A Loved One
A Short Story By
Jessica W. Schwab
1
Two weeks later, it happened again. It's not like there was anything I could do to prevent it. It was natural, just like it had always happened.
Just two weeks before, my life was in order. Everything was just the way it had always been. Everything was too perfect for anything unusual to happen. That was, until Jacob disappeared. It's not like I could have convinced him not to leave. His decisions were his decisions, not to be tampered with.
If I knew what was bothering him, even if I had the slightest clue, I would have helped him.
"Have you tried the neighbors?" dad slammed door shut behind him. His forehead was caked in cold sweat.
"Yes. I've tried everyone. No one has the slightest clue where he is," mom held the
ear piece to her ear.
"Who're you calling now?" dad sounded like he was about to give up.
"I'm calling 911. We don't have much of a choice anymore."
I could be heard from across the house as I was racing down the stairs. "Did you find him?"
"Dang it, does it look like we've found him?" dad rubbed his temples.
Thunder crackled in the midnight sky above us. Lightning flashed in every direction. The pat pat of rain crashing from the sky splattered amongst the windows and roof.
There was only one decision left to make: was Jacob alone, all by himself, in the rain? Had he escaped out of sheer terror of the storm? He was so young, so defenseless. There was nothing he could have done to protect himself from the pain which God had bestowed upon him.
Without a second thought, I sprang to my feet and darted for the front door. I grasped the doorknob just before a hand reached out and enclosed around my mouth.
"Where do you think you are going? It's too dangerous to be out in that storm alone," dad yanked me back.
"You can tell that to Jacob," I broke free of his grasp and sprang through the front door. I moved as fast as my unfully-developed legs could carry me.
2
"Jessica!!" dad called out into the storm. His outburst echoed through the world around us. But I didn't respond. I would much rather be reunited with my brother than respond to my dad's call.
The pain in my legs had long since ceased, and I was running freely through the storm. My sneakers slipped on the black pavement marked by the rain, but I didn't care. Scars were more noticeable when they were emotionally other than physically.
I only had one suspicion as to where my brother was. As crazy as it seemed, this was my only option. I had suspected that he was at the place I found him the last time he went missing. Under the shed where homeless dogs were advertized.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a young boy wrapped in a drenched blanket. His face was buried in his knees, but I could have recognized that hair cut from a mile away. Jacob!
I have forgotten where I was, but my legs seemed to know what they were doing, so I was trusting in them. I made my way to the shed when Jacob was. His face was buried in a ball of fur. I later recognized this to be a puppy. A Shih Tzu, to be a little more specific.
"Jacob," I knelt down beside him and wrapped my arms around him.
"Jessica . . . it's dead," his pale face was drenched in a combination of rain and tears.
"Oh, Jacob," I still hadn't let go of him. "He's the least of our worries. I'm just glad to know you're okay. Why did you leave like that?"
Jacob took a few deep breaths and swallow down gasps. "I . . . I wanted to check on the . . . puppies. I knew they . . . might die with no one to protect them."
I did have to admit, I felt sympathy toward the puppy. Dying in innocence was the worst way to die. Especially in the middle of nowhere in a rain storm.
"I was so afraid that you would be like this puppy," I removed my jacket and wrapped it around Jacob and the dead puppy. "Mom and dad are panicking. We have to go back home."
"Wait," he paused. "There's something I want to ask you, first. What if . . . I was this puppy?"
I couldn't stand the thought of this. Just the thought of Jacob being a dead puppy made me shiver. "Jacob, you know you're not."
"I know, but what if I was?"
3
"You're not. I'm just glad you weren't," I hugged him and dead puppy tightly.
Time was short. We didn't have much time before mom and dad became frantic and called the police. But they could wait a few short minutes.
"Jessica?"
The terror in Jacob's voice startled me. "Hmm?"
"I love you."
I couldn't hold back the tears. They came pouring out of my eyes. But Jacob probably couldn't tell I was crying because of the rain. "I love you too."
The velocity of the rain increased, but that wouldn't stop me from loving my brother. Despite outside conditions, I hugged them with all of my strength. I could hear Jacob bawling in my arms. I pressed the puppy against my cheek, the innocent puppy that died in the presence of my brother.
I sat there, hugging my brother and the puppy, straight in the direction of the pouring rain. For hours, we all sat there, with God resting his hands on the fragile shoulders of three angels.
The End
