fierce wind rotations
a path of
devastation
I am a person who never goes looking for adventure. I don’t bungee jump, hang glide, or strap on a parachute and hurl myself out of airplanes. I just drift through life doing what I have to do when I have to do it, all cool, calm, and collected. Whether I like it or not, adventure finds me. I am always oblivious, and adventure usually sneaks up and grabs me right in the a$$ taking me by surprise.
When I was a college freshmen at Belmont University, I decided on the spur of the moment that I wanted to go home. Let’s forget the fact that home happened to be an 8 hour drive away. Even though I had told my mom that I intended to spend the weekend on campus, as soon as my last class was over I was overcome with the need, determination, and insanity to drive home.
I threw some clothes and books into the back of my car, cranked the radio’s volume to full blast and pointed my car north. I was 18, had the world by the a$$, and wanted to go home, so away I went. I checked no weather reports because the sun was shining. I notified no one that I was on my way. I just got in my car and moved it right along.
Somewhere along the way the sun retreated behind the clouds. The threatening skies made little difference to me. I had my tunes cranked and at that moment I was singing along to Bon Jovi. I had my mojo working, my head was banging to the beat, and I was really getting into the music when all of a sudden a newscaster broke into the middle of the song. “If you are in Brown County, take shelter immediately! A tornado has touched down near I-65 and is traveling north. Repeat, if you are in the path of this storm, take cover NOW!” It took me a minute for this piece of information to register. “Oh hells bells, I am on I-65!” I then passed a sign welcoming me to Brown County. Brown County!! I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and looked around. I looked over to my left and just about $hit my pants. There was a huge tornado blowing up a barn right alongside of me!! I freaked out. I didn’t know whether to cuss or pray so I did a little bit of both.
Instead of pulling off to the side of the road and taking cover, I slammed my foot to the gas pedal and floored it. All the other vehicles around me had the same reaction because everyone seemed to move in a pack like a bat out of hell. Rain poured down in sheets. I couldn’t see where I was going. All I could see was the tail lights of the semi truck in front of me. I knew if that semi truck went off the road, I would follow it. If the tornado changed course, it would hit me. Either way I sliced it, I was probably going to be having tea and cakes with Je$u$ in short order. So I buried the gas pedal, said a prayer, and hauled a$$ all the way to Indianapolis.
By the time I reached Indianapolis, I had to pee BAD. Honestly it is a wonder I didn’t pee myself on the way. My brain was frazzled and if I wasn’t three sandwiches short of a picnic before, I was definitely a little closer to needing a straight jacket by the time I guided my Dodge Shelby Charger through the construction barricades that surrounded the gas station.
Evidently I drove through the wrong barriers because the next thing I knew my car was nose down in a deep ditch. I lost it with a capital L. I managed to climb out of my car and rushed up to the station to demand they get my car out of their little moat NOW. I was going to pee, use the phone, and then I wanted to head on down the highway. It didn’t matter if it was my fault for having my head up my a$$ and driving through the wrong barriers. It was their barriers, their moat, and their job to get it un-f***** immediately before I completely lost my mind right there in their lovely establishment. Before long I was back on the road with only a scratch on the spoiler.
I finally did make it home and lived to tell the tale. I never go looking for adventure, but I always manage to find it no matter how much I try to avoid it until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.
This is a fictional story I wrote for this week's "Writer's Post Blog Hop".
There was little warning before the storm hit. Sure there were tornado warnings out for the area, but there had been millions of storm warnings in the past that resulted in nothing more than some downed limbs or power lines. Why would anyone have believed this storm system would be any different? It was though. The storm sirens blasted the deserted landscape. The wind picked up and the trees whipped violently. The sky lit up with the jagged lightning that crossed the sky. The rain poured, and hail pelted the ground.
Terrified, she sat huddled with her children in a hallway with pillows and blankets their only protection. The lightning crackled and the thunder rolled. Armed with a flashlight, she tried desperately to calm her children’s worse fears as the storm raged outside. Crack! And then a resounding crash and the lights were extinguished leaving the house in utter darkness. Before the storm sirens could sound again, a massive tornado touched down to the ground exploding buildings and tossing vehicles in its destructive wake.
The mother and children sat huddled praying as the roof was lifted from the house. The walls seem to explode and debris flew landing all around them. After what seemed like moments of chaos and deafening sound, all was silent. The neighborhood was gone with only piles of debris left. The storm ripped through the region leaving a mile wide path of destruction and devastation in its wake. The crying and screams of terror were silenced and the storm was gone as quickly as it had come.
Sirens blared as fire trucks and emergency vehicles made their way to the devastation. They stopped periodically as they maneuvered passed fallen trees and sparking power lines that blocked the way. Firefighters dug through the wreckage searching desperately for any survivors. None were found.
Amid the rubble lay the bodies that were taken unaware. Lying near the lifeless bodies of the mother and her children was a broken chain holding a pair of golden hearts and flowers. Hopes and dreams that once were lay in shambles. Except for a few small scratches, their bodies were miraculously unharmed. Their injuries were internal and to great. They were at peace. The storm that had raged and snuffed out their lives raged no more.
There was little warning before the storm hit. Sure there were tornado warnings out for the area, but there had been millions of storm warnings in the past that resulted in nothing more than some downed limbs or power lines. Why would anyone have believed this storm system would be any different? It was though. The storm sirens blasted the deserted landscape. The wind picked up and the trees whipped violently. The sky lit up with the jagged lightning that crossed the sky. The rain poured, and hail pelted the ground. 
Terrified, she sat huddled with her children in a hallway with pillows and blankets their only protection. The lightning crackled and the thunder rolled. Armed with a flashlight, she tried desperately to calm her children’s worse fears as the storm raged outside. Crack! And then a resounding crash and the lights were extinguished leaving the house in utter darkness. Before the storm sirens could sound again, a massive tornado touched down to the ground exploding buildings and tossing vehicles in its destructive wake.
Sirens blared as fire trucks and emergency vehicles made their way to the devastation. They stopped periodically as they maneuvered passed fallen trees and sparking power lines that blocked the way. Firefighters dug through the wreckage searching desperately for any survivors. None were found. 
