The Lost One: Swept Away

Prologue Part Two

It was the September of 2000.

Summers were over in the city and a slight wave of winter blew upon it. Even though it did not start snowing, the temperatures dropped quite low and people started to wear warm layers of clothes.

Jasper as usual was in school, wondering when the recess bell would ring and she would get to run out to the playground. There was another reason why she desperately waited for the recess bell to ring and that was because of her new friend, Eric.

Eric and she had become best pals right from their first meet. Eric stayed a few blocks away from her house but he came with his bicycle to play with her every day. He learnt so many things about Jasper and her native place India. Jasper's Mom would also cook some of the Indians dishes for Eric and he developed a taste bud for some of the Indian dishes as well.

Eric's school was next to Jasper's preprimary school and both the schools shared a common playground. So whenever the recess bell would ring, both of them would run out of their classes to meet each other. They had so many things to tell each other and every passing day, life was getting happier and happier for little Jasper.

But today was a bit different. Something very unusual was going to happen which both of them had no idea about.

When everyone was busy with their work, slowly the cold breeze started to blow, mild and gentle at first but slowly increasing the pressure.

People pulled their jackets close around them, pulling their scarves closer to protect themselves from the chill.

Eric was swinging Jasper on the swing and she was adorably giggling with each swing. Suddenly she sneezed loudly and Eric had to stop the swing for a while. When her sneezing did not stop, Eric had to take her inside the school building.

"I'm feeling cold." She said with trembling voice just above a whisper. Eric noticed that she was shivering and her hands and feet had turned cold so he wrapped her with his thick woolen jacket.

"That's much better." He said and she smiled feebly.

Suddenly a loud thunder bolt struck the skies and the loud noise made Jasper flinch in fright. She jumped behind Eric clutching his arm in fear. He held her tight even though he was scared of the thundering. The same reaction was seen on the other kids.

Next, the rain started falling heavily and the skies turned black. One by one, thunders roared along with scary lightning making the kids cry in fright. Teachers had to move the kids back to the classrooms for safety. Some tried to calm the kids and the others took attendance. Eric refused to go back to his school even though the teachers forced him too.

"She's new to this place and she's afraid of the thunder. Please let me stay with her." He pleaded and the teacher agreed.

Outside, the rains started to fall heavily flooding the streets making it difficult for traffic to move. The roadside drains started to overflow and it became difficult to move the vehicles through the waters. Traffic had to slow down and traffic police maintained the discipline on the roads.

Slowly the rains turned into a flood and a storm was on the verge of coming. The news reporters continuously gave warnings of the upcoming storm as informed by the meteorological department.

"The New York city is under a continuous rainfall for five hours since afternoon and the weather department has predicted that there are chances of a storm to take place in the next two or three hours. It is requested that you kindly stay inside your houses or in safety places like buildings. Try not to come on the streets as the wind pressure is rising dangerously making it difficult to travel safely."