
Suddenly, Herdy started yipping again, toward the doorway to the office that Dad's magikarp was flopping around in. Was it the storm?
"Shh," Ben told Herdy, but herdy only started yipping louder. "Quiet, Herdy, it's just the storm!" Ben said.
Then, Ben noticed that Herdy wasn't looking out into the hallway. He was looking at Dad's magikarp, who was thumping around heavily. Ben watched, suddenly noticing that it was white and all the red color was gone - oh no! Was it dying? No, it was still thumping around energetically, maybe even more so, slapping the broken glass and rocks. It looked like it was bigger, too, somehow slowly getting larger and longer. It started knocking into the cabinet that the fishtank had been on, smashing into it with its tail. What was going on? Was it evolving? Ben didn't think magikarp had an evolution.
It was starting to look angry, as weird as that was to say about a fish. Herdy was yipping, though, louder and louder, and Ben squeezed him tight and told him to be quiet. Maybe it just needed water, but Ben didn't want to get any closer with it smashing around. Every time its tail slammed the ground, it seemed to get bigger, and angrier, and darker, like its scales were turning black or blue.
Ben was nervous. He smelled smoke, and he wondered if something had started burning, and Dad's magikarp was angry and growing. It was blocking off the entire doorway now, and smashing so violently that Dad's desk was starting to scoot and the cabinet was splintering. He held Herdy closer, unsure what to do.
"Mom!" He called out, worried, forgetting that she wasn't home. The magikarp was getting bigger and longer, tail slamming between the back wall and Dad's desk, causing it to rock, and its face looked more angry than it'd ever been before. Ben's eyes widened in fright, noticing its wide mouth and the long, sharp, scary teeth that were growing, bigger than even the big kitchen knives. Herdy was yipping frantically, scrambling to get out of Ben's grip.
"Mom!" He pushed himself and Herdy further into the corner, away from the magikarp, his eyes wide with fright, wondering what was going on. Bright, orange light erupted somewhere down the hallway. Where was she? He was trapped! Herdy was freaking out! The magikarp slammed around, still getting bigger, looking so angry and scarye! It slammed its tail into the wall, sending up a big crack and causing the ceiling to sag a little. Ben shrieked. "Mom! Mom!"