Dust and Shades of Grey

It was late now. Well, not late, but, if you were four years old, it was very late. The sky made it seem like it was a lot later.
The weather in Seattle had decided not to break its habit, and now huge storm clouds were circling the city, great.

I didn’t mind the rain; it was calming, and refreshing to be out in. I didn’t mind thunderstorms either, but I wasn’t sure how my six month old, barely house trained puppy would react to the deafening rumbles and blinding lights.
While I sat there wondering what to do with my dog, the first blue flash lit up my room, followed by the sound of a thousand fat droplets of water pounding the glass of my window.
I counted. One...two…three…and then came the thunder. So the storm wasn’t that far away.
I ran to my window and looked up at the rapidly darkening clouds, smiling; it had been a long time since we’d had a storm.

I heard a whimper in the corner and looked at Nana, who was resting her head on her paws. I patted my leg and she ran over to me, pushing her already huge shoulder into my knee.

Another flash lit up the sky as I sat down on the cushioned bench under my window. Nana pulled herself onto it and curled up on top of the cushions. I absent mindedly patted her head as I moved my eyes around the street.
Everyone had run for cover to their cosy little houses.

Another bolt of lightning shattered the dark sky, reflecting in the water surrounding my house.
My house was built on a bit of land, almost like an island, that jutted out into the lake. It’s stupid, really, to live in a house surrounded by water in Seattle, but that’s just the way things went. It was a pretty little house, though.

I heard Chris knock something over in the next room and decided it was time to emerge from the depths of my room. Hopefully he wasn’t still annoyed with me. I doubt he was; Chris wasn’t one to hold a grudge.

I strode over to the door, Nana following at my heels, and opened the door.
Chris was sat on the couch, so I went to sit in the armchair to the left. Nana followed me and flopped down on top of my feet.

When Chris looked up, I smiled at him, expecting to get a smile back, but he kept his face straight, apart from a hint of anger.
“You can’t still be angry with me,” I gawked at him. He ignored me. “Oh, Chris, grow up.”
“I need to grow up?”
I gasped and put my hand to my heart. “It speaks.”
“I repeat: I need to grow up.”

Another rumble of thunder shook through Seattle.

“Yes. You can’t be mad at a mistake I made. It doesn’t even affect you!”
“It’ll affect me when you’re in a coma from an overdose on the drugs he gives you!”
My jaw tightened. He would never let the drugs thing go. I stood up and went back to my room. Five minutes later, I returned with a duffle bag full of clothes. Chris didn’t even turn around to see what I was doing until he heard me taking my shoes out of the closet.
“What’re you doing?” He asked curiously.
“Leaving.”
He shot up so fast I hardly saw him until he was in front of me.
“No you’re not.”
“Yes” - I pushed him aside - “I am.”

Nana whimpered from behind me, reminding me that I was leaving her. I took her black leash off of the peg by the door. Chris went to lock the door, but I took the key out. "C'mon Nana," I said. Her face seemed to light up and she ran towards me. I attached the leash to her collar and took hold of the handle.
I dropped the key on the floor but Chris didn’t try to stop me again, so I pulled the door open and ran out into the rain with Nana padding along beside me.