I padded lightly over the snow in the soft moonlight. The pines swayed above me gently in the wind. I walked silently until I came to the side of the lake, The reflection of the full moon large and golden in the water.

I'm sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Phantom and I am a loner. I am six years old, and I am a Newfoundland Retriever. I used to have a family, but that was three years ago. I don't think about them much anymore. They left me. They don't deserve me.

I used to have a great life. I lived with two big humans and one smaller human. Then one day they all piled into the car and left. Without me. They left without me. They didn't want me.

Two days later it began to rain. It rained lightly at first, but it soon became harder. Then there was the wind. The wind would knock me off my feet as I prowled around looking for food. The water rose. The drains weren't working. I fought my way through a foot of water just to get food to eat from a trash can. The water kept rising.

It rose above my knees, and I knew that it wouldn't stop. I started to leave my home. As I ran through the streets the water kept rising. It slowed my run to a fast walk. Within about half an hour, my paws could no longer reach the ground. I started swimming, fighting the currant desperately. I was getting extremely tired. I didn't know if I could swim for much longer. The current was to powerful.

Then, something amazing happened. My paws touched land. I was saved! I broke out of the water and ran through the rain into the shelter of the trees. As soon as I was on dry ground I laid down and went to sleep.