By: Benjamin He
Mincy looked out through the rain-soaked window. It hadn't stopped raining for the entire WEEK. It practically never rained like this in Gillette, Wyoming. Well, that’s funny considering it never rained here anyway. In the pouring rain, she could only see a few lights, most of them belonging to streetlamps, and a couple owned by cars. Almost no one had any business to do at this time of the day in this weather. Her phone suddenly let out a high-pitched ding! She looked over. One of her friends, Lexy, had sent her a text. Get over to my place. Now! Mincy set her head on a pillow and sighed. What did Lexy want with her now?
***
When Mincy got to Lexy’s apartment, Lexy was already outside, waiting for her, an umbrella held above her head. Mincy tightened her rain-battered raincoat around herself.
“What is it?” She asked.
Lexy ignored her question.
“C’mon,” she hissed, turning to walk down the street.
Mincy followed suit, unsure of what to expect. They walked into the forest, a shortcut that they used to take every day after elementary school. They trekked deeper, and deeper, away from the small path that they used to take and forged through the brambles. After a while, they reached the stream they once caught minnows in on the weekends.
“Oh gosh,” Mincy whispered.
The stream wasn’t a stream anymore. It had transformed from a tranquil flow of water into a thrashing, raging water monster. Lexy gestured to the rushing river.
“Now do you see the problem? It took, like, three days for this to happen!”
Mincy nodded solemnly.
“But also, we have a second problem,” Lexy said, sitting down.
Mincy gulped. What was it going to be now? Some sort of animal problem? A fallen tree? Some sort of twelve-year-old parent dilemma?
“I haven't had lunch yet.”
She pulled out two ham n’ cheese sandwiches. Mincy facepalmed. The latter had been a bit closer than she had anticipated. They sat down on the grass and ate the sandwiches like they always did. Once they finished, Lexy stood up.
“So, what’re we gonna do?”
Mincy looked up at her.
“What do you mean?” Lexy rubbed her temples.
“About the river! Duh!”
“I think I can help with that,” a voice croaked.
Both girls whipped around. A cat stepped out from beneath a bush. It wasn’t a cat from their town though, and it matched the description of that of Buttercup in the Hunger Games, just a lot worse off. Its fur was of flattened ginger, one of its hind paws was covered in angry, red slashes, and strangely enough, one of its eyes seemed to be swollen shut.
“Did it-” Mincy started.
“Was it-” Lexy began.
“Yes, I did.” the cat croaked again.
The ugly cat unsheathed its claws, which were long and yellow, and scratched itself. It flicked one of its ears, the one that wasn’t torn.
“The name’s Grokks,” the cat rumbled. “And I’ve smelled your food, which means I owe you a wish.”
Mincy must’ve had a puzzled expression because Grokks the cat started to explain again.
“You brought the sandwiches. I was nearby. I smelled it. Therefore, I owe you a wish.”
“How does that even-” Mincy started but was cut off when Lexy stepped on her foot.
“Yeah, can we have the river go down, so it doesn’t flood?”
“Yeah, sure,” said the cat, raising a paw.
“Wait!” cried another voice from the river.
This was coming from a bright orange fish. Good gravy, can all animals talk now? Mincy wondered as the fish continued.
“Fish have moved here, dangit! If you tune down the river, we’re all gonna suffocate!”
Mincy looked from the fish to the cat, unsure of what to do.
“Well, if we don’t ‘tune down’ the river, there may as well be a flood!”
Mincy looked at them repeatedly, and, for the first time in her life, felt unsure who to trust.