“Amberly, it’s on!” 

Mom shouted. 

“Coming mom!” 

I dropped my three chocolate chip cookies in a small transparent glass. I opened the fridge and grabbed the milk. Slowly, it poored in, making the cookies all soggie but looking delicious. 

“Amber, why is the fridge open?” 

My little brother, Spark, asked, stumbling in the kitchen.  

“I was only getting some milk.” 

“Why?”

“Sparky, why are you so cranky today?” 

“Because I hate the number eight and every time I have to do a worksheet in school, I’ll have to write an eight on my paper for a whole year!” 

“What about on the eight?” 

“That comes around once a month, but now I have to write it EVERY SINGLE DAY!” 

“What’s so bad about eight?” 

“Because if you turn an eight sideways, it looks like a an infinity sign, so if somebody gave you an sideways eight dollar bill, you’d be fooled!” 

“There is no eight dollar bill.”

“But there might be!”

I walked over to Jinx, who was scratching her claws on the cat post. She was orange with darker orange stripes and a white belly and chest. She purred as I stroke my hand down her back. I drank my milk and ate the cookies inside. 

“Come on, Amber!” 

Dad yelled. 

“You too, Sparky!” 

Mom added. I scooped up Jinx and me and Sparky walked to the couch. 

“The ball is going to drop soon!” 

Sparky jumped. Then, a news report came on. 

“We interrupt this program for breaking news.” 

The lady on TV started. 

“It seems a hurricane has formed about 78 yards away from time square. We advise everyone to take shelter.” 

Then, everything went black. The lights turned off. I snatched my phone and turned on it’s flashlight. 

“Is everybody okay?” 

Mom asked, looking around. 

“We’re all fine.” 

Sparky answered. I set my phone on the table and held Jinx tightly. Then, the house started to shake. We tried switching on and off the lights, but it was still dark. Not even the emergency power generator would work. 

“This is the worst New Years ever.” 

Sparky commented. 

“Don’t worry, soon the power will come back on and then we can watch the ball drop.” 

The house shook suddenly. Bits of the ceiling start to crumble down. 

“Quick, to the underground shelter!” 

Dad yelled. I quickly sprinted out as pieces of ceiling were falling. When we reached the shelter, I felt like something was missing. 

“We left Jinx in the house!” 

Before I could even climb in the shelter, I bolted back in. The floor was shaking even more. The windows shattered. I spotted Jinx, trapped under a sharp pile of rubble and dust. I snatched her the very second I noticed her. I bolted for the stairs, but there were holes in them because of chuncks on the ceiling tumbling down. Then, I heard cracking sounds. The floor under me was breaking! Ceiling was falling behind me. I ran for the couch and jumped up on it. The floor behind me cracked. Then, the cracked floor fell. Dust filled the whole room. A small bit of ceiling hit my head. Then, the couch shook. The couch fell though the floor! Then, though all the dirt, dust, and darkness, I saw an exit! I bolted towards it, breaking the door open. Then, I pulled the shelter open and rushed inside. I slammed the doors shut and slowly walked down the steps. 

“Amber!” 

Dad shouted, running to me. 

“Are you hurt?!” 

“I’m fine, Dad.” 

I shook the rubble off my head. It was a lot less shaky inside. Jinx’s legs were all cut and bruised. We sat on the ground, trying to comfort each other. Then, I gave my ear to the sounds outside. I heard birds chirping.

 I pushed open the dusty hatch to see what damage the storm has done. Our house was in shambles. It toppled over  onto our black metal gate, which was also destroyed. The rest of the family rushed towards the rubble, searching for valuables that survived. I sat down,  holding Jinx’s head against my chest. 

“Alright, we’ll have to drive to a hotel or something.” 

Mom said, slowly hopping in the car. She looked though her purse and checks her pockets. 

“I left the keys in the house!” 

She yelled, dashing to the rubble. 

“I found your keys, honey...”  

Dad slowly lifted up the head of the keys, along with the shattered golden part. Great! Now we’ll have to walk somewhere! 

“Hey, Aunt Cerili’s House is only a week away by foot!”  

Mom said, running off. 

“C’mon, we can’t stay here forever.” 

I trailed behind the rest of the family with a pounding headache. Then, it started to pour hard. The rain washed the pale out of my dress, and make Jinx’s wounds more clear. Her ear was slightly torn, and her legs were scratched deep. The rain washed out some dried up blood on her white fluffy stomach. No matter how hard the rain was, more and more blood kept pouring out of her leg. 

“Umm, mom?” 

I tugged her sleeve. 

“Jinx’s legs don’t look so good.” 

I told her as she bent over. 

“The animal hospital is only two days away, but for now, we’ll have to bandage that.”

She dug through her purse, only realising her phone was in there the whole time! She jerked it out and turned it on. She started to dial a number. 

“Sis, we need a ride to your home.” 

She said, holding the phone to her ear. After a minute, mom hung up and smiled. 

“Soon your Aunt will be here!” 

We all jumped up in joy as the rain eased. We found a small tree to wait under. I held Jinx tighter as the rain dropped down from the dark bare tree branches. Soon enough, a big orange car pulled up. 

“Hop in.” 

Aunt Cerili opened the door. We all climbed in and drove off. An hour later, we zoomed past the animal hospital. 

“Wait!” 

I shouted. Aunt C stopped the car and I hopped out and dashed to the hospital. 

“Help! My cat needs help!” 

I slammed the door open. A vet walked up to me and scooped Jinx out of my arms. 

“We’ll take care of this from here. Just fill out some passer work at the front desk.” 

He said before vanishing into a room. Dad ran in. 

“Where’s Jinx?” 

He asked. 

“A vet took her in a room.” 

I led dad to the front desk. I wandered to a small chair in the corner and waited. I remember the day we got Jinx. Mom was pregnant with Sparky and I was only three. We saw many animals. Heck, we almost got a husky puppy. But before I reached to pet the husky, Jinx caught my eye. Her elegant coat and adorable face make my heart melt in the oven of perfection. We just had to get her! But now, I may loose her. 

 A nurse walked up to me, with her heels tapping away on the floor. She held a small clip bored in her arms. 

“Are you thirteen year old Amberly Herman?” 

She asked me, turning the clipboard towards me. 

“Yes.” 

I nodded. 

“Well, your cat’s leg tissue was ripped badly, so we had no other choice but to amputate them.” 

I jumped out of my seat, shaking my head. 

“But, how will she walk?!” 

“We will give her a special wheelchair.” 

Then, missing her back legs, Jinx ran to me, with her wheels rolling. 

“Amberly?!” 

Mom ran in. I scooped up Jinx. 

“Amberly, your aunt is waiting.” 

We walked out, and Aunt Cerili was about to honk the horn. I climbed in the back seat, placing  Jinx in my lap. We started driving to her house. 

“What happened to Jinx?” 

Sparky pointed to her new wheels. 

“Oh, well,” 

Then, the car hit a suddend stop. Aunt Cerili’s house, it was all destroyed. The storm must of hit while we were away. Then, I jumped out of the car. I followed a faint sound of barking. It must be Aunt Cerili’s Pit Bull! She’s alive! Cupcake is alive! I finally found Cupcake. He lunged towards me and licked my face, wagging his tail like a furry whip. 

“Alright, Cupcake. I’m glad to see you too.”  

I patted his head as I walked back to the car. I checked back on Cupcake, and he was barking at some rubble. 

“Amber, you got to stop running out of the car like that.” 

Aunt Cerili’s hands slid to her knees.  

“Cupcake! Come here, boy!” 

Aunt Cerili smiled brightly as Cupcake dashed to her. Then, I peeked under the rubble. There was somebody there! 

“Guys come quick!” 

I shouted. 

“Call a rescue team!” 

Aunt Cerili pulled out her phone and started dialing. I took a closer peek under the rubble to see who it was. It was Uncle Kevin! I sat near the rubble. And soon enough, a rescue team arrived. I moved out of there path and over to mom. I couldn’t even look at Uncle Kevin’s motionless body.  They placed him in the ambulance on a stretcher. They then closed the door and zoomed away, with the sirens so bright and loud.