Sunny, With A Chance of Hurricanes
Sunny, With a Chance of Hurricanes.
Do you know what it’s like before a hurricane hits you?
It’s calm. The air is thick and humid. The kind of air that makes your hair stick to your forehead. There is no wind. There is not a cloud in the sky, as if the warnings are some prank that the news channel is playing on the city. Hurricanes are deceptive creatures, aren’t they?
I fill up the last of twelve bottles of water- water that we’re storing in case we lose power. The non-perishable cans of food piled on the kitchen counter, along with the huge supply of batteries and the flashlight we had bought to prepare for the storm. JR looks at me and gives me a reassuring smile, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“It’ll be okay, Sam. I promise.”
I embrace him, burying my face into his shoulder and sighed. He knows I’m scared of bad storms.
Then comes the fog. It creeps in around you like smoke, until you can’t see anything but dark grey. The streetlights outside make the fog glow orange.
I feel as if some horrible creature is going to jump out of the smoky fog and attack me. Like that one movie we watched; The Mist. The thought brings a diminutive smile to my face, despite my fear. JR smiles too, even though he has no idea what I’m smiling about. It makes me think about how beautiful he is.
The news reporter on the TV continues to talk about the storm, and it only makes me more nervous. My body goes through a tremble as I hear that the storm is getting closer. JR wraps the blanket that’s around us tighter.
The wind is next. It comes in as suddenly as the fog does. The house makes a violent groaning noise as the wind thrashes against it. It whistles between the trees, whipping them in every direction like they were nothing but twigs.
I’m genuinely afraid now, that the house is going to be ripped from its foundation. The wind makes the house seem like it’s made of straw, and this unnerves me. JR can see it, and holds me as tight as he can. I can’t hear my thoughts over the sound of my teeth chattering and the anguished howl of my house.
The rain begins to pound against the rooftop.
I’m not sure if it’s thunder or just the sheer force of the rain. But one thing I do know is that it’s loud.
Yet, I find myself drifting off in JR’s warm grasp.
And then came blackness.
_
My eyes flutter open slowly. I am in my bed; soft and comfortable. The sound of the wind and the rain are no longer there. I turn over and see JR sleeping silently and contently, causing me to smile. Small rays of sun beam through the spaces between my blinds, creating a pattern of light across the carpet. I slip out of bed, letting my bare feet drag across the soft floor and walk down the stairs.
The birds are singing.
I slide on my sandles and open the front door.
The air is cool and refreshing.
I inhale deeply, taking in the fresh, clear air.
The sun is shining vibrantly.
I let the golden rays of heat warm my skin all over.
The storm is over.
“The storm is over,” I hear his voice from behind me, and I see him appear next to me in the doorway. I glance over at him and then back at the sun, smiling.
“Yeah.”
It’s calm. The air is thick and humid. The kind of air that makes your hair stick to your forehead. There is no wind. There is not a cloud in the sky, as if the warnings are some prank that the news channel is playing on the city. Hurricanes are deceptive creatures, aren’t they?
I fill up the last of twelve bottles of water- water that we’re storing in case we lose power. The non-perishable cans of food piled on the kitchen counter, along with the huge supply of batteries and the flashlight we had bought to prepare for the storm. JR looks at me and gives me a reassuring smile, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“It’ll be okay, Sam. I promise.”
I embrace him, burying my face into his shoulder and sighed. He knows I’m scared of bad storms.
Then comes the fog. It creeps in around you like smoke, until you can’t see anything but dark grey. The streetlights outside make the fog glow orange.
I feel as if some horrible creature is going to jump out of the smoky fog and attack me. Like that one movie we watched; The Mist. The thought brings a diminutive smile to my face, despite my fear. JR smiles too, even though he has no idea what I’m smiling about. It makes me think about how beautiful he is.
The news reporter on the TV continues to talk about the storm, and it only makes me more nervous. My body goes through a tremble as I hear that the storm is getting closer. JR wraps the blanket that’s around us tighter.
The wind is next. It comes in as suddenly as the fog does. The house makes a violent groaning noise as the wind thrashes against it. It whistles between the trees, whipping them in every direction like they were nothing but twigs.
I’m genuinely afraid now, that the house is going to be ripped from its foundation. The wind makes the house seem like it’s made of straw, and this unnerves me. JR can see it, and holds me as tight as he can. I can’t hear my thoughts over the sound of my teeth chattering and the anguished howl of my house.
The rain begins to pound against the rooftop.
I’m not sure if it’s thunder or just the sheer force of the rain. But one thing I do know is that it’s loud.
Yet, I find myself drifting off in JR’s warm grasp.
And then came blackness.
_
My eyes flutter open slowly. I am in my bed; soft and comfortable. The sound of the wind and the rain are no longer there. I turn over and see JR sleeping silently and contently, causing me to smile. Small rays of sun beam through the spaces between my blinds, creating a pattern of light across the carpet. I slip out of bed, letting my bare feet drag across the soft floor and walk down the stairs.
The birds are singing.
I slide on my sandles and open the front door.
The air is cool and refreshing.
I inhale deeply, taking in the fresh, clear air.
The sun is shining vibrantly.
I let the golden rays of heat warm my skin all over.
The storm is over.
“The storm is over,” I hear his voice from behind me, and I see him appear next to me in the doorway. I glance over at him and then back at the sun, smiling.
“Yeah.”
♠ ♠ ♠
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