Lightning Fox Summer

Maya's phone buzzed in her pocket, another notification from the party she'd just ghosted.

She was running down the dark suburban street, her converse slapping the pavement, tears mixing with the sweat on her face. The party had been everything she dreaded - loud music, kids from school doing keg stands in the kitchen, Tyler looking right through her when she'd tried to say hi.

She'd worn her favorite orange sundress, the one she thought made her look confident and artsy, but she'd just felt like a little kid playing dress-up while everyone else looked effortlessly cool. Someone had spilled jungle juice on it within ten minutes of arrival, and she'd spent the rest of the night with her arms crossed over the stain.

Now she was walking fast, not even running anymore, just trying to put distance between herself and the sound of bass still thumping from two blocks away. Her iphone kept vibrating in her hand - texts from her best friend asking where she'd gone, probably. She didn't look.

The sky opened up and lightning cracked across the clouds, illuminating the street with this flash of white-blue that made everything look like a negative photograph. Thunder followed, shaking the ground beneath her feet.

And then she saw it.

A fox, standing on someone's front lawn, watching her with these bright, intelligent eyes. It had the most gorgeous russet-orange fur, almost the same shade as her ruined dress. For a second they just stared at each other - this terrified teenage girl in her stained sundress and this wild creature that belonged to the night.

The fox's tail twitched once, and then it turned and bounded away, moving with this effortless grace she'd never felt in her body. She watched until it disappeared between two houses, vanishing like it had never existed at all.

Maya stood there in the rain, finally looking at her phone. Her best friend had sent: "Tyler was asking about you! He wanted to know if you were okay. Where r u??"

Another text: "That dress looked amazing on you btw. You looked so confident when you walked in."

Maya wiped her face with the back of her hand. The rain was cold but it felt good, like it was washing away the version of herself that had been so afraid. She started walking back toward the party, not running, not rushing. Just moving forward. The fox had been wild and free and unapologetic, and she could be too.

Her phone buzzed again. She smiled and kept walking.