The Storm
The Storm
I first noticed that something was wrong when the
TV fuzzed out. I
mean, it's usually pretty windy around our place, and the satellite dish really
moves around in the wind, but this time the TV fuzzed completely out. I
looked out our dining room window, the one that faces west, and saw that my new
tree, still in its pot, would be blown away, but it was mostly sheltered by the
larger lilac bush it sat beside. I looked to the northwest, and saw a
cloud, all alone, that could have been anvil-shaped. I couldn't really
tell. I had learned , after so many years of science and my
fascination with tornadoes, to watch out for the anvil-shaped clouds. I
was glad I knew what an anvil was shaped like. I then looked up, and
watched the clouds soar across the sky faster than I think I've ever seen clouds
go before. I felt like the Earth must be spinning much faster, way out of
control, but then I remembered that clouds move, too, they're not like the sun.
I watched as a speeding mass of clouds from the north moved towards a mass of
clouds from the south, right over our house. I watched with morbid
fascination, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. I
felt fear then, thinking that this was it, my greatest nightmare would finally
come true. Nothing came of it. I went back to baking my cookies.
Later, I found out that a tornado had gone through a neighboring town.
Spring 1998
