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.
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.
