Short Stories

The Storm

I jumped, startled. When I realized that it was just a box, I resumed my search for the games. Almost an hour later, I found them under a stack of books that we had used for schooling several years before. I took them out one by one, blowing the dust off. "These games must be ancient!" I took the cover off of the first one and my face wrinkled in disgust. Trivia Pursuit. Definitely not a favorite. I put that aside and reached for the second one. Boggle. My heart dropped at the memory of playing that game with my father long ago. A year threatened to spill, and I quickly shoved the game and the unwanted emotions away. I was about to reach for the third one, when I got a notification on my phone. I reached into my pocket and pulled it out, investigating.

It was a severe weather alert. "Tornado watch for the Northeast is in effect until 5:00 this evening. Residents are advised to find protection. I shrugged it off again. After all, a watch is still not a warning, and we very rarely have those kind of storms here anyhow. I put my phone back in my pocket, and continued exploring the board games. The next one I grabbed had no writing, and had a crimson cover with a black heart on it. But it wasn't part of the design, it was very clearly drawn on. I cautiously opened the cover. It was a very old chessboard, which seemed to have misplaced all of the pieces needed to play the game. I examination the board closely, and noticed a very peculiar writing on the back. 'Susie Norris'  I gasped as I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was seeing right. That's when I remembered. My father and I used to enjoy playing chess on this board so much when I was younger. On Friday nights we would challenge each other to a "Susie Match" which meant that he would let me win because I knew next to nothing about chess at that age. Then, one time, I was practising my penmanship for school, I did not understand that you can't erase ink, and so I tried to impress my father by writing out my name on the board. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't happy either. I took it as a note to keep writing on paper, unless my parents said otherwise. This time I let a tear escape. I guess a little bit of emotion couldn't hurt. I gently put the board back into the box and placed the cover over it. "I love you dad." I whispered, and set the game back into the box.

Suddenly, my phone went off again, and I snapped out of my thoughts and pulled it out, accidentally swiping the notification in my haste. "Darn it." I groaned. I was not in the mood to go searching for it either.  Instead, I picked up and piled the books back on top of the games, and stepped on the bottom stair. Something caught my eye, and I was met with a picture frame hidden behind an old desk that was a gift from our friends. It was a picture of my family, all smiles, no doubt. I choked back a sob. Surely this family would never have guessed that there would ever be a death separating them. My father stood there with his arm around me, beaming, and not just for the camera. My mother held Nathan lovingly, while resting her hand on my shoulder. And there I was, just a giddy, hyper little tot, with not one worry in the world.

I reached out to touch it, when the ground started to shake. Not violently, but enough to get anyone's attention. From upstairs, I heard a loud BEEP. Followed by words that I couldn't hear. After that, the boxes started to shake, and fall, nearly hitting me in the process. Then, all was quiet. Too quiet. I wandered over to the window to look out. That was a bad idea, because a giant branch collided with the window, shattering it instantly, narrowly missing me. That's when my phone went off again, but this time, it flashed madly and beeped constantly. I grabbed my phone and gasped.

***TORNADO WARNING***  A TORNADO WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM IN THE NORTHEAST. RESIDENTS SHOULD FIND SHELTER OR EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.

I spent no time at all in ducking away behind the many boxes. They offered me protection, and I was in the safest part of the house.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

I glanced at my phone again.

***A TORNADO HAS TOUCHED DOWN IN AVERLY. RESIDENTS SEEK SHELTER OR EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!***

I cried silently, Averly was only about a mile away from our house, and mom hasn't come back home yet! That's when I heard thunder, and a train...train? Oh no! My heart stopped when I recognized a shrill voice running up the stairs in a panic. "SISSY?!?! HELP!" I came out of my hiding place to rescue my brother. The road of the storm grew louder and louder, and I ran up the stairs in haste to find my terrified little brother. I flew up the stairs and searched our bedrooms and finally found him huddled underneath his bed, crying bitterly. I grabbed his arm and rushed him down the stairs, being careful not to push him by mistake. We had made it to the kitchen and we're just about to run into the basement, when the sight of the twister came into view. Nathan stood still, frozen with fear. I attempted to pull him to safety, but he was solid in place. With one quick movement, he ran blindly and ducked underneath the couch, hoping that it would somehow save him. The couch was near a window, however, and I wouldn't let him stay there. My brother curled into a ball, and whimpered as I threw myself on the couch trying to pull him out. "Nathan! You're not safe here! Come out, hurry up! We don't have ti___" I was cut short by the windows shattering and glass piercing our skin. "Sissy!" Nathan cried out hiding further into the couch. I was losing blood fast, and his voice was fading in my head. "Na-Nathan, g-g-go downstairs and w-w-wait for me, and h-hide." He seemed to understand this command, and scampered off nearly tumbling down the stairs. I limped, feeling consciousness leaving me, I made it to the top stair, when a piece of debris crashed through the kitchen window, and knocked me down, landing me next to my brother who was now huddled behind the mess of boxes that I had made. I coughed, and wheezed. "Sissy? Sissy! You all red! Sissy?" I struggled to look up at my scared little brother and turned around before taking a piece of glass out from my chest. Then I noticed the picture frame start to shake violently, and with one last hideous roar, the storm was over. The after effects being a newly graduated girl lifeless on the ground next to her dead brother, with a very damaged picture frame laying on top of her.

When I woke up, my mom, dad, and little brother, were gathered around me. Each of them said one thing. "Welcome home, Susie."

~T.R. McCoartney