The hail was incredible. It fell in torrents and collided with the ground so loudly that it seemed the earth would crack. She cowered in the basement, listening to the downpour, hardly daring to breathe. How long had it been? Two hours? Three? It had to be over soon, it had to. The possibility that her parents would not make it home was not one she would even let herself consider.
Fifteen minutes, they had said. Twenty, tops. Just to the general store down the road. The radio had said a storm was coming and they needed some essentials if they were going to be holed up in the house for a few days. "No one wants to wipe their butts with a napkin" dad had laughed, and she had rolled her eyes and told him no one laughed at his jokes but him.
She wasn't scared of the storm. Growing up in Tornado Alley she'd lived through her fair share of storms, but she couldn't remember ever having been through one by herself. Any moment now, they'd come waltzing through the door, hands full of grocery bags, dad grumbling about the way the kid at the store packed them, and she'd laugh at herself for being so ridiculously silly. Ridiculous, that's what it was.
The wind howled with a renewed vigor and she jumped. She could hear the hail bouncing off of the widows upstairs. It had to be coming down practically sideways. Did the wind never tire of blowing that hard. She thought it must be exhausting. It's no wonder her parents weren't home. Clearly, they had decided to wait out the storm in the safety of the general store. No one in their right minds would brave a drive in this. Even if they could drive through the wind, the roads had to be covered in inches of hailstones. She had no idea how big the hail was, couldn't see it in the dark, but it sounded like baseballs on the windowpanes.
The power had been out for quite a while. She had no way of knowing what time it was. The storm had come on fast and had flooded the sunset sky with black. She told herself they hadn't been gone as long as it felt like. She would never live it down if she was freaking out when they got back. It would be the last time they left her home by herself. For years to come her mother would talk about 'that time she stayed alone and nearly worried herself to death.' Like it was any wonder where she got it from. She should calm down, get some sleep. If she was sleeping when they came in they would think her so mature and competent.
In the end, she did sleep. Right there on the floor of the basement. She slept so deeply she had no idea how long the policeman had been knocking on the door before she finally heard him.
The sun had come out. The muddy ground the only remaining sign of the angry storm the night before. There was hardly a cloud in the sky.
There were two of them, one at the door and another, hands in his belt loops, standing by the passenger door of the squad car, which was parked in the driveway. He had sunglasses on so she couldn't see his eyes, but he must have been watching her because when she looked at his face, he nodded his head slightly in her direction and the corners of his mouth turned down. She wondered what the other cop had done wrong to get stuck with doorstep duty.
She didn't think he was old enough to be a cop. He didn't look much older then her and she wasn't even a sophomore yet. He wasn't smiling. If you we're going to wake someone up this early in the morning, after a night like last night, you should have the decency to smile.
Ma'am, he called her. Ma'am. As if she wasn't a 15 year-old girl. As if she had some type of wisdom or authority in this situation.
They'd found a car in a ravine. It appeared to have rolled several times. The woman in the car was in the hospital in a medically induced coma, but she'd probably be just fine, in the end. But the man...
'We need you to come down to the morgue - identify the body, if you can.'
No. She couldn't. There was absolutely no way she could do that.
Later, standing next to the mortician whose name she would never remember, as he pulled back the sheet that hid her lifeless father...
Later, as she stood next to her mother, in the appropriate black attire, while extended family members she'd never met took her hand and offered their heartfelt, but meaningless condolences...
Later, as her father-in-law held his newborn granddaughter for the first time and it hit her that her baby girl would never know another grandpa...
...she would wish she'd laughed at his jokes.
Fifteen minutes, they had said. Twenty, tops. Just to the general store down the road. The radio had said a storm was coming and they needed some essentials if they were going to be holed up in the house for a few days. "No one wants to wipe their butts with a napkin" dad had laughed, and she had rolled her eyes and told him no one laughed at his jokes but him.
She wasn't scared of the storm. Growing up in Tornado Alley she'd lived through her fair share of storms, but she couldn't remember ever having been through one by herself. Any moment now, they'd come waltzing through the door, hands full of grocery bags, dad grumbling about the way the kid at the store packed them, and she'd laugh at herself for being so ridiculously silly. Ridiculous, that's what it was.
The wind howled with a renewed vigor and she jumped. She could hear the hail bouncing off of the widows upstairs. It had to be coming down practically sideways. Did the wind never tire of blowing that hard. She thought it must be exhausting. It's no wonder her parents weren't home. Clearly, they had decided to wait out the storm in the safety of the general store. No one in their right minds would brave a drive in this. Even if they could drive through the wind, the roads had to be covered in inches of hailstones. She had no idea how big the hail was, couldn't see it in the dark, but it sounded like baseballs on the windowpanes.
The power had been out for quite a while. She had no way of knowing what time it was. The storm had come on fast and had flooded the sunset sky with black. She told herself they hadn't been gone as long as it felt like. She would never live it down if she was freaking out when they got back. It would be the last time they left her home by herself. For years to come her mother would talk about 'that time she stayed alone and nearly worried herself to death.' Like it was any wonder where she got it from. She should calm down, get some sleep. If she was sleeping when they came in they would think her so mature and competent.
In the end, she did sleep. Right there on the floor of the basement. She slept so deeply she had no idea how long the policeman had been knocking on the door before she finally heard him.
The sun had come out. The muddy ground the only remaining sign of the angry storm the night before. There was hardly a cloud in the sky.
There were two of them, one at the door and another, hands in his belt loops, standing by the passenger door of the squad car, which was parked in the driveway. He had sunglasses on so she couldn't see his eyes, but he must have been watching her because when she looked at his face, he nodded his head slightly in her direction and the corners of his mouth turned down. She wondered what the other cop had done wrong to get stuck with doorstep duty.
She didn't think he was old enough to be a cop. He didn't look much older then her and she wasn't even a sophomore yet. He wasn't smiling. If you we're going to wake someone up this early in the morning, after a night like last night, you should have the decency to smile.
Ma'am, he called her. Ma'am. As if she wasn't a 15 year-old girl. As if she had some type of wisdom or authority in this situation.
They'd found a car in a ravine. It appeared to have rolled several times. The woman in the car was in the hospital in a medically induced coma, but she'd probably be just fine, in the end. But the man...
'We need you to come down to the morgue - identify the body, if you can.'
No. She couldn't. There was absolutely no way she could do that.
Later, standing next to the mortician whose name she would never remember, as he pulled back the sheet that hid her lifeless father...
Later, as she stood next to her mother, in the appropriate black attire, while extended family members she'd never met took her hand and offered their heartfelt, but meaningless condolences...
Later, as her father-in-law held his newborn granddaughter for the first time and it hit her that her baby girl would never know another grandpa...
...she would wish she'd laughed at his jokes.
No comments:
Post a Comment