• Thunder crashed as lightning split the sky over Jahn's head. Rain was coming, but not for a little while. The dark-haired boy looked up just in time to see a lightningbolt snake its way quickly across the clouds. He put his hands back in his pockets and continued walking through the city streets, hoping to get home before the rain poured down
    Jahn took a shortcut through an alleyway as usual to get home. He didn't worry about the rain anymore. He was almost home. Jahn turned a corner and stopped when he saw his house. It was a plain building, smaller than most houses in the area, but it was livable. In fact, Jahn and his family had been living in the same house for all 12 years of his life, and a little more. He wondered what it would be like to live in Amanda's family. Amanda, a girl of ten years, moved with her parents often, rarely staying in one place for more than a year. They were currently renting a part of Jahn's house for their own use until they found a more permanent residence within the city.
    "Amazing," Jahn muttered under his breath, "that anyone would be constantly on the move like that. . ." He let the thought trail off. He paused for another second before continuing his walk to the front door.
    Thunder crashed again, louder than Jahn had ever heard it before, and a flash of light blinded him for a few seconds. He cried out in pain as his ears rang. His face felt like it had been burned. And as his vision was restored, Jahn only saw the waving orange and yellow of flames.
    "MOM! DAD!" Jahn shouted in alarm. He opened the front door of his burning house and ran inside. He heard a scream and followed it to the next room over.
    At first, all Jahn saw was the sink from the upstairs bathroom laying on top of a table. But he looked closer and saw a frightened girl underneath the table. "Amanda!" Jahn ran to the table. "Are you okay?" He didn't wait to hear a response over the crackling of flames and crashing of falling debris. Instead, he pulled the girl out from under the table and dragged her to the front door. "Wait here," He told her.
    Jahn ran back inside only to see his parents collapsing with the stairs. He ran back outside before the entire house came down. The boy pulled Amanda to the sidewalk as the remainder of their house burned down to the ground.
    "Where's my mommy and daddy?" Amanda asked Jahn. He just looked at the smoldering remains of his house as the young girl cried. The fire brigade arrived, put out the remainder of the flames, and confirmed the death of Jahn and Amanda's parents. Jahn looked up to the clearing skies.
    The rain never came. . .