Trapped on the Bridge

We had loaded the horses in the trailer and were on our way to the horse show at 5:15PM on Friday. We wanted to get there the night before the show so the horses would have a chance to adjust to the grounds and get some extra practice in before the event. However, the sky was getting cloudy and dark, and it was starting to rain. It promised to be a wet weekend.

Traffic was backed up to a dead stop across the bridge and we tried our best to relax and not be too fidgety. The truck rocked gently as one of the horses shifted its feet in the trailer. He must be propping his leg to rest. A quick peek in the rearview showed two horse heads contentedly pulling hay from the hay bag. They were such good travelers, always calm and happy in the trailer.

“What could be taking so long?” I asked my instructor, who was the lucky one doing the driving.

“There must be an accident up there. I’ll try to find a traffic report.” She began poking the buttons on the radio.

“…severe weather warning for the following counties. Duval, Clay, St. John’s. Possible tornado and hail. Stay indoors and go to an interior room such as the closet.”

We turned to look at each other. “What?” We were in St. John’s county. As if on cue, our attention was drawn to the right side of the truck. There was wind starting to swirl, and across the way a finger of water started dancing on the river. Here we were, stuck on the bridge, with a tornado looming over us. The horses started stamping and rocking the trailer.

Tap. Tap. You could hear what could only be hail hitting the truck. I noticed I was shaking violently and I grabbed her hand. The waterspout was agonizingly creeping its way towards us, with its lithe, black body twisting and swaying. My heart pounded in my chest. “Are we going to die?” Hail thundered on the roof, banging like it was trying to get in at us. "Oh please! I promise I will start going to church!"

I thought I heard a loud stamp over the cacophony of hail hitting the truck. One of them must be kicking. The wind pushed hard against the truck. I watched in awe as the waterspout twisted out of existence. We just sat quietly while the radio droned on, and rain started falling. We eventually regained our senses.

“We made it!” She seemed happy, but I was squirming with the knowledge that I had just made a deal.