By: Jennifer Richardson Holt
We had been hearing that the weather was going to be questionable for several days. It is getting that time of year where storms are not uncommon. Unfortunately, the storms that were coming were going to be, as they are frequently, during the middle of the night. I swear that dangerous weather didn’t used to happen as often in the wee hours as it seems to do now. This seems like the absolute worst timing possible but, it is what it is. I am not particularly frightened of bad weather, now don’t get me wrong I am not a fan, but I am not just struck with terror when the potential is there, but I tried to be realistic, and I spent the day preparing as best as one can for what I knew could very well be a rough night.
Not much other than a sprinkle of occasional rain had gone on by the time my family was getting ready for bed. Mind you, we do turn in relatively early as our daughter is younger. It just so happened that as we all began to migrate to our rooms for bedtime preparation, we got an emergency notification that our area was under a Tornado Watch. Now, I know, and perhaps you do as well, that this doesn’t necessarily mean very much. It means you have the potential to have tornadic conditions, but you could just as easily have absolutely nothing. It equates to nothing more than a friendly reminder saying that there is no guarantee of absolutely anything, but we thought we should let you know that there is a chance. Well, my daughter, while she has been told this, found this development very upsetting. And while her Daddy was telling her it was nothing to worry about, I headed to her room to get all her usual evening routine in progress. Somehow, by the time I had her toothbrush and toothpaste out for her, she informed me that Daddy had said she could camp in our room for the night. There are not words to describe how tightly that child has that man wound around her little finger. I was fine with it though and we set up a little mattress, blankets and a pillow on the floor in our room. Once a unicorn was added we were all set to turn in.
All of us went to sleep relatively quickly. My daughter was excited to be in our room and the security it gave her had her sawing logs straight away. My husband is the type of person that loses consciousness five to ten seconds after his head hits the pillow. It is magical to watch and terribly annoying for those of us who cannot accomplish such a feat. And while I usually take a while to doze off, I don’t think I was up very long on this night. Our cat was curled up in his usual spot on the couch in the living room and our little dog was under the covers plopped (and I cannot stress that term enough) in the bend of my legs behind my knees. Maybe we were all sleeping so soundly in the hopes that the forecasts would be wrong, and things wouldn’t get too out of hand, but whatever the reason the whole lot of us were comfortably snoozing.
It was a very loud clap of thunder that woke me not long after midnight. I jerked awake out of a sound sleep and was shocked that not another soul stirred. Then the roar began. I couldn’t tell if it was strong wind or hard rain or some combination of the two. I considered getting up to look outside but, if I’m honest, part of me didn’t really want to know so that I could worry about it. I suppose I was employing an ignorance is bliss methodology. Whether it was wind or rain it was loud and, if I’m honest, disturbing. It just kept going and going steadily. I was looking at every weather provider I could think of checking radar. I was thinking that surely this couldn’t keep up for too much longer. I would try to close my eyes and hope sleep would come but the noise said no. And of course, it seemed every time I would happen to open my eyes there would be a sudden flash of lightning which would disconcert me all the more.
I was wide awake by the time the sky got a bit quieter about its falling. There was still the occasional rumble of thunder, but the worst had moved on. But I still lay there looking at the clock from time to time hoping sleep would come. I was strategizing all I could to encourage drowsiness. I thought perhaps if I went to the bathroom and got a sip of water I would be at optimum comfort. I did so and returned to find my little dog in the same pose I do every single time that I get up during the night. She had centered herself in my spot, head on pillow and covers pulled up. I stood there looking at her occupying my spot and she gave me quite the side eye. And, as we do every night, I picked her up and tossed her to the middle of the bed while she frustratedly grunted. I climbed in and she resumed her usual bend of the legs location perfectly content post her nightly bed toss.
It took probably ten more looks at the clock and countless flounders attempting to relax but at some point, roughly three or four hours after the storm I went back to sleep. Interestingly enough, other than the dog having to take my spot, not another soul in the house seemed phased by the storm. My daughter tossed and turned a bit but that’s standard for her. Not another eye seemed to open. But, while loud, the storm turned out to be not too bad which was a relief. Of course, my alarm clock went off what felt like seconds after the goal of sleep was accomplished. That’s the thing about long nights, they very often make for long days, and this one was no exception. I made it through though, but I assure you I slept quite soundly the next night, minus a brief dog toss of course.
Prose and Possibilities 