Chapter 1: A feeling of Despair
“This is an emergency broadcast bulletin!” The automated system yelped as the speaker was whipped away by the two hundred plus mile per hour winds of a freshly spawned tornado. The Midwest was under stress from tornadoes, the west coast under siege from earthquakes more powerful than ever seen and the east coast was dealing with flooding and hurricanes.
Alex stood in awe of this great twister as the winds whipped at his t-shirt and jeans. He could feel the ground vibrate beneath his feet. He was powerless against such a mighty force of nature. Alex stood his ground and watched as the tornado ripped apart the old barn he used to play in. A thousand memories were torn apart with the same few seconds and then only pieces remained like the fractured timebers flying across the fields.
Alex focused on the swirling mass and screamed at the top of his lungs, the scream inaudible over the roar of the nature; yet great storm turned as if in recognition of a challenge being brought before itself. Alex continued to scream louder and louder until his voice began to crack. Alex stepped off of the front porch, now being pelted by rain that felt like millions of needles stabbing at his head and shoulders. A fragment of the barn slashed across his left bicep and Alex never flinched. Blood pooled down his arm only to washed away by the rain a moment later.
The tornado slowed, debris began to fall from the wind's great grip, and with an eerie silence the twister dissipated. The house behind Alex was a heap of wood and brick that had succumb to the winds great might. Yet Alex himself stood bleeding, panting and alive as if by an act of God. He had stood down one of natures most powerful and unparallel weapons, and survived.
Alex ran down what was left of the road he had lived on his entire life to find Aurora. She lived only four houses down from his. Two of the three houses that separated them were gone and nothing was left to say they had ever been there. The other had slid off of its foundation, flipped onto its side and kart wheeled until it disintegrated down to nothing. Alexander loved Aurora but he had never told her thinking only that she lacked the same feelings for him. He sprinted past the row of now vacant lots to search for her. He couldn’t give up hope without at least trying. God, I should have told her how I felt. When I met her and couldn’t forget her. I should have told her then. He ran harder putting every bit of energy into getting to her as fast as possible. Alex turned onto the debris covered sidewalk, up the warped porch, and stopped at the doorframe.
“Aurora!” he screamed. There was no reply. “Are you here. Aurora!” he yelled again, his heart rate increasing, his hand on the doorframe shaking, and a tear rolling down his dirt-smeared face. He hadn’t even thought about crying or the emotion of sadness yet. Alex knew he could not surrender hope, but it just came rolling on. More tears flowed as he threw himself at the rubble that was once the roof. Tossing debris out of the way and letting tear drops fall through the dusty air he found a hand. The hand that belonged to Auroras right arm. Frantically he uncovered the rest of her. She was mostly unharmed except for her hand that was at a wretched angle to the forearm. The wrist was no doubt broken but the bone stayed inside the skin. Her eyes were closed and her breathing shallow but constant, gave proof that Alex’s worst fears were devistated. Alexander gently put his left arm behind her back, his right under her legs and lifted her out of the rubble. He slowly walked out of the house, down the creaking porch stairs, and began to lay her in a patch of clear grass. Her eyes fluttered open revealing their beautiful hazel color. “Are you…” Alex stuttered, “Are you okay?”
All she could do was stare up at him as he set her down. She set out her hand to steady herself and immediately recoiled in pain. She began to fall back and Alex caught her. She winced from the pain while he took her good hand and held it.
“I thought I lost you.” he said.
She blushed “I saw you standing on your porch during the tornados. Why?”
“I… I don’t know.” He replied, “It doesn’t matter now, we’re alive.”
“It does matter, and I have a feeling I know why.” she said and moved closer into his embrace. It was a true calm, after a small storm.
