The morning sun disappears as a monstrous, jet-black blanket of cloud suddenly appears; even the wicked and evil ravens hurry to escape the impending storm. The rain lashes down and the shrieking wind hurls itself against the helpless trees, constantly pounding them and quickly removing the remains of the once proud foliage. Everyone immediately senses disaster; suddenly panic-stricken. Screams, shouts and squeals break out all through the area. Escaping people struggle to get away; motorists are honking and hooting as the hapless citizens fail to get away from, what will soon be the centre of a disaster!
Inside a cottage, a little boy is sitting cosily and comfortably examining the television. With his eyes glued to the screen, he is unaware of the terrifying world around him: he is oblivious to his mother’s yelling; the town’s terror and even Max’s barking! Suddenly, the television goes blank and the boy’s attention switches to something which he struggles to accept as reality. His mother grabs him; grabs him in such a way that he senses disaster. She pulls him out of the house into the stricken street, into a whole new world which he has never encountered before.
There are leaves thrown about in the wild storm and brutal gusts of wind bring branches down. The rain thuds against the rooftops, like a steady yet heavy beat of a machine gun and the drum rolls from the thunder are ear-splitting! The storm, like a wild lion roars around corners and rages through the delicate window panes causing the glass to shatter helplessly. As the wind howls, it forces its way through the cottages, not caring about the path of destruction it is leaving behind! With little effort, it blasts off chimney pots from the innocent houses and, as the damage increases, the vulnerable village is left in pandemonium.
Along the beach, white foam from the churning sea flies like scattered snow as the wind whips up the waves turning them crispy white. Already, the seagulls have soared away to find another home. Low in the sky, dark and ominous storm clouds are hovering over the village as though amused at their own brutal power. The malevolent and malicious storm knows it is in control and, like a bully, it seems to roar with laughter as it continues to tease the helpless world below.
The boy and his mother are trying to find a place of safety. The cold bites the boy’s skin and sends a shiver down his spine as he struggles to keep his eyes open. The wind, rain and dust are hammering against his face. Out of the gloom, a branch suddenly appears and punches his mum. Her grip loosens from around his wrist, as she is swept away by the raging and angry wind. In his panic, he hears a familiar bark and with tears clogging up his eyes, he fights his way towards the noise and stumbles across a dark and gloomy hole in which to hide. He realises now how feeble we really are compared to the power of Mother Nature. He waits for the storm to abate, hugging Max’s warm and soft fur for comfort. With his mother gone, it is the worst wait of his life.
Possessions, usually safe and static, are being whipped around in the wind as it continues to break, bang and beat the loved and well cared-for village. Nature seems to have no sympathy as it leaves the helpless and innocent people winded, wilting and weak; when will it be happy? Everywhere there are sparks, shocks and screams; Nature is determined to win.
Gradually the storm begins to subside and, as the wind dies down, a sense of relief slowly spreads around the village. The boy moves his hands away from his tear-stained face as a lonely leaf drifts past. There is no singing from the birds, no chitchat from his friends, and no noise from the occasional car. Strangely, there is even no noise from the little old lady who always tells the boys off for sitting on her fence. The clouds begin to disperse and a frail beam of sunlight marks the boy’s way as he scrambles out of the hole and steps into the world to find an unimaginable sight of destruction. The blissful and cheerful world that he once knew was now just a heap of bricks, rubble and remains of people’s homes. His mind drifts to happier times, when the village was full of rowdy children and the air was filled with constant chit-chat; when there was an essence of life rather than destruction! The boy looks for the fence expecting to see his brother but, to his shock, the fence is amongst the pile of rubble, along with the rest of the town.
There, on top of all the ruins he sees a once adored doll. Her sad and lonely marble eyes gazing straight up into the clear, blue sky.
Waiting...
