Make It Count | ✓

01 - sunrise

[ god bless the broken road ]
rascal flatts

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—one—

sunrise

I LIT UP my cigarette, staring up at the gray, tempestuous sky. It wept, cascading down countless of droplets on the ground. I must had been really hating my life, finding myself being jealous over a damn sky. It could cry a million bucket of tears and stop as if nothing happened.

Puffing a faint, white smoke from my lips, I squinted at the river in front of me. The waves were a rush of turmoil, swirling haphazardly, and I imagined myself drowning my worries away. If only; if only I could, I would at a moment's notice. But life didn't work that way. Life was a major bitch − far past cruel than kind.

I sighed, hoping the rain would go off soon. I planted my arm on the post that was supporting the cottage I'd been shading myself into. Sucking the last bit of nicotine I could from my smoke, I then tossed its butt off moments later.

"Bow wow!" a soft sound ricocheted within my earshot from a couple of meters off, and I looked at the side, knitting my eyebrows as I studied a small box. The hell I care about a damn dog. I shrugged, rolling down the sleeve of my denim jacket and closely watched my wrist watch. Quarter to four in the afternoon. The bastards were waiting for the king. I had yet to train football at the school field being the team's quarterback.

"Tsk," I clucked my tongue, annoyed. It was still raining heavily and it was obvious I couldn't go with the weather's state. My eyes mechanically looked down at the ground before cocking my eyebrow at the box. The dog must be very cold now.

There was that magnetic pull that was beckoning me to look at it. Sure, I had my fair share of jackassery, but I still had a heart.

"Whatever," I muttered, running towards it. And there, hugging itself, squeezing in the corner of the box laid a frail, quivering puppy. It had brown fur with big flappy ears. I had no clue what breed it was; I couldn't even remember some girls' name I slept with.

Hurried footfalls came behind me, soon realizing that I couldn't feel the rain pounding on me when I looked up. I didn't believe in instantaneous, sappy reactions, flying sparks, or love at first sight for that matter.

But when I turned to look at the owner of the umbrella, I nearly had a second thought for my breathing stopped, thanking the highest heavens for giving me a serendipity today. It was a girl; she had mid-length, brown hair that resembled the color of her eyes. But that was beside my point −

− she was so bad and damn beautiful.

"Hi!" Her lips quirked up into a smile; the prettiest smile I had ever seen so far. Fuck's sake, why was I acting like a loser right now, really? I mean, this was out of my character by a long shot. I could charm any girl I wanted, and this subject wasn't a moot point without the need to reciprocate their dreamlike schemes to put my player ways to bed and head on to a serious commitment. But − but this girl was, I don't know, different. "Thought I was the only one who noticed the dog."

"H−Hey," I cleared my throat, playing it cool. "Yeah. Just heard it crying or something."

"Aww," she cooed, crouching down to touch the dog. I watched her fluttering down her lashes as she rubbed the animal's body. "You, poor baby, c'mon," she said, glancing up, surprising me with how close our faces were. I wasn't, of all things, affecting her for she only looked past my head and towards the hut.