Fossil Fools

Chapter 6. The Day after the Night Before.

I woke with a jolt. A laser shaft of brilliant sunshine was streaming through a gap in the curtain, straight into my left eye. My temple throbbed with a dull ache and I winced. A strange, almost eerie calm, filled the air, as if the biblical events of the night before had been just a dream. Had it been a dream? Water drip drip dripped into a bucket somewhere in the room. Leaping up from the sofa, I saw Adam was still fast asleep, mouth open, gently snoring. No surprise.

I peeked through the curtains and gasped. The big old oak tree had crashed on top of the house. Smashed glass, twisted timber, limbs, branches everywhere. The fence was no more. Gran's beautiful lawn, vegetable patch and the flower beds now a boggy mess. It looked like pictures I'd seen of the Battle of the Somme from WW1. I wiped the sharp little crystals of sleep from the corners of my eyes and ran my hands over my bandaged head. Grandma came into view outside, wearing a pink scarf, dark blue coat over her nightdress, green wellies and a pair of binoculars slung around her neck. Despite everything, I chuckled to myself; she looked ridiculously eccentric, like an escapee from an asylum, or the Queen of England in the Countryside!

I tapped on the window, but she was in a world of her own. Running upstairs I opened my bedroom door. I stood there in shock taking in the scene. Broken branches filled the room. Parts of the ceiling were down. Light streamed through the big hole in the roof above my room. Miraculously I dragged my suitcase and canvas bag from the wet woody mess. I stood and stared at the splintered branch that had missed me by six inches, thrust into the mattress next to where I slept.

"Jeeze, that was close!" I muttered to myself.

The good news was my clothes were dry. I pulled on my jeans, T-shirt, hoodie and trainers and was outside in seconds. Stepping over smashed roof tiles, glass and tree branches I was soon hugging Gran and blinking to adjust to the brilliant light.

"Jasper, Jasper, look at this mess, look at my roof, look at my beautiful garden!"

"Oh my God Gran. I'm so sorry, what are we going to do?"

Never mind all that for now silly me, how's your head!"

"I'm OK Grandma, I'm alive!"

Grandma looked pale inspecting my wound. She held me tight quietly sobbing, stroking the good side of my head.

"I've never seen anything like it in almost 40 years here. A hurricane storm and then an earthquake. It's Nature, the Planet... fighting back. Bert warned me of all this"

"Gran, you're talking just like Dad. He's always going on about Climate change getting out of control, humans wrecking mother earth and all that."

"Well. I agree with him on that dear. Your father and I have a special understanding!"

My phone vibrated in my trouser pocket.

"Mum?"

"Darling, I can't get through on the house phone, can't get through to Adam. Shocking news on the TV, are you and Gran OK?"

"No, we're not OK! I'm not OK. Where have you been Mum? What do you mean 'on the TV'? You're only up the road, not on another bloody planet. We need help here!"

"Don't you 'bloody' me young man. She said. Calm down. To tell the truth Jasper, after my seaweed body wrap and hot stone massage I slept through it like a baby."

I guessed that as usual; she had also drunk half a bottle of wine, popped a sleeping pill, and used ear plugs and eye mask as well.

Gran snatched the phone from me.

"It's a complete mess here Lucy, The old oak has come down and it smashed the roof. A branch came through Jasper's bedroom ceiling. He has taken a nasty knock on his head. He is OK, but please come over as soon as you can with Philip to help...."