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The hedgehog was the one who broke the awkward silence.

"I've never seen you around before. Did you just move here?"

"Yeah," I answered, "Last week."

"Hm. I hope you like Deep Grass. Speaking of which, what's your name?"

"Kat." I surveyed the hedgehog. She was about the same height as me, and I was on the short side of the spectrum. The hedgehog wore a light green dress that complemented her light brown fur. On her feet was a pair of cute sandals that looked stylish and comfortable.

"That's a cute name. My name's Nikita. I would love to talk, but I have to get going. Bye!" Nikita walked off in the direction of the river.

I stood on the beach, not sure what to do next. I glanced over my shoulder, and seeing the sun had almost set, I decided it was time to start heading home.

My house was in a forest of pine trees. Thankfully it wasn't a very long walk from the beach to my house, because by the time I reached it, the sun had set and darkness was settling over Deep Grass.

I unlocked the door, and my cramped home welcomed me. I hadn't bought any furniture yet, except for the bed and phone in the attic, and the stove, sink, and refrigerator that came with the house.

"Ring! Ring! Ring!"

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused about why someone was calling me. "Only one way to find out," I told myself, charging upstairs to the attic that was my bedroom.

"Ring-"

"Hello?"

"Kat? How are you doing? You haven't called like you said you would!"

I recognized the voice instantly. It was the worried voice of my mom.

"I'm sorry mom," I apologized, "I haven't had much time to call."

That was a lie. I had had plenty of time to call my mom, but I didn't want to. I was afraid that if I heard her voice I would lose my will and start crying out of homesickness. That hadn't happened yet though. So far so good.

"Oh. What's kept my daughter busy?"

"Um…" I began, quickly thinking of something that I could say. "I've been busy exploring and making new friends."

"Oh, that's great!" My mom exclaimed. "Tell me about your new friends."

"I'd- I'd love to, but I'm busy now," I stuttered.

"Oh, really? What-"

"I have to go mom, I'll write you, bye." I slammed the phone back in its receiver, and thudded down on my bed.

I didn't mind lying. But lying to my mom wasn't my most favorite thing to do. In fact, it left a sour taste in my mouth.

After realizing I was done for the night, I decided to go to bed.

Forget about getting into more comfortable clothes, I thought to myself. I'll just sleep in what I'm wearing.

I could hear the wind whistling outside of my window. It ran its fingers through the pine needles, which caused me to shudder.

"Fine," I groaned, "There's no way I could go back to sleep, thanks to you." I muttered.

It was a little past seven a.m., and I could hear a storm brewing outside. I could already tell today was going to be rough.

I got out of my comfy, warm bed that was calling for me stay, and walked downstairs. I decided to get something to eat, so I opened up the refrigerator and looked inside. It was empty. Of course. I had eaten the rest of my food yesterday.

I glanced out the closest window, and I could see the pine trees fighting against the strong wind and the hard cold rain.

I weighed my options. I could go outside and get soaked, or stay in my cramped house and starve. Both were about the same, so I decided to be risky and get wet.

After digging through my suitcase for a few minutes to find a raincoat, I was ready to go.

I pulled open the old, creaky door. Instantly I got soaked as if I had jumped into a lake. My raincoat wasn't as invincible as I thought.

It was too late to go back inside unscarred, so I gritted my teeth and plunged forward through the forest, wind, and rain.

A few minutes later, I reached the edge of the forest. Little did I know how bad the storm really was.

As I took my first step out of the forest, I almost fell over. The wind was at least twice as strong as it was in the forest, and there was a curtain of rain so dense that I couldn't even see the river, and the river was only about ten yards away!

I stumbled forward, unable to see where I was going. Please don't let me fall in the river, please…

Ahead of me there was a break in the rain, and I could make out a house and the bridge that crossed the river.

I surged forward, trying to reach the bridge before it disappeared again.

"Whoa!" As soon as I stepped onto the wooden planks, coldness plunged through my shoe and grabbed my foot.

I took a step back, surprised. The river must be overflowing! Meaning… it covered the bridge!

I tested the wooden bridge, taking a step onto it again. I could barely hear it groan over the howling wind, but I figured it would be ok to cross.

I walked across the bridge; the river water swirling around my ankles, trying to persuade me to join it.

The moment after I stepped back onto solid land, I heard a loud crack. I twirled around to see what had happened, and I was shocked to find that one of the planks had broken and was swallowed up by the river!

"Close call," I mumbled to myself, continuing on my journey through the sheets of rain and gusts of wind.

Fifteen minutes late, I had no idea where I was.

The storm hadn't eased up, and I thought I was beginning to get frostbite. I couldn't feel my toes, and my fingers were becoming numb. My teeth chattered, and I desperately wanted to get out of the cold.

"Kat? Is that you?"

I raised my head and squinted. I could barely make out a figure. Was it one of my brothers?

"Kat!" The figure came closer and closer, and I could tell it wasn't human. It was Nikita, the hedgehog I had met the other day. She carried an umbrella, and wore a yellow rain coat that was buttoned up.

"Kat, come on, we have to get you inside." She grabbed my arm, and began hauling me away. I guess we're friends now, I thought to myself.