Sandy’s Wake
“Casey!” Will cried alarmingly. Several meters behind the ten-year-old boy, Casey, was an exhilarated black-coated retriever. Casey whipped his head around and as soon as he saw the dog chasing towards him, he darted past Will and ran to the end of the hallway where he was required to make a left turn into the kitchen. The dog’s legs swiftly tried making the turn, causing a noise of scrambling paws on the hardwood floor. Will knew if he looked closer he would see white scratch marks on the floor. Seconds later Will heard a thump and then a roar of giggles coming from the kitchen. He jogged to the opening and saw Casey lying on the slick tile floor with Zeus, the dog, hovering on top of him, wagging his tale like a helicopter’s wings.
“Zeus!”
“Are you okay!?”
“You’re dog…” The friends cried with laughter. Hannah, Will’s mom, entered through the sliding doors that lead from the kitchen to the back porch.
“Boys? What happened?” She inquired.
“Oh… ugh… we were just fooling around with this guy.” Will said as he smothered Zeus in a hug.
“Okay, well it’s almost four o’clock. You guys should be getting your cleats and jerseys on.”
Simultaneously they answered, “Yes ma’am.”


Will and Casey, in their soccer uniforms, stepped off the porch and walked toward the red Honda Pilot parked next to the sidewalk. Will counted his steps as he strolled towards the vehicle. Will’s house, a three-storied white Victorian was located at the end of a street in Cape May, New Jersey. Surrounding his house were soaring maple trees. On their curly, brown branches were green and red buds. Some branches already had leaves blooming with veins, the shape of a hand’s skeleton, in the center. As the boys settled themselves in the car they glanced at each other and then giggled about the previous episode.
Will’s mom glanced in the review mirror as the car pulled away onto the street. She saw Casey looking out the window watching as the car drove past Will’s neighbor’s homes in the family filled neighborhood. He had bleach blonde hair falling just above his eyes. His skin was pale but covered with dozens of freckles the shade of beach sand. His eyes were almost identical to Will’s; light green with full eyelashes. Other than their personalities, their eyes were the only similar traits they shared. Will, like his mother, was tan with brunette, curly hair that brought out his freckles. He sat still in the car and noticing his mother’s eyes on him, he smiled pleasantly. Then as his gaze shifted out past the glass window where he noticed a blinding flash in the sky shaped like a grape vine. It reminded him of the time of when he met Casey; it was the soccer team’s first practice of the season but it started to storm so they all went out to the local pizza parlor.
Hannah saw it too, “Whoa! Did you boys see that?”
“Yeah! Was it lightning?” asked Will.
“Duh!! What else would it be!?” cried Casey.
“I was just asking!” Will playfully pushed Casey’s head against the chilled car window as they both noisily giggled.
Outside, they sky quickly transitioned to a darker shade of grey and water drops lightly fell from the tearful clouds.
From the purse on top of the passenger seat came a ding. Will threw himself toward the sound. “Is it Dad?!” He searched through the bag in pursuit to find the phone.
“Will! That’s not appropriate!”
“Sorry,” he mumbled. Hannah took the phone out of her bag.
“It’s from your coach.” She heard a sigh from the backseat and sensed Will’s disappointment. “Would you mind reading it to me?” She passed Will the phone.
“Umm, it says, ‘Hi everybody. Sorry for the late notice, but because of the obvious upcoming storm and the weather reports for the rest of the afternoon, we need to reschedule the game. I’ll let you know about the make-up game shortly.’”
“Alright, well Casey, would you like to stay for dinner?” asked Hannah.
“Yeah!” shouted Casey.
“Nice! Thanks mom!” Stunned she made the offer, Will held up his hand to receive a high five from Casey.
“Well then, home we go.” Hannah looked into her review mirrors, smiling, and made a U-turn. Seconds later was another strike of lightning.