Whispers Left In The Wind

Samuel Johnson sat in his wooden rocker enjoying the evening air. His little dog, Suzie, lay loyally beside him on the front porch. Samuel spat a stream of tobacco juice off the side of the porch as a gust of wind howled through the eaves of the old farmhouse. Suzie raised her lazy head with a slight moan.

“Don’t worry. girl.” Samuel reached down giving the aging beagle a reassuring pat on the head. “It’s just the wind.”

The tiny dog stretched out her front legs and arched her back, feeling comfortable with the eerie whipping sound. Samuel smiled down at his companion, his best friend since his wife, Anna, passed away eight years earlier.

“Samuel?” Rebecca, Samuel’s sister, opened the screen door.

“Um?”

“Where’s Tommy?”

“He’s down yonder cutting hay.” Samuel rocked in his chair, pointing to the hollow on his left without looking.

Rebecca craned her neck out the door, straining her eyes trying to catch a glimpse of the tractor. “I think he needs to get off that tractor. The weatherman on the television said we might get bad weather.”

“Becca, your grandson is a grown man and pretty darn smart, too.”

“I know,” she interrupted.

“He’ll get off that tractor if it gets bad. You can count on it.”

“They say it’s gonna get bad. Severe thunderstorms.”

“Um. I don’t think it’ll hurt no one.”

“Clay County is under a tornado watch.”

“That’s fifty miles away, Becca.” Samuel spat.

“Still.”

“Well, me and ole Suzie have been sitting here all evening and things don’t look so bad. Do they ole girl?” Samuel tapped the dog’s little head.

Rebecca stepped outside, letting the screen door slam shut behind her. She sat in the rocker beside her elderly brother wiping her dish-wet hands with a rag. “I’m probably fixing to leave, Samuel. I’ve got your house cleaned for the week.”

“Thanks,” Samuel replied as he tilted his head back, filling his lungs with the new freshness in the air. “Smells like rain.”

Rebecca cut her eyes to him. “Hmm. Glad you figured that out yourself, you old geezer.”

~ ~ ~

Tommy bounced around on the tractor seat, running over a rough spot in the field. He instinctively looked back at the cutter to check his blades. Relieved that he didn’t do any damage he turned his attention back to the overgrown pasture in front of him. The alfalfa swayed majestically in the wind revealing a ground cover of clover. Tommy smiled, letting his mind wander with the tractor’s customary sound. He started humming a familiar tune. A whirlwind of dust flew under the tractor canopy. He jerked his head to the side, tucking his chin to his shoulder, shielding his face from flying debris that lifted off the field.

“What the hell?” Tommy swiped the trash off his face and then rubbed his eyes. He leaned over the steering wheel to look up at the partially blue sky. “The sky is starting to look a little wicked. A storm is a brewing.”

~ ~ ~

Samuel hobbled down the porch steps to stand in the yard. He looked to the sky, placing his hands on his thin hips still chewing the loose-leaf tobacco. A peculiar hue of yellow loomed in the heavens casting a strange tint toward the ground. A quiet calmness descended in the air, leaving Samuel feeling uneasy.

“Everything is so still,” he whispered.

“Huh?”

“Becca, come down here and take a gander at this.”

Rebecca walked down the porch steps to view the bizarre scene. She stood beside him, slowly turning around, marveling at the sight. “Wow. Why is everything so yellow?”

“I don’t reckon I’ve seen such a sight.”

A long gasp escaped Rebecca’s throat, Samuel spun around. Dark clouds swiftly flew over the forest treetops, concealing the once yellowish sky. The wind violently whipped through the trees, cracking a branch with its intense force. The limb whacked the side of the tree trunk as it dangled from a splinter of pulp.

Samuel grabbed Rebecca’s arm, pulling her to take cover under the porch. Small hailstones battered the tin roof just as they reached safety. The icy balls suddenly turned into a turbulent downfall of rain surrounding the porch with a flowing gray wall. The wind blew a wave on the porch, drenching them in a moist blanket.

“Hell! Waylaid by hail!” Samuel teased.

“It’s not funny!”

“Nope.”

“Tommy!” Rebecca yelled.

~ ~ ~

Tommy sighed turning the engine off. He jumped off the tractor, biting his lip and shaking his head. He reached in his pocket pulling out his knife, and bent down to cut the nest of twine. Shoving the mess in his pocket he walked to the other side of the cutter checking the blades for more tangled string to remove.

“Dammit!” He kicked the ground seeing a larger mass wrapped around several other blades.

He dropped to his knees holding his pocketknife. Thunder rumbled over his head. Looking up he swore under his breath, the gray clouds hovering over him signaled an end to his workday. A clap of thunder raised the hairs on his neck. Lightning streaked through the blackness on the horizon. Tommy pulled himself up to get a better view down the field to his uncle’s house. The sky seemed threatening with blackish clouds rolling in from the distance. The forest in front of the house came alive as it forcibly bowed to an unseen source.

“Holy Shit!” Tommy quickly returned the knife to his pocket to the sound of a roaring distant train. “Grams! Sam!”

Tommy began to run but suddenly stopped. He watched in horror as the trees parted to reveal a massive funnel cloud devouring everything in its path while it charged toward the small house.

~ ~ ~

The crackling of tree limbs and the bellowing of an invisible monster filled Samuel and Rebecca’s ears. Rebecca fearfully scanned the stretched of terrain, searching for the prowling giant that threatened to pounced.

“In the house!” Samuel hollered over the whistling of the wind. He reached down, swooping Suzie in his arms.

Rebecca fought against the wind, tugging on the screen door. It flung wide open yanking itself out of her grasp and ripping the hinges from the door frame. She sprung through the door opening, turning to reach for the latch to recover the screen door. She grabbed it, trying to pull as Samuel barged in beside her, dropping Suzie to the floor.

“Leave it!” He knocked Rebecca back slamming the front door.

“Samuel?”

“Take cover!”

Rebecca stood frozen and dazed.

“Go to the hall closet!”

Rebecca darted toward the hall, turning back to catch a glimpse of her brother cradling his beloved pet.

“Go! I got Suzie!”

The house started shaking, glass from the windows shattered as the twister growled with all its fury. Rebecca ran in the hall, grabbing the closet doorknob for support feeling the floor shift beneath her feet. Picture frames flew off the walls, striking her in the back. She slung the door open, crawling under the hanging clothes, pushing some to the side as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Samuel ran to the kitchen, frantically looking around. Pots and pans clattered together. Dishes rattled out of the cabinets crashing to the floor. Suzie nervously barked and he gave her a tight squeeze. The ceiling began to buckle, and the overhead light sprayed the room with sparks. Samuel dove under the small wooden table in the corner. He watched a chair thrust itself toward him, slamming into the table before falling on its side. The chair twisted around, then shot back across the room. The table legs vibrated off the floor. He grabbed a leg with one hand, still clutching Suzie with the other. He scooted against the wall as a violently shrieking brought the hutch crashing on top of the table. Samuel threw his hands up over his head to support the table, letting Suzie fall in his lap. The little beagle leaped to the floor and bolted in a cloud dust.

“Suzie!”

Books sailed through the room, one striking Samuel in the face inflicting agonizing pain. He clenched his teeth, closing his eyes tightly while a loud boom exploded within the house, deafening him. A large tree busted through the ceiling, smacking the floor beside him. Chunks of wood pelted the floor, soaring through the air, blistering his body with gashes from their torturing impact. Rain sloshed over him, chilling his body .

~ ~ ~

Suzie whimpered from underneath the huge bough as she dug her claws in the linoleum, desperately trying to free herself. She struggled, thrashing her back legs around, trying to clear them from under the entangled branches. A burst of light flashed before her eyes. The foliage around her head began to slither across the slick floor, pulling her and twisting her short stubby legs. She cried out but still fought to claw herself free. A battered wall cabinet tumbled to the floor, then lunged toward her. She hunkered her head down as it smacked the rubbish lying on top of her, instantly freeing her. Using her front legs, she pulled her crippled body to the center of the room. Blackness surrounded her, lifting her off the floor.

~ ~ ~

Rebecca crouched in the corner of the closet, tears flooding her eyes. The wind swooshed under the crack of the door. A loud thud bashed into the door facing shaking the walls around her. Rebecca screamed, clutching the collar of her shirt. A ferocious wail burst over her head pulverizing the roof as fragments toppled on top of her. A curtain of rain poured down over her body. Rebecca shielded her face with her arms. The clothes above her head swirled within the walls of the closet flogging her body viciously. Wet leafage splattered against her skin, the clinking of metal hangers no longer heard. Rebecca peeked from behind her shielding arms to face the whirling mass of blackness above her. The grumbling blared down on her, taunting her.

“Samuel!”

~ ~ ~

Tommy took cover underneath the tractor, wrapping his arms around the axle as the wind hissed, lifting him slightly off the ground. He adjusted his grip, clinging to the metal frame. He watched the enormous dark twister tear through his uncle’s house, feeding its uncontrollable hunger by hurling objects within its rotation and ripping the roof to pieces as it growled expressing its deep anger. A blast of rain slapped him in the face, stinging his wet clammy skin. Tommy tucked his head into his chest, grief piercing his heart and terror overwhelming his soul. The tractor teetered as vegetation swarmed around him. Squinting his eyes against the splashing current, Tommy watched the mammoth windstorm vault over the barn behind the house taking the pick-up truck with it. The truck spun in midair following in the tornado’s path among the outer legions of destruction.

~ ~ ~

Samuel opened his eyes, his body quivering. The rain pitter-pattered on the linoleum flooring. He strained, pushing a partial wall cabinet to the side. His loafers squished against the floor as he crawled from underneath the broken table. He began shoving hunks of debris out of his way, trying to make a path to a clearing in the room.

“Samuel!”

“Becca?”

Samuel climbed over the refrigerator and pulled himself up. He began snaking his way through the rubble to get to his sister.

“Becca!”

~ ~ ~

Tommy grabbed the treads of the tire and pulled himself up off the ground unscathed. He rubbed his upper arms, groaning from his aching muscles. The rain fell steadily and Tommy searched the sky.

“Grams and Sam,” he murmured looking to wreckage of the old farmhouse. “Dear God!” Tommy ran toward the disaster site.

~ ~ ~

“Becca, I’m here!” Samuel pushed part of the ceiling away from the door. “You ok?”

“Get me outta here!”

Samuel struggled with the door.

“I’m trying!”

“Hurry!”

He tugged, pulling it opened, pushing garbage back with the bottom of the door. He frantically started digging through soggy clothing and sheet rock. Rebecca pushed an arm through, and Samuel grabbed it pulling her to him. Her face soaked and dingy, she wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him.

“Sure you, ok? He studied her carefully.

“Yeah.”

“You’re bleeding.”

Rebecca looked down at her shoulder, pressing her fingers around the gaping wound. She nodded her head as her face wrinkled with sorrow. Samuel wrapped his arm around her waist, helping her out of the closet.

“Where’s Tommy?"

Samuel stepped over a ceiling fan looking to the floor, rain still dripping on him and Rebecca.

“Samuel! Where is he?”

“I...I don’t know.”

Rebecca covered her face with her hands. “Oh dear God, please let him be all right.”

“Grams! Sam!”

“In here!” Rebecca yelled. “Thank you, Lord.”

Tommy trudged through the wreckage. “You guys ok?”

“Yes.” Rebecca threw her arms around Tommy’s neck. “We’re all fine. You?”

“I’m ok.”

Rebecca squeezed his neck, kissing him on the cheek. “Everything happened so fast. We didn’t have time to do anything.”

“I watched it go through the house in less than a minute.”

Samuel sniffled. “I’ve lost everything. My home is demolished.”

“I know.” Rebecca sighed. “But, our lives our more important.”

“Let me get you guys out of here.” Tommy pushed a recliner over on its side.”

“My Suzie is gone.”

“We’ll find her, Sam.”

They slowly emerged from the ruins. Rebecca and Samuel were stunned at the sight around them. Structural pieces of the residence littered the yard resembling a war zone, and the once cozy home the bombing site.

“We’re lucky to be alive.” Rebecca whispered surveying the damage.

“Suzie!” Samuel wandered around the yard kicking debris.

“Suzie!” Rebecca yelled.

“Where’s my truck?” Samuel flung his arms in the air.

Tommy pointed toward the barn and Samuel gaped at the gesture. He slowly turned walking in that direction. Tommy and Rebecca began picking up what could be savaged while the rain continued to fall.

Samuel inspected his barn, noting minimal wind damage. He stepped behind it, looking to an overgrown pasture. He eyes grew big with the sight of his truck majestically sitting perfectly up on the hill. He trudged up the hill to the truck. He smiled touching his undamaged truck.

“There’s a Ford for ya.”

Samuel walked around to the driver’s side. The idea of driving it off the hill tickled him. He reached for the door handle, but stopped seeing something lying underneath the truck. He bent down then suddenly fell to his knees.

“Suzie.” He gasped. “My poor baby.”

He scooped her limp body into his lap, stroking her fur, her eyes wide open, and her body barely warm. Samuel’s body heaved from his sobs as he cradled her lifeless body. The roar of the train still ringing in his ears, and the vision in her eyes mirrored his own.

“I’m sorry, Suzie, ole girl. I’m sorry.”

Samuel gently rubbed her ears, still staring in her eyes.

“Go home, girl.”

Samuel put a hand over his chest feeling the overwhelming loneliness well up inside him and the rumble of the storm.

~ ~ ~

“Thank God, no one lost their lives,” the Sheriff told them.

Samuel bitterly glanced to the hill.

“Several folks are without a place to stay tonight.”

“Thank you for coming out, Sheriff.” Tommy shook his hand.

“No problem. You three need to get somewhere. There’s another tornado warning until nine o’clock.”

Samuel perked up. “Another one?”

“Yes, sir. Dispatcher just put it across the radio. It’s part of the same storm system.”

Loneliness consumed Samuel. Losing his precious Suzie and the home he and Anna once shared ate away at his soul. Sensing he has nothing left but memories of companionship, he gazed at the dark clouds lingering over the hill. He tilted his head, listening closely. He wished for a seat on the next train, to be whisked away from his solitary life. He silently prayed for another twister, one that would be his ticket home to his two beloved girls, Anna and Suzie.

“See ya soon,” he whispered into the wind.


Entry:

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Word Count: 2770