Alain’s dog lunged hard and Alain lost her grip. The dog, feeling free of its restraint, made an attempt to break the sound barrier.

Alain, a liberated drama student , pulled her character together and affected hysterics good enough to win an award. She chased the black furry bolt down the hill and, waiting at the bottom, a five lane gauntlet of shiny cars and traffic perfume.

My sister screamed for her to stop, but Alain was in full swing and going for gold. Go get her Lane! My sister screamed. I flexed my well trained track legs and shot off after her.

Halfway down the hill, there were drunk under-aged revelers testing their deck’s capacity. As Alain passed their field of vision, her dog entered the intersection and was met by a pretty nice hood ornament.

Alain dropped to the ground and keened in a thousand voices, and there I was, running up behind her. One of the inebriated females shouted at me to “Leave that poor girl alone!” Suddenly, five drunks jumped to conclusions, and a rail, and on me.