Free As I Breathe (One Breath at a Time: Book 2) by Leilani Bennett Page B

the last time I was so-called, out of control—I was sent to my room without dessert. Then it dawned on me—my mother had told me fake tears were cheap and temper-tantrums wouldn’t get me anywhere. Storm was right. I needed a different approach. Frankly, I didn’t know what to say.
    “ I’m sorry,” I said for starters, sniffling between my words and wrapped my arms around my mother’s waist.
    “ It’s okay, Brielle. We know that you’ve been through a lot,” my mother replied, smoothing down the back of my hair.
    “ Well...” I paused to think, and just in the nick of time Storm told me what to say. “Mommy, maybe the puppy is a hero.”
    “ Now look up at her with your little red teary, puppy dog eyes,” Storm said, directing my act of manipulation. I wondered if all angels were so deceitful when it came to helping their host.
    “ How is that?” My mother asked.
    Storm, what do I say now? I asked inwardly, knowing it was no use because he couldn’t hear my internal thoughts. You got me into this. I hope you know what you are doing?
    I stood there staring into space not knowing what to say to my parents and the police officers. I must have looked like an idiot or as if I’d had a sudden attack of stage fright. I was so worried Storm had left the conversation. How could he have left me hanging in a time of such dire straits? At least, that is what it felt like to me at the time.
    “Brielle, are you okay?” my mother inquired.
    I just stood there with my mouth gaped open. Suddenly, Storm chimed in, “ Sorry Doll, I had to check on something, but I’m back now.” I wanted to wring his neck for a minute. “Tell them this ...”
    He better have something good up his sleeve, I thought.
    I repeated exactly word for word what Storm said. “What if the puppy jumped into the bad man’s lap and made him crash?” I exclaimed with a good amount of emotion. “She’s a good puppy and doesn’t deserve to be sent to the pound.”
    Both of the police officers nodded, agreeing with me that this was very probable. Even though I knew the truth, I couldn’t tell them it was my angel who had caused the man’s misfortune.
    Bingo...Storm’s words worked like magic. My parents finally conceded and allowed me to keep the puppy. Storm was my hero, once again.
    From that day on, my parents encouraged me to be an attorney. They were so surprised that I had such great reasoning skills at such a young age. If only they knew.
    Nonetheless, thanks to Storm I had a new puppy. I named her...well actually my grandmother helped me choose her name. We called her “Good Little Karma,” but shortened her name to simply “Karma.” Her name was very apropos to how she became a new member of our family.
    Storm, Karma and I were like the Three Musketeers from that day forward. We shared so many happy times together. I really loved to have Storm around when I was a kid; he was my best friend. We would play Barbies together. I was Suntan Barbie, and he was the voice of Ken and Karma was their baby. I know that pretending Karma was our baby sounds strange, but I had a vivid imagination. Heck, if anyone aside from my grandmother had known I had a voice in my head they would’ve been convinced Storm was just a part of my imagination. Or thought that I was a bit “tetched,” as in having a screw loose. But, I knew differently. Storm was all too real.
    Prior to the kidnapping attempt, I was certain there was a bogeyman that lived under my bed. After the incident, I was sure of it. Not only was I worried about the bogeyman; it took months to realize the bad man in the car wasn’t coming back after me, either. Storm promised he’d keep me safe from things that went bump in the night. I knew he was just a hello away. He was my trusted security blanket when I would wake in the middle of the night.
    His sonorous yet gentle voice was very comforting to me. I felt secure knowing Storm was near, especially after he had saved me from the