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“It’s a category 3 Hurricane, not the end of the world.”
Mrs. Smith looked up at me with wide eyes. It was then when I realized what I had just said.
“Well-I didn’t mean to say it like that! What I meant was that even though the storm is due to come this weekend, I don’t think you should close down the daycare.”
“Sweetpea, I know you love working here, but things are about to turn ugly! You need to be worried about preparing your home for the storm right now.”
“Done!”
I turned around to see Max, one of the daycare students, with a drawing of squiggles on it.
Mrs. Smith leaned over to see him. “What a wonderful drawing Max! It’s almost clean-up time, so put it on your table for now.”
That put an end to the storm conversation, and I was glad. I was tired of hearing about Tuaine, the category 3 hurricane that had just gotten close to the beach town where I lived.
Everyone was scared of this storm, my coworkers, friends, boyfriend, even my family had been calling me from home about how I should watch out for this thing!
I had grown up in North Carolina, where hurricanes were so common, even the hockey team was named after ‘em!
Now, it’s true I grew up closer to the middle of the state, but all the hurricanes I’d been through seemed to be really bad rain storms. The worst thing I had ever seen happen during one of those storms was someone’s tree branch get snapped off.
The store was packed that evening. Everyone was rushing in buying food, water, candles, all types of survival stuff. Some aisles were bare. You’d think a zombie apocalypse was on the rise!
“Boarding the windows up? Don’t you think that’s a bit overkill?” I asked the cashier.
The man raised an eyebrow. “Are you crazy? Hurricane Tuaine is coming! It just went from a category 3 to a category 4! I’m surprised you only bought a weekend’s worth of food!”
Huh. So Tuaine was a four now. That was fast. I drove home looking up at the sky, which had turned gray. It was Saturday evening. The night before the storm.
Once I got to my apartment, I heard my phone’s melody play. I took out my phone to find out my boyfriend Joshua was calling me.
“Tiaja! The storm is coming! I charged up all the batteries for flashlights and I have enough food for a few days. Want to wait the hurricane out at my place?”
“No, honey. Thanks for the offer, but we should be fine. Calm down. A hurricane’s not that big of a deal.”
After I said that, he went quiet. Then he began to scold me about how serious the situation was, and on top of that my family began to text me about the storm. Oh great. I sat through both their safety lectures and As soon as I could, I retreated to my room.
Oh, how I loved my beautiful room. It was painted in a pale green, my favorite color, with a dark green accent wall that led to my tiny study. I had an acapulco rocking chair that sat at the edge of a square white carpet in the middle of my room, which was also covered in magazines. I had a few posters of animals and paint designs in my room, and at the rear was my bed, with a window above it that faced an empty lot. This empty lot was used as a junkyard and sometimes a free parking spot by trucks and cars. Not the prettiest site, but hey, it’s what my budget could get me.
I showered, ate and then slipped into my bed.
I woke up to the sound of metal clanging, the wind whistling an unearthly tune.
I went to the window, yanking up my blinds to find the source of these noises.
Rain speckled my view as it blew this way and that, its pattern being rumpled up by the wind, whose whistle grew louder and softer like a snoring old grandfather.
I looked out to find out all the junk, in the lot behind my room was sliding around, some objects whisking around in the air. This stuff wasn’t light. Rusty parts of people's roofs, and car doors were sliding around like leaves. Someone’s metal trash can fell over and began rolling down the street.
I saw the flash of a blue light that lit up the entire window, as if a star had just exploded. Then, with an electrical zap, all the lights outside went out and everything went black.
My heart was beating fast, as just because I couldn’t see anything didn’t mean the storm was over. I still heard clanging and banging, and the wind was roaring, accompanied by the pitter-patter of rain.
Then it all dawned on me. Hurricane Tuaine is here. This storm is a category 4. That means windows can bust purely by wind gusts, the house could flood to the roof and I could drown. The junk from the backyard could fly up and hit me.
My heart was slamming against my chest. I backed away from the dangerous window. I heard a sharp knock that made me jump.
“Ah!”
“Tiaja, it’s me Joshua! I came because things are getting rough and I was worried about you! Are you okay!?”
Oh, thank goodness for Joshua. The fact that he was here made me incredibly relieved, but the fact that he drove through this storm made me worry all over again. I let him inside, and together we calmed each other down, talking and laughing until the storm passed.
Sunday morning, things started to let up. I was shocked and scared out of my wits. Why had the storm calmed down, were we in the eye of the storm!? Was it going to come back?
The power had thankfully came back by 8:00 a.m. and I was not surprised when I got a text from Mrs. Smith saying the daycare would be closed today.
Of course it will be. We’re in a hurricane! I texted back.
She texted back nearly instantly.
No we’re not. It turns out, at the last minute, Hurricane Tuaine made a turn for up North. We got the little flurries at the edge of the storm this morning. Crazy right?
A little flurry of the storm had done all that? I sat and thought about that as I drank my coffee.
I thought about when I had seen that bright blue light before the power went out. It was right then when I knew that everything wasn’t guaranteed to be alright. Never again would I take life for a given. Never again would I challenge mother earth.
I heard the lovely tweeting from birds, and soon saw a flock fly overhead across the cloudless blue sky. I smiled. If the birds were coming back home, that meant everything truly was alright.
I sighed. “Well, that was a doozy.”
Hey there! I’m Shila Williams, a 16 year-old author. I’ve loved books since I could read, and decided I would write books I wanted to see written for others! Check my children’s book Imagination on Amazon! Imagination By Shila Willams
Check out my NFT's!
Meet the girls of Algo Green! Love for the planet and all its inhabitants, big or small. There will only be 50 green girls: https://t.co/yrwWL9ZJZI
Algo Pound Cake NFTs!: https://algogems.io/collection/3265
my Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/restcity
my read.cash: https://read.cash/@restcity
Your story is powerful and believable, @restcity, especially after recent storms in the U.S. southeast. The narrator is a strong-willed character, with a lot of conviction about what she knows and understands. You did a nice job of showing how she is humbled by the strength of Mother Nature. Nice take on the prompt!
Thank you for sharing your well-written story in The Ink Well, and for reading and commenting on the work of other community members.
I read some stories and I want to spend time with the author because how do you come up with something as brilliant as this??????👏👏👏👏👏
Nicely done
Thank you for the compliments!
As for how I come up with my ideas, sometimes I get inspired by my own life, (like with this stormy tale) and sometimes, I just let my imagination run free, dragging me along with it!
Thanks for reading!
Terrific story, @restcity. I was glad when she didn't have to suffer much more severe consequences for not taking the storm seriously!
You have some great lines in this story.
Oh my gosh, that's exactly what happens when a big natural disaster is predicted. People raid the stores and clear the shelves of candles, perishables and water.
I really liked that great description. Well done!
I'm glad my description is getting better!
Thank you for the glowing compliments and thanks for reading!