Personal

“Coco! Come here boy!” I screamed softly so the rest of my family wouldn’t hear me. Tears

started forming in my eyes when I could see no signs of my dog. In the distance I heard the sound of

cracking leaves that had just fallen on the ground from the breeze. “Erika, whats wrong?” My older

sister said. I wiped my eyes and quickly cleared my throat. “I was opening the door to go outside

and Coco ran out before I could stop him.” There was an awkward silence but I could tell by the

look in her eyes that she was upset. We tried calling his name, but again there was no answer.

As we walked back into the house, the guilt became stronger. When I opened the door I smelt

a strong sent of oranges from the sparkling floors my mom had just cleaned. Usually I loved the

smell, but then It was making me sick. I glared into the other room and saw my mom and dad sitting

at the table. My parents knew there was something wrong. My eyes were beat red, I was shaking

and the look of guilt was on my face. “ What happened?” said my mom in a curious tone of voice.

When I opened my mouth to tell them what happened, nothing came out. It felt as if there was

something stuck in my throat and I had to gasp for air. When it finally came out they just stood there

in shock. My dads face turned the color of the roses that were on the table that he had gotten my mom

for her birthday.

They both ran out of the house and started screaming his name, but this time asking him if he

wanted a treat. My sister ran to go help, but I just stayed inside looking out of the door. They

walked a little up and down the street to see if he went into the neighbors yards. I ran to the phone

and called my neighbors to see if they have seen him. “Get in the car Erika, we are going to go look

for him,” my dad yelled. My mom and sister stayed at the house just incase Coco came home.

The roads were dark and covered with leaves, and the air was very moist. The car ride with

my dad was very uncomfortable. I felt like I had hurt my whole family and they would never forgive

me. We drove around for a while, but after a couple of hours we gave up for the night. I was

nervous to go back to the house, but I began to think that the rest of my family would be fine.

When we walked into the house