Chapter 1
"NO!"
I crumpled to the floor in a sobbing heap as the realization hit me. She was gone. Forever.
" Lucy!", I called out, laughing as she bounded over and licked my cheek." Fetch!" I exclaimed, throwing her favorite green ball as hard as I could. We were at the neighborhood dog park, but no one else was there, due to the hot summer weather. The sun was beating down on our backs."Time to go home!" I called, clipping Lucy's leash onto her collar as she sat next to me. We strolled back home, and I let her inside, laughing as she immediately collapsed on the cool wood floor.
"Ding dong!" I ran towards the door as fast as I could, almost slipping when my bare feet hit the carpet. Finally, I thought, it had arrived! Lucy barked, dashing to join me, her claws skidding on the floor. I knew it would leave scratches, but I was too excited to care. I opened the door wide, to haul in the large box containing the beanbag that would look perfect in my room. I turned to thank the amazon worker when I saw something that made my heart drop. Lucy, sprinting straight towards the open door!
I dropped the heavy box, forgetting everything else as I bolted to catch her, squinting as the bright sun blinded me. Faster, faster, I willed myself, ignoring the sharp pains in my bare feet from the edges of the jagged rocks slicing into them. Where are we, I wondered, where is she going?! I gasped as I realized that we were headed straight toward the main road! I had to catch her before anything bad happened.
I sprinted into the stream of oncoming traffic without hesitation, darting and dodging to avoid being hit. "LUCY", I screamed desperately, "COME BACK!" One second she was in front of me, and the next...
A single tear slipped out, betraying me, and then all my defenses crumbled. I couldn't hold it back any longer. I crumpled to the floor in a sobbing heap, not caring who saw me, or what happened next. There was nothing I could do now. She was gone. Forever.
The next few weeks were the hardest. I didn't see the face of the stranger that helped me to my feet. Nor the kind words written on the cards I kept getting. The days blurred together. I stopped going out, exercising, sleeping, and eating. There was just one thing on my mind. One scene, as if on loop. The crash. Lucy, lying still in a pool of her own blood. That terrible moment, when I realized that she was gone. It haunted me. When I was awake it was there. When I was asleep, it was there, in my dreams. That one moment that changed my life. And I couldn't help but blame myself.
Hindsight is a dangerous pit to fall into... because there is no climbing out.
