Date:         Sun, 26 Jan 1997 21:38:38 -0800
Subject:      SUB: Valentine's Contest: "Levee Break": Short Story

There's still time to send your entry! Check out
http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/val97/val.html for details.

Please reserve all critiques on contest entries until after Valentine's
Day!
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"Levee Break"


Dedicated to all of the victims of the North American west coast floods.

        When I woke, there was water all around me, inching up little by little.
Soon the area I was lying on would be covered and I'd have no choice but to
swim. The house had always been safe before; why had it let me down now? Where
was my family?
        What had happened? In my mind, I went over what I could remember of
yesterday.
        There had been the rough-and-tumble match with Little Billy on the
living room floor; dinner --oh, I remembered dinner!-- with the whole family
gathered 'round the kitchen table; a quick snooze in front of the fireplace
while Daddy watched the news; then bedtime. And the dreams...  or were they?
        There were men, I remembered. Strange men in bright coats. The flashing
lights of police cars, and Daddy in the doorway saying "no, I won't leave him",
as he bundled up Billy and Ann. And the eerie silence that wasn't quiet at all.
The pounding of rain, and the whistling of wind, and the screech of branches
whipping against the house.
        More men. Demanding, harsh. And a small boat. The images were blurred,
faint... and I couldn't be sure if it had been a dream or reality. I remembered
men in uniforms forcing Daddy... forcing Daddy to get into the boat! Daddy had
gone off in the stranger's boat, and left me here! It wasn't a dream at all.
        I slumped to the floor in a heap. I'd been abandoned. I could see the
water creeping in under the door. Soon it would reach me.
        Didn't my family love me anymore? Didn't they want me around?
        I couldn't imagine Little Billy not wanting to play with me; or Sister
Ann no longer sharing her tearful outrages in secretive silence with me.

        I realized I could smell something... delicious. I got up and followed
the odor into the kitchen. When had this happened? On the kitchen table there
were heaping amounts of food laid out and one chair was pulled slightly away
from the table so I could --if I dared-- scramble to the tabletop. Should I? The
family was gone, so who would be here to scold me? It smelled so good, and my
stomach growled. It hadn't been that long since dinner, had it? I was starving!
        There was more than food on the top of the kitchen table. Blankets were
laid out, too, and a pillow, and Ann's teddy bear. There was fresh water. Around
me, boxes and boxes of stuff were sitting everywhere, up off the ground.
        I ate until I felt I would burst and settled down in the blankets for a
nap. My family wasn't gone for good; they wouldn't have put all these things out
for me if they didn't care.

        When I woke again it was dark, and the water was higher. Now it lapped
at the table legs; covered the floor thinly everywhere I looked. My family had
not yet returned.
        I made a quick inspection of the house. Outside, the rain continued, and
inside it was getting colder. I got my feet wet everywhere I went. The carpets
were soggy, and the water had a peculiar odor.
        There was nothing left to do but wait. I scrambled back up on the table,
with just a twinge of guilt, and checked on my supplies. There was still a half
a bag of dog food, and the large bowl with my name on it still held quite a bit
of water.
        I heaved a great sigh, turned around thrice, and plopped down in the
blankets again. If love would bring them back, they had no choice but to return.


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Michelle
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