Yesterday started as a fairly normal day. My parents were going to be at an all-day conference in town, so they woke me up early to tell me they were leaving and that my sister and I could go out and use their card for more or less whatever we wanted. After sleeping a couple more hours, I got up, ate a slow breakfast, and read while my sister played Harvest Moon on the Wii. Around noon, we decided it'd be a good time to head out. We decided to go to the mall.
We got there without any trouble, parked outside the food court, ate lunch, and went to almost every clothing and department store on a purse hunting mission. Afterwards, we sat in Barnes and Noble and flipped through an Avatar: The Last Airbender art book while sneaking peaks at an attractive college guy across the cafe. Outside, it was dark and windy. My sister had said something about a tornado watch that morning, and we overheard some employees worrying over what was going to happen. After three and a half hours at the mall, we figured it was time to get going.
It was pretty windy as we walked back to the car, and as we climbed in, it began to sprinkle. I could feel the wind rocking the car, and I had to adjust my steering wheel to stay in my own lane. Was the wind really this powerful? Still, the traffic wasn't so bad, and we made it to our neighborhood easily. Already, the huge nets that surround the driving range next to our neighborhood were torn and hanging. Just after we got home, it started to rain.
My sister and I tried to coax the puppy to go to the bathroom in the rain, but we didn't have any luck, so we took him inside. The power flickered, and it took a long time for the cable box to reboot. When it did, I found an old movie that I'd always wanted to watch, and we curled up with some snacks and relaxed. Our grandmother called to warn us about the storm, urging us to go into the powder room if anything were to happen. We smiled at each other as we assured her that we were all right, then resumed our movie. All the while, I noticed the wind and the rain growing louder outside.
With a pop, the electricity went out. This time, it didn't come back on. We had nothing to listen to but the storm outside, steadily growing louder. At first, it wasn't so bad--I ran upstairs and grabbed all the old scented candles from my room and began to light them. But the weather became frightening. Rain pounded the roof, and the wind made the windows creak and shudder. We put the puppy in his carrier so he wouldn't near the glass door. With the house shaking, we decided it would be best to sit in the bathroom for a while.
A huge gust of wind rocked the house, and suddenly the front door burst open, bringing the tempest roaring into our home. My sister screamed as I ran to shut it. I had to fight the wind in order to push it closed and deadbolt it. The doorknob had dented the plaster on the wall and there was water all over the floor. My sister threw a towel down, and we hurried into the powder room with the carrier and the candles. I made sure to grab my cell phone, but we weren't getting a signal. Outside, it started hailing. My sister was crying--she thought the cats were still outside. I did a quick pet check. The puppy was in the carrier, and all the cats were there near the powder room save for one who normally spends his day under the house. He should be fine, shouldn't he? I tried to comfort my sister as we waited out the worst of the storm.
As we waited, I lit the rest of the candles there in the bathroom. After a few minutes, the wind stopped. It was still raining, but not nearly so violently as before. We decided to venture back into the living room. None of the windows were damaged, no water had seeped in, and all the animals were fine. Tentatively, we brought the candles into the living room and settled back onto the couch, where we read with shaking hands as the darkest clouds finally passed over us.
It was growing lighter. For a minute, the sun even peaked out behind a thin veil of clouds. My sister went to look for a rainbow as I let the puppy out of his carrier. Neighbors were venturing out onto their porches. The whole neighborhood was without electricity. Still, we were safe, and comforted knowing that the storm was over. Just as we settled back down to read, I heard an annoying beeping noise. As my sister took the puppy outside, I climbed upstairs to investigate. It was the carbon monoxide alarm.
I felt fine--no headache, no fatigue. The animals were acting fine. In fact, they'd been calm through the whole ordeal. But, my sister complained of a headache. We opened the front door to let some fresh air in, and I called my dad's cellphone. He didn't pick up, but called back a few seconds later. I told him about the alarm. He told me to reset the carbon monoxide alarm. It was still beeping. I told him that we both felt fine, and that the alarm downstairs wasn't going off. My dad told me to go ahead and pull the battery out of the alarm, and that he and my mom would be home in about an hour. My sister was upset to hear that they'd be so long. In the mean time, people were beginning to call our cell phones and check on us. My sister spent a long time on the phone with her boyfriend.
Finally, our parents came home. My dad checked the carbon monoxide alarm and concluded that it was set off only a faulty battery. There was no threat of poison, but we were hungry. After taking our orders, Dad went out to Jersey Mike's while my mom, my sister, and I sat in the living room and talked. When, he came back, we all ate that the kitcehn table together. Then, we ate the last of the ice cream before it went bad. Finally, we wandered back into the living room. By now it was getting dark.
We found a few more candles and sat in a room illuminated by pinpricks of golden light. The ugliest candles had the most beautfiul flames. I honestly couldn't tell you what we did as we sat in the dark for an hour or more. We talked some, and made lazy suggestions about games to play or things to do while we waited for electricity. For the most part, I watched the candle nearest me as its flame floated in the airless room. Just watched.
In a flurry of clicks and whirrs, the lights burst into life again, and all the machinery resumed its normal business. My family cheered as they ran for their respective laptops and waited for the TV to reboot. Mom said I looked disappointed. I told her I liked the candles, and my sister ran around the room shamelessly blowing them all out in my face. The storm was over, and the calm was over. We resumed our normal lives, clicking away on our computers while a murder mystery droned in the background. My sister went to bed, and my dad fell asleep on the couch. When the murder show was over, I said goodnight to Mom and retired to my room.
It was a strange day, with such a normal beginning and ending. Today is bright and sunny and cold, as if the wheather was trying to trick us. Sure, there are flags thrown about, and a few distant trees down, but nothing more. It was as if nothing had ever happened...
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