Just a little writing practice I thought of posting. Enjoy and Review! Thanks.

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Sofia Lawrence always firmly believed that Mother Nature was after her life. Why else would there be stray cats at the side of the alley she was passing through to get to the other side? It certainly wasn’t coincidence. She eyed the self-licking felines warily before cautiously taking a step forward. The animals didn’t pay the least attention to her, and she ventured to tiptoe through the alley. Only when she was halfway did the cats look up, instantly making her freeze in place. Their bright yellow eyes twinkled at her, making Sofia nervous, and she imagined them pouncing on her with their claws, ready to kill.

The cats did no such thing though, and continued to stare, which gave Sofia enough fear, and what she thought of as courage, to run away from them. One of the strays tilted its head after her.

Anyone who knew Sofia well enough would relate any story of her encounters with animals (with them as witnesses). Family members recalled the tale of the vicious gold fish pond at an eccentric uncle’s party. Classmates, close friends, and teachers recalled the trapped bat found in the classroom tangled in the hair of a certain, hysterical brunette. Any one who was present during Petting Hours at the zoo recalled the ridiculous goose chase- in which the goose was not being chased. More odd (and frightful) situations were enough to confirm Nature’s hate theory, and that was why Sofia resolved to avoid it by avoiding animals all together.

Normally, she would avoid walking at all costs; taking the bus or cycling; the latter being her preferable option. It was too bad that her little brother ran it through the neighbors’ fence the day before, and because she was visiting her friend Katherine, who lived some streets away in the same neighborhood, the bus was not an option either.

It was until she was sure that the alleyway was far behind did she decide to stop and catch her breath. Smoothing down her short, brown hair, and her flowing skirt, Sophia continued on her way, crossing two streets and taking a corner where she knew her friend’s house resided at the end of that street.

It was a quiet evening, and a soft breeze brushed by the bushes in the residents’ gardens, making Sofia fret at every rustle she heard. Soon enough, she caught a glimpse of Katherine sitting on the front steps of her house, waiting for her; as she was instructed by Sofia. Sofia waved to signal her safe arrival, and Katherine stood up, looking relieved.

“Did you wait long?” called Sofia. It felt wrong to disturb the silence, but she was impatient to dive into their girlish conversations. Katherine smiled as she walked up to the gate and swung it open for her friend. “Not really,” she replied.

Just as Sofia passed the house neighboring Katherine’s, a sharp, angry bark cut across the silence, paralyzing Sofia once again that night. For a moment, the silence returned once again, but to Sofia, it was a dreadful sort of silence.

“Sofi, c’mon!” Katherine beckoned her urgently. She seemed eager to usher her inside the house, but before Sofia could muster the ability to walk again, there was a loud crash from behind the house. A man started yelling angrily, then something fast, huge and brown bounded over the neighbor’s fence and landed right between her and Katherine.

As both woman and creature stared at each other, Sofia paled when she recognized the animal. It was a German Shepard, and memories of her younger years at the lake, and the monster that drove her in it came back to her.

Please, please let it walk away! She prayed fervently.

It was staring at her intently, its tongue sticking out, giving Sofia full view of the sharp teeth, and the drool that was forming at the mouth. It wants to eat me! She thought, her mind screaming for some action. It was ridiculous, when she thought about it later, the way they were both staring at each other, as if daring for the other to move, and oh how she wanted to.

Alarms and sirens of all sorts went off in her head, but she needed to be rational at times likes these. “Sofia,” Katherine’s careful voice broke into the silent fear in her mind, “remember, do not run away from the dog. It chases moving things, so you don’t want it to chase you, right?”

No, it was the last thing she wanted. That’s right! Don’t move, don’t move, don’t move…

The advice almost settled in her mind when there was another quick movement that came out of the house; a man (probably the yelling owner) came into view. At this, the dog triggered forward at high speed, right at her. All rationality escaped Sofia’s mind, and reflexes took over as she turned around and ran for her life, screaming shrilly into the silent night.

“Sofia! Come back here! Stop!” instructed Katherine desperately. The man was also yelling something, but all was drowned in Sofia’s breathless screams.

So far, her luck hadn’t deserted her completely, she managed to avoid dead-end alleys, and before she knew it, she stumbled into the street that would take her back to her home. She calculated her jump over the fence and the sprint right into the safety of her house. Yes, survival was possible.

Luck didn’t stick around for long when she heard the heavy panting closing in behind her. Her throat felt irritated and dry now, her lungs exhausted from the high pitched screaming, so she opted for wailing her fright into the air instead. That’s it! I’ll die here! I’m dead!

The low growl behind her only confirmed this. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for pain and blood. Drops of liquid sprayed all across her face, and before she had time to recoil in fear and disgust, a furry tail whipped across her face, sending an itching sensation from the corner of her eye to her smarting cheek. Then it was over.

And she was still running. The realization that she was painless and still on her feet encouraged her to crack an eye open, then both eyes widened in surprise. The dog was way ahead of her, not paying attention to Sofia running staggeringly behind him. Sofia gradually slowed down to a stop, panting heavily, but still eyeing the dog until it disappeared from her sight as it rounded another corner. Hard, fast paced footsteps came up behind her and zoomed past her, but not before patting her head lightly with a strangled “Good girl.”

Soon the owner, just like his pet, was out of sight.