Waking Up One Morning When

¶ … waking up one morning when I was very young, probably 5 or 6 years old, and hearing the shutters of the windows banging against the house. I heard the wind in the trees, and something seemed to be pelting the windows with loud thuds. Instead of sunlight coming in through my window, the morning was grey and muggy. Instead of hearing birds singing and being greeted by our family dog, Millie, all I could hear was the creak of the house, the howl of the wind, and the strange metallic smell in the air. I did not smell the typical breakfast smells either. There was no coffee smell for Mom and Dad; I could not smell bacon frying, nor could I smell the sweet and buttery smell of the heating syrup for my pancakes or waffles -- which would it be today?

Eerily, I put my robe and slippers on and crept downstairs, expecting at any moment to hear my parents or brother laughing or talking over the breakfast table. Instead, when I got downstairs, there was nothing on the table and no family either. This was very strange -- very puzzling. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a hammer and looked outside. There was my Dad and brother Thad in their yellow slicker raincoats, and my Mom, bravely holding an orange and purple spotted umbrella over them as they pounded nails into pieces of wood place in X's over the windows. "Wow," I thought, "This must be some rainstorm if we are covering the windows." I wondered too, why everyone looked so worried. I ran into the living room to turn the television on, perhaps someone there would tell me what was happening. However, when I turned the television knob, nothing happened. In fact, there was no artificial light on in our whole house. There was no sound of radio, either, only the sound of the wind and the rain.

A few minutes later, it seemed like hours, my family came back in the house. It was even darker now that they had nailed boards over the windows, and frankly, I was getting a bit scared. My Mom came in, shook herself, and then began to light candles. I asked them what was happening, and my Dad said, "Well, this is a really bad storm. It's a storm that comes from out in the middle of the ocean, and builds until it becomes so fierce that it is called a hurricane. The wind must've blown down some power lines, which is why we have no electricity. The best thing we can do in a storm like this is go into the basement, light some candles, eat some snacks, and play games until it is over."

"But what about school" I protested, for you see, I was one of those strange children who actually enjoyed going to school. "No school today, honey," my Mom said, "It's too dangerous for everyone." Now I was really worried, but thought that I would at least have an adventure with the family downstairs. We moved the candles, blankets, and all trudged downstairs. We set up a little campsite, with our ice chest full of sodas, and snacks and cookies - for breakfast even! We began to play board games, then card games, then take breaks and read aloud to each other. By around noon, though, we could barely hear anything the wind sounds were so loud. The house was shaking, and I could hear the branches of the shade trees in the background whipping round and round.