Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Hurricane

The sky grew dark with the approaching storm and the wind whistled through the windows, the sound eerie and mournful. They had told her to leave. The weather that was headed her way would certainly destroy the little house. The creek that ran along the back of the property had already begun to rise as night began to fall. Her neighbors had stopped as they headed for higher ground. Every one of them, asking, pleading really with her to come with them. But they had left alone.
She watched the sky darken, as she fixed herself a cup of tea. She wasn’t frightened, although others thought she should be. The cat came in winding his way around her ankles. She took her cup over to the chair in the living room and turned on the television. Fifteen minutes later the lights went out. She reached over to the end table and turned on the flash light.
She shuffled her way back into the kitchen and washed the cup; drying it and putting it back up into the cupboard. She brought the kitchen lighter into the bedroom and lit the candles on her nightstand. She smiled softly as the candlelight flickered in the picture of a young soldier taken 52 years ago.
“Oh Henry, I’ve missed you so much these past two months. I can’t wait to see you again, my darling.” She finished getting ready for bed. The room was filled with the scent of the tea rose lotion he had bought her for her birthday last year, and every year before it for so long. She sat at the end of the bed and undid her braid, her long silver hair falling well past her waist. As she began her 100 strokes she could hear the rain banging angrily against the tin roof, pounding against it in waves.
She looked over at his pillow while she brushed her hair. Stopping for a moment, she softly reached for it, closed her eyes and sighed. Two months she had slept alone, after 47 years. She went back to brushing her hair, the cat purring at her feet.
Finished she placed the brush down on the bedside table. She blew out the candle and lay down in her bed. One more night alone and then she would see her Henry again.
As the rain continued to batter the little house, the wind knocking down trees, and the water rising all around, she slept peacefully until he came for her. She felt him before she saw him. The shadow becoming clearer and his little impish grin shining down on her.
“Come along Lucille its time to go.” Then he bent down and kissed her. He took her hand and they wandered off to a place where they could be together again, the cat coming a little ways behind them.

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