Trixie's Storm

	The rain came down hard as the wind blew in every direction it could.  Tree's swayed back and forth, and the branches made a racket as the scraped up against one another.  It was certainly a good autumn storm blowing in.  Waves wore white caps as they misted onto the rocky shoreline, and not a soul was out.  Not a soul except Trixie.
	She was visually flustered as she was trying to set the wheel locks on her temporary wagon home.  She was parked in a dirt outcropping from the road that had already become a muddy mess.  The mist of the waves were blowing on her and she had mud smearings all over her.  Her hat drooped down into a dripping mess as she finally locked the last wheel, then scurried up running for the door.  She lost her footing and slipped as she fell on her side on the mud.  Soaked, she got up and opened the door to her wagon, trying to reach in to grab a towel without getting everything muddy and wet inside.
	Even as the rain pelted her, she tried to wipe away the excess mud from her side, and for the most part she was successful.  She then opened the door and entered her cozy wagon home.  She threw the muddy towel into a hamper and then looked for a dry towel to wipe away the rain from her dripping body.  There was none.  She looked over to her hamper and realized all her towels were dirty, and she just put the muddy towel on top of everything, so now everything was muddy!
	She rolled her eyes and sat down, wet, cold, shivering.
	“Better make some dinner.  Guess I'm gonna be here for the night.”  Trixie said to herself aloud.  She learned talking to herself out loud made it feel less lonesome on the open road.  It sort of felt like someone else was in the wagon with her, though there never was.
	Trixie was getting very cold as she tried to shake off some excess rain water.  She turned on her mini portable heater then looked through her cabinets for dinner.  Cereal.  Dinner would be cereal.
	After a peaceful dinner, the wagon heated up nicely.  Her portable heater had always been a useful tool to have.  Her wagon would get real cold in the winter months, and without it, she would have been a Trixie-pop far too many times.  Trixie smiled as she patted her portable heater.
	The power in her wagon flickered and the generator on the back sputtered then went to full power again.  She looked around, everything seemed okay, but one thing had changed.  A humming noise had stopped, what stopped?
	Trixie's eyes widened as she quickly looked down to see her portable heater had stopped.
	“Oh no!”
	She unplugged her heater and plugged it back in again.  Nothing.  She repeated the process.  Nothing.  She tried it a dozen more times, nothing.  In a bit of a tizzy, Trixie shook the small device a few times and plugged it back in, still nothing.  Worried she looked at the back to see if there were batteries or something she could do, but there was nothing.  Her portable heater was fried.
	She frowned and held it lovingly close to her chest as the rain crashed on the roof above her.  The warmth was quickly fading from the wagon as the cool marine air seeped into the cracked of the wooden structure.  She was still somewhat damp from the rain too, and she new time was running out for warmth.
	The darkness of night was consuming the already stormy gray skies as Trixie pulled out a road map.  She opened it up and traced her hoof to her exact location.  It appeared she was a good 10 miles still from the nearest town, and she didn't want to have to walk to town in this dreadful storm.
	“I guess I'm gonna have to stay in here for the night.”
	As Trixie said that, a chill went up her spine and tingle to the edge of her nose.  Her nostrils flared as she quivered and quickly blew a rush of air out her nostrils.  It was a weird reaction, but Trixie just lived with it.  She looked at the clock, 7:40pm.  She pulled the blind down on her single window and turned off the light, grabbed her portable heater friend, and climbed into her bed.  She pulled the blanket up to her chin, hoping it's warmth would be enough, but she new her hooves would be cold.
	With her eyes closed, Trixie laid there.  Minutes turned to more minutes.  More minutes turned to a half an hour.  She opened her eyes.  The wind was howling and the rain sounded like buckets being poured over her.  It came in waves, someones sound really loud and ferocious, then calming down to a heavy patter.  The sounds of the sea was a roaring crash that never seemed to calm, and the tree's sounded like bowling pins being banged up against each other.  Trixie laid there, with her eyes open staring at the ceiling for a few minutes.  She listened to it all, even certain wind gusts shook her wagon.   She lowered the blanket from her chin and could feel the warmth had left her wagon room, it was now cold.
	She sniffed as she could feel mucus rolling inside her nasal cavity.  Slightly worried she was getting sick, Trixie moaned.  She had been walking several hours through this storm with her wagon in tow.  She finally gave up when it became too much to bare and pulled off on the side of the road.  Her nose began to run again and she sniffed in.
	Sighing, Trixie new she wasn't going to sleep with this much noise around her.
	“Maybe I should move my wagon away from this unprotected area to something under a tree.  Maybe it will be quieter under a tree, preventing the loud rain drops from hitting the roof?”  Trixie thought aloud, “Do I really want to go back outside to do that?”
	Suddenly a loud and powerful gust of wind slammed against the wagon shaking it thoroughly and water was heard slapping up against the side of the wagon.  Stunned, Trixie got up from bed and opened her one window and looked outside.  Rain pelted her face as wind sliced into her.  She looked down and realize the surf had worked it's way up to her space beside the road.
	“Are you kidding me?”
	She closed the window and jumped up, pausing a moment as her eyes shut.  Her nostrils fluttered as her mouth propped open slightly.  Her breath hitched as she sucked in air to sneeze, but stopped.  She shook her head and rubbed her nose before opening the door and seeing the surf had gone out, but would probably come back in.  She didn't realize were she had parked was a tidal zone.  She looked over at the road which was slightly higher, then saw a spot under the tree's to park her wagon.
	She grunted to herself as she stepped down into the mud.  She quickly placed the wagon's braces on her sides and tied them, and tried to pull her wagon from the mud.  She pulled and pulled, and it rained and rained.  It wasn't moving.
	“Are you kidding me, what the heck?”
	Trixie angrily stomped a hoof and looked back at the wagon.  It then became eerily silent, despite the wind and rain.  She looked over and a large dark form was headed towards her.  It was another round of ocean surf, and it quickly surrounded her hooves before the next layer went up mid leg.  She panicked as her whole livelihood behind risked going out to sea.  She waited for the water to go back out and quickly ran behind her wagon.  She pressed her back to it and used all her strength to push it.  Her hooves dug deep into the mud and sweat mixed with rain ran down her forehead.
	“Gosh darn it!”  Trixie sniffed as an overwhelming sneeze consumed her.  “
	“Heeessscchoo!”  Trixie's spray mixed with the rain, and blew away in the wind.
	Trixie could hear another round of waves coming her way, but she didn't know what to do.
	“Oh yeah!  The wheel locks!”
	Jumping down onto her stomach, she quickly unlocked one wheel lock.  The first layer of waves seeped in around her, as she got up to her knees and reached for the other wheel lock.  Completely soaked, Trixie ran to the front wheels and bent down to unlock them, but another layer of water poured around her.
	“I can't find the stupid loh...hhh....HEEAAHHTTCCHOOO!”  Trixie's head bobbed forward splashing into the water.  She quickly spit as the salty sea water didn't taste too well.  The water resided and she reached down to grab the final to locks then got up and placed herself in the braces.  She pulled as her hooves sunk deeper into the mud.  She looked over and could see a fast moving wave coming her direction.  This wave would certainly be the final blow that brought in high tide.
	With her life riding on her shoulders, Trixie gave it one last pull.  Using all her strength, she pulled, and pulled, gritting her teeth.  She pulled until she couldn't pull no more.  She hadn't moved more then a few inches due to the mud.  She looked back and saw the wave coming closer and closer.  Terrified, Trixie looked around for an answer, but then her nose tickled.
	“Not now you stupid nose... not now.”
	Her nose didn't listen and Trixie built up for a big sneeze.  Her chest puffed out and she released a powerful blow.
	“Hheeaaaassshhooooooo!”
	The wagon lurched forward as Trixie sneezed down and back.  She opened her eyes realizing what just happened.  Her sneezes were strong enough that they gave her temporary lurches in strength.  It was such a stupid concept, she couldn't believe it.
	“Maybe if I time it just right with a wind gust and a wave I can move this wagon, but I'll only have on chance!”
Trixie licked her muddy hoof and held it high.  The wind was in her favor, and she looked back at the oncoming waves.
	“It's now or never.”
	Trixie used a hoof to hold up to her snout, opening her nostrils to their widest position as she sniffed in and hoped for something to further irritate her nose.
	The waves were roaring closer and going at a steady clip, and the wind was beginning to pick up.
	“Come on nose, come on!”  Trixie pleaded as a tickle began to form.
	“I got to hold you in for the right moment!”
	The tickle continued to build and the loose mucus in her nose was helping coax the tickle along.  	A cold, wet breeze blew her tail and the waves got ever closer.  This was the moment, the moment of truth.  Lifting her head up, Trixie hitched, her nostrils flared like never before, and her eyes squeezed shut.  Tears and rain ran down her face.
	A layer of surf encircled her hooves as the first big wave came behind her.  Trixie turned her head down and behind her just as the wind picked up and blew in something fierce.  Trixie let loose.
	“Hea haaa hhhhhhHHHAAAAAAAAAASSSCCCHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
	The burst of air from her sneeze lurched her forward as the waves smashed up behind the wagon loosening a wheel and lifting it up in the surf.  The wind pushed Trixie forward, and all the conditions were right for her to move as she pushed forward and up onto the road.  The water smashed up against the road and sprayed her and her wagon, but she was safe, her wagon was safe, and she accomplished her task!
	A rush of relief ran through Trixie's body as she finished pulling her wagon up on a small incline under some tree's.  She looked back and saw where her wagon once was now completely under several inches of water, soon to be a couple feet.
	She rubbed her nose and unhooked her braces, and quickly locked the wheels, then ran into her wagon dripping in mud and water.
	Laying back on her bed, she grabbed anything within reach and dried herself off, then wrapped herself in her blankets.  Come morning, she would be able to see just how close she was to any towns, and she hopped the weather would clear.  Until then, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep.