The Wild Beast

THE WILD BEAST

Everything was in turmoil. The wild wind whistled in the tranquil city of Ridgewood, creating a rather unpleasant evening for its residents. The leaves rustled in the wind, and flew in all directions from its powerful force. To top off the noise from the wind, the thunder's boom vibrated in the air making it seem like a bomb exploded somewhere nearby. The ocean waves hit hard against the giant rocks and spilled water onto the boardwalk creating small rivers on the ground. The usual busy streets were pretty much empty except for a few cars swimming through the slippery roads, which were flooded from the heavy rain that descended from the dark gray, angry sky throughout the day, still continuing to fall. Some of the outside lights flickered on and off. It would not come as a surprise if the power went out, leaving people immobile and without light. A beastly storm charged the city, unlike any ever seen before.

With this dangerous attack of Mother Nature, not a soul could be seen on the streets. No one dared to set foot outdoors unless it was an extreme emergency that couldn't be held off any longer. Everyone stayed in the comfort and safety of their homes. Watching TV was a wonderful idea but that seemed to be out of the question because television sets were not functioning properly. All that could be seen on the screen was gray and there was a crackling noise resonating from living rooms of homes and apartments. People could not enjoy themselves much and that dampened their already downing mood.

Yes, the mood that settled over the city from this somewhat strange, unfamiliar storm was not a pleasant one; rather it created sadness and gloom. It seemed as though nothing would cheer people up; at least not until the storm would ease and calm down a bit. Not too many people were in the mood for a good old conversation. The best thing to do at the moment was for everyone to call it a night and hit the sack; but that seemed impossible. Who could fall asleep to the never-ending booming force that interfered into their lives and created a disturbance?

For the past twenty-four hours there had been nothing but chaos outside and a dead atmosphere inside homes and apartments that made it feel as if someone had passed away. Oh, what a day. Not something that people wished for. Not something that entered their minds. Actually, the news that the storm was approaching was so sudden that people did not have the chance to stock up on the necessary supplies such as canned food, water, flashlights, and batteries, among other things.

Being jailed at home meant that starvation was a possibility. Those people that were lucky enough to have plenty of water and canned food stashed away in the closets were able to get by without starving themselves; although they had to limit the amount of food that was consumed, for they didn't know how long this storm would stick around. The unfortunate ones had to battle it out with whatever they could find to fill into their body.

The meteorologists had reported earlier that the ferocious storm was going to move past the city barely missing its edge, so there was nothing to worry about; but their predictions were wrong. Unfortunately, the storm hit with full force and without any update or warning leaving people clueless. It didn't allow people to correctly prepare for the upcoming disaster that most likely would end up staying for a while until everything cleared up. That's exactly what happened

The storm decided to stick around for a few days. The rain continued to pour; and though there were periods of drizzles here and there, it still helped to accumulate more water on the already flowing streets. The thunder only lasted for about a day, but the wind still kept up its past performance, which included music and a great deal of force. And people could forget about the bright sunshine that usually shown in the blue sky, for the sky was still dark gray and angry. And as for the temperature, it was rather cold this time of the year, ranging in the low sixties to high fifties. It was almost the beginning of summer and right then and there it didn't look as if summer was anywhere near its normal arrival.

So where were the hot, bright, sunny summer days that everyone enjoyed? Where was the opening of the beach season? Where were the bright colors of summer clothes? Well, all of this was somewhere hidden behind the curtain of the stage, waiting for the cue to begin the show. And that cue would not be given any time soon. How could this happen? No one knew. Even the smart meteorologists were puzzled and amazed trying desperately to figure out where they went wrong in their findings and predictions. But no matter what anyone tried to do, no matter how hard they tried, there was no way to know why this happened, for this is Mother Nature at work; and what Mother Nature wants to do it does without question. It can make our lives miserable and difficult. And this time around this is what it decided to do.

It was hard for most people to move around and go about doing the common everyday things. Almost all of the businesses had to close down and so they suffered financially due to the lack of customers. No one could get out of the house, not unless they wanted to go for a swim. And those that were brave enough to go outside, their path would be blocked by rows of broken trees ripped out from under the ground by the wild beast. What could people do? The only logical option was to sit and wait for all of this to be over, for it to be the thing of the past. Of course the events of the storm would never be forgotten, for the impact and the damage done was far greater than anyone could have imagined.

Written Summer 2003...