Yet another beautiful California day. The really good streak of weather was fascinating to the meteorologists who had not seen anything like it for a long time. True there was that one hellishly hot day but three weeks of sunshine and warm breezes had the experts scratching their heads and shrugging their shoulders.

But what the scientists with their fancy machinery and methods of predicting natures course didn’t know, Ashley knew very well. Calm before the storm.

Now she was walking Cujo around the block, humming a tune, with a stupid grin on her face. Black-beater, blue faded jeans with ripped up knees, anarchy belt, and her trusty black Chuck Taylor’s.

Why the sudden burst of energy? Spencer Carlin.

They had a date in 2 days… rather a set time and place at which they would meet over food to talk about who knows what. The conversation had been short but the prospect was exciting. She liked talking to Spencer, her intelligence and wit and just general good natured personality was refreshing if not a little unsettling. Plus there was the mystery of that buzzing feeling she kept getting when they came into contact with each other.

Cujo trotted along, head held high with his spiky collar while Ashley loosely held onto his chain leash. He looked so much more dangerous than he really was and it frightened mother’s enough to pick up their toddlers as they walked by as well as a cat to hiss and run away.

They rounded a corner, walking past Fairfax Highschool and ignoring the kids making comments on Cujo’s enormous size for a rottweiler. Ashley’s phone started to ring and her heart sped up in time with the beat of the ringtone, wondering if it was her again.

It wasn’t.

“Ashley? Ashley, are you there? How does this piece of shit work anyways?” Kyla yelled into the receiver.

She held the cell away from her ear before responding. “I can hear you Kyla calm yourself.”

“Oh, sorry. Mortal technology is confusing.”

“Yeah. Anyways, to what do I owe the pleasure and why on a cell phone?” She asked, lightly tugging the massive dog away from a spilled snow-cone. Another cat, an orange and white tabby bounded across the street and over a fence into someone’s front yard, meowing rather loudly the whole time. ‘Ugh, cats in heat.’