Tornado
Tornado
By Candace Thompson
I was told to take cover immediately, for my tornado was coming again. I knew there was no escaping its high winds for it was my season, but I made sure my family was safe and unharmed. After all, it was my tornado and I had to be bold to face it. Yet no matter how much I prepared, I was still hit in the head with objects from the world wind, the ultimate disaster in circles. Over and over the same pain the same agony spinning about making me experience each terror anew. My physical wounds meant nothing as they could be healed. I could only hope to awaken with ruby slippers and a yellow brick road but that barely happened to Dorothy.
I remember the first tornado that came for me. I had a house at the time, but its roof came clear off, lifting out everything I owned and loved, including a husband, a baby, my favorite sofa and high heels. When it was done, It looked as if the house were made of straw the entire time. Although my grief and emptiness made me feel as if I too were made of straw, I wasn’t. I couldn’t ascend into the air like husband, like baby, I had to stay and start over with only the dirt around me. I searched for help only to find that my father stopped running and was finally destroyed by the tornado that stalked him for 46 years.
Driven by my grief and madness for years, I finally finished my new home, my new life. Determined not to let the storm destroy me or my home. It teased me with severe thunderstorms, televised hurricanes in adjacent states, earthquakes and forest fires, but I stayed guarded. I made myself entertain company only to have some socialization. I even entertained admirers but wouldn’t dare marry again. I had to protect those who came in my path from my tornado. I looked as a gentle as a queen, but no one had a clue of the twister that secretly lingered close by.
Curse the day I began entertaining one guest frequently. This guest became an admirer and soon a lover. A lover with potential that made me feel almost safe enough to tell him of the cyclone that followed me, but I found out I was with child before I could tell him. It wasn’t long before the skies darkened, and the winds accelerated. Again, before my very eyes went a Lover, a baby, a new favorite sofa, and my shoes.
My sanity absolutely had gone by this time. I screamed into the dark sky and cursed it. I ripped off the clothes I wore for I had nothing and wanted nothing. It wasn’t just the things and people I lost that made me insane, it was how I lost them. It was all one big circle, every time. Happy, house, lover, baby etc. something wanted me unhappy. Not dead but alive and unhappy which can be worse than death depending on the eyes looking at it. How could I cheat this kin to death? What could I do different but still enjoy happiness? I noticed that my storm never harmed me in my isolation. Should I be put away and never see the light of day or hear the sound of life?
I was warned to take cover once again, but this time it was from the sun. Confused, as I had always heard of its beauty and warmth. As I prepared my shelter, there stood a man, a baby and woman with high heel shoes staring at me with eyes of terror. “Look, hun!” said the man pointing at me. “Here comes a tornado! Hurry let’s take cover.” The woman buried the baby in her bosom and they ran as quickly as they could.
I looked down only to find that I was frightening. I was an assortment of dark colors blending together, creating a darkness I had never seen. I looked down and saw people running and trees bending from my presence. I had been the tornado all along. I wept. After I dried my tears, I found confidence and a powerful sense of pride in what I was about to do. Holding my head up high I destroyed everything in my path, only this time I did it with a smile.
This story is also posted on my Journo Portfolio page:
Inkcarcerated 