Nothing After the Tornado

“A tornado watch is being issued in multiple counties across the United States starting now through the rest of the night. Northern Maine is expected to receive the brunt of the storm.” Megan’s jaw was dropped as she watched the blonde news anchor warn Mainers about the sudden and unexpected storm. Her younger brother, Anthony, sat next to her, annoyingly playing Minecraft on his iPhone.

“You’re going to catch flies if you don’t close your mouth,” Anthony said with a chuckle. Megan disregarded him and continued eyeing the television in complete awe. “Quit ignoring me!” Megan shushed him. “What’s got you so interested in the news tonight? You never watch the news!”

“Don’t you see what’s going on?” Megan snapped. Her voice was sharp, which was a rare occurrence for her, especially when speaking to her brother. Megan just celebrated her sweet sixteenth birthday the previous weekend and Anthony was eight years younger than her. They have their occasional sibling squalls, of course, but Megan mostly looked out for her brother in a caring and loving way. Some would say she is an overprotective sister. Anthony flinched in surprise as Megan whipped her head around to face him, her long sandy brunette hair following its path. He was taken aback by her expression – one he does not normally see. Her dark brown eyes seemed darker than usual, almost popping out of their sockets, and turning bloodshot. Her olive skin was pale, even the freckles on her face seemed to have diminished. The expression he saw, Anthony realized, was pure terror. An expression so rare for his brave big sister, who was seldom afraid of anything. “A tornado is coming!” She cried, “a tornado!”

“Mom!” Anthony called, not knowing what else to do. “Mom, please come here quick!”

Meredith rushed into the living room. “What is going on in here?” She cried before even entering the room. “What is all this noise?” She had a dish in one hand and a drying rag in the other.

“Megan is scaring me!” Anthony pointed to his sister, who was sitting on her knees on the area rug in front of the television.

Meredith rolled her eyes. “Megan, quit scaring your brother. You know he gets nightmares.” She started back to the kitchen. “And don’t sit so close to the T.V! You’re going to damage your eyesight.”

Her mom’s words went right into one ear and out through the other, barely even noticing her existence for a moment. Megan stood up and started pacing frantically around the room chanting, “there’s going to be a tornado! There’s going to be a tornado!” She covered her ears in panic and continued, “we are unsafe here! We are all going to die!”

“MOM!” Anthony screeched. Tears streamed down his face which he hid behind a yellow throw pillow.

“Megan! What in the wo—”

“A TORNADO, MOM!” Megan placed her hands aggressively on her mother’s shoulders. Both of their faces clearly terrified. She pointed at the television, which the news anchor had returned from a commercial break.

“Northern Maine is expected to experience a tornado passing through tonight,” The news anchor started. “There is an official tornado warning being issued throughout the state, with northern counties experiencing the worst of it. Residents of Aroostook county should prepare for the worst of the storm, while the northern parts of Somerset, Piscataquis, and Penobscot counties should also beware as the storm is expected to pass through those areas.”

Meredith joined Anthony on the couch, who was in a fetal position trying not to see or hear what was going on. She wrapped her arms around his shaking body as she pulled him close. “I don’t understand!” She exclaimed, while trying to remain calm. “We never get tornadoes in Maine! Why have we not heard of this before now?”

“What are we going to do, Mom?” Megan asked, after finally collecting herself, at least for the time being.

Meredith covered her son’s ears. “I honestly don’t know, Meg.” The worry on her face was painfully hard for Megan to look at in her own current state. “We aren’t prepared for a tornado. I mean, we live in a trailer, for crying out loud! Manufactured homes are not made to withstand such major storms!”

Megan shook her head in regret but agreed. “We don’t even know anyone in our area who doesn’t live in a trailer!” She thought for a moment. “What about Nana’s and Pup’s house? They have a basement we could hide in!”

“They live three hours away, though. I’m afraid we may end up caught in the middle of the storm on our way there. We really have no time for traveling anywhere.”

“Well what do we do, Mom?” Megan’s eyes welled up and before she knew it, tears spilled out of them and tumbled down the front of her striped blouse.

“Just let me think for a minute, honey.” She gently rubbed her fingers across Anthony’s wet cheek. She gave him a kiss and started to rock him as he lay on her lap. “We need to stay calm, you hear me? Panicking will do none of us any good.” Megan nodded.

They heard a loud knock on the front door. Meredith slid Anthony’s body off her lap and kissed his forehead. “Everything will be okay, I promise.” She gave him a fake smile, which wasn’t very reassuring, nor very comforting. “You stay right here, alright? I’ll be right back. Megan, stay with your brother please.”

Megan didn’t follow her mother’s orders and instead, followed her through the kitchen and to the front door. She kept her distance but glanced over her mother’s shoulder as she opened the door. “Oh, hi Kelly,” Their panicking neighbor barged through the half-open door. “Have you heard the ne—”

“The tornado! You heard that too? I just came to tell you about it!” Kelly was their next-door neighbor in the trailer park they lived in since moving to Presque Isle six month before. They didn’t know many other families in the park, but Kelly was very pleasant and introduced herself with a housewarming basket of muffins. Today, her demeanor was not a pleasant as usual. Her normally tidied updo had fallen halfway down her back, with curly q’s springing out from the top of her head. She was pale and terrified; the same way Megan had been a few minutes before.

“We just learned the news about the tornado and were talking about what to do.” She paused, noticing that Megan was peering in the doorway of the kitchen. She continued, “Oh Kelly, we don’t have anywhere to go. What do we do?”

“Well I actually came to tell you what to do.” Kelly paced in a circle. “A whole bunch of folks from the park are scared outta their damn minds about this. Who knew Maine could even get tornadoes? I sure have never in my whole life experienced anythin’ like it! Heck with that, how are we supposed to survive in a mobile home?” She realized she was rambling and quickly shook her head. “So the folks ‘round here have been madly wanderin’ up and down the streets lookin’ for a place to hide and I just got word they found one! Down there on Forest Ave, they’ve got a new property with a house goin’ in soon. The foundation has been set but the house ain’t there yet! It’s the perfect place for us all to keep safe until the storm passes!”

Meredith glanced back at her daughter, unsure of what to say next. What else are we going to do? She thought. “Well let’s go, Mom! What are we waiting for?”

“Yes, you’re right. Thank you, Kelly. You can go on ahead without us. It was Forest Ave, you said?”

“Yes, ma’am, and you better hurry!”

“We’re coming. Go grab your stuff Meg, and your brother’s too. Make sure you get his weighted blanket and noise cancelling headphones. You know how he is with too much stimulation, and he’s already horrified. Get a blanket for yourself too, and I’ll get your brother in the car.”

After gathering up all their belongings, the family set out to Forest Ave to find the houseless foundation which will hopefully serve as their safety. When they showed up, there were already about 15 other people gathered in the large hole, including Kelly. Megan lay down a sleeping bag for Anthony and guided him down to it. Once he was lying down, she covered him up with his weighted blanket and tucked it underneath him. “Wear these and don’t take them off, okay?” She placed his headphones on him and gave him a nodded. He nodded back.

The cement hole had been filled with five more people in the 10 minutes the family had been there. It was chaotic, everyone was panicking and talking over each other. Kelly made her way over to Meredith. “The storm should be passin’ through within the next hour or so. I think we should all get down as low as possible for the time bein’. We don’t want to risk it.” Meredith nodded. “You got any blankets?”

“Only enough for the kids.”

“I got a few extra, come on.” Kelly lay out her pile of blankets on the floor for herself and Meredith to sit on.

Megan had made sure to grab her special heart-shaped locket that her father had given to her before he passed away of cancer. She found herself thinking about what he had said when he gave it to her as he was lying on his deathbed. “Here,” he had said, trembling, “take this locket, it will protect you. Whenever you are in danger, just hold onto this, and I will be there to keep you safe. This locket will always bring you back home.” Megan held onto it tightly as she drifted into a deep sleep. Suddenly, everyone inside the cement foundation was fast asleep.

The sun shined brightly through Megan’s eyelids. They popped open as they always do when the sun comes up, since she is unable to sleep unless it is pitch black. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was and had to sit up and look around in order to gain back the memory. It didn’t take long for it to return, although at first, she thought - and hoped - the tornado ordeal was all a wild dream. When she quickly realized the nightmare was very real, and that she was really sleeping on the bottom of a foundation hole, she knew she needed to do something. She was not quite sure what that something was, but she sprung out of her makeshift bed anyway, stopping halfway for a moment to hold her hurting back.

Everyone except for herself was still fast asleep, some people even snoring. How unbelievable that everyone could be sleeping so soundly on this concrete, during a time such as this, Megan thought. She found her mom sleeping on the other side of Anthony, tucked in like a caterpillar in a cocoon. “Mom,” she whispered, careful not to wake her brother. “Mom, wake up.”

Meredith slowly woke from the aggressive shaking of Megan’s hands. “What?” She replied groggily.

“Mom, the tornado…”

“Tornado!” Frightened, Meredith sat straight up from the sound of that. “What tornado?”

Megan realized her mother must have forgotten all about what happened just as she had. “We came to sleep here to keep safe from the tornado. Remember?”

“Oh yes. What happened? Did it pass?”

“I’m not really sure. Everyone is still asleep, which is weird. I guess if the storm did come, then we all slept through it.”

“Well let’s get everyone up and figure it out.” Megan held out a hand and pulled her up. They both went around gently shaking people awake.

“Oh no, what’s going on!” Kelly cried. Her eyes were covered with a sleep mask.

“It’s okay!” Meredith said. She rubbed her back as Kelly peeled off the mask. “The tornado has passed.”

Everyone started up the ladder which one of their neighbors had brought. Megan was the last to head up, and she was worried about the lack of noise she was hearing from up above her. In fact, it was utter silence. This gave her chills as she wondered what must have happened to their town, not to mention their homes. She hesitated before starting up the ladder. She gasped as she reached the top. She could not believe what she was seeing before her. There was debris of tree limbs and lumber from houses which spread throughout the yard and the street. When she glanced to her right, she saw a mobile home which had completely flipped onto itself and was resting on its roof. Glass from the windows had shattered, surrounding the house. The mobile home was tan with green shutters - just like their own, she thought. She glanced at her mom, who was consoling her crying brother, and when she looked back at the trailer, she suddenly realized it was their home! Her hands covered her mouth to muffle her horrified howl. “Moooomm!” Megan shrieked. “It’s, it’s….it’s our house!”

“It can’t be!” Kelly said. “The trailer park is three streets away!”

“That is definitely our trailer.” Meredith said, “It still has our blue metal flower hanging on the siding.”

Someone else chimed in. “Where in the heck is all the other buildings?” The old man cried. “There were at least four homes across the street! They are all gone!”

“Foundations and all.” Kelly agreed.

“How can that be?” Asked the old man. “A tornado can’t take away the foundation! That’s impossible!”

“Look…” Megan said, pointing across the street with a shaky finger. “The grass is long.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Another lady called hysterically.

“The houses that we all saw across the street last night, well, they’re gone now.” Megan gulped. “But the foundation is gone and there is no sign there ever were foundations. The grass where they would have been is long!”

“I don’t understand how that is possible.” Meredith said.

Everyone began to wander down the street toward the trailer park. When they arrived, the park was completely empty. The lots were now covered by long grass as if they had never been there. “How is that so!?” Someone gasped. “Where are our trailers?” The group continued walking down the street toward town, in hopes to find any other civilization. There were no homes or vehicles in sight, nonetheless other people. The town was empty, all except for themselves and the upside-down trailer that Megan’s family used to call home. Why only our trailer? Megan thought.

The group searched day and night for anything they could find. They needed food, but not only could they not find any other homes, but they couldn’t find any grocery stores either. All businesses were gone. Every single building had disappeared. They had to make their way down to the Aroostook River for water to drink and to rinse off their sweat from the sweltering heat. They ate wildflowers to get by.

Megan felt as if her stomach was turning inside out. She had never experienced this amount of starvation before and the pain was almost unbearable. Everyone had longed to catch a fish from the river so they could eat more substantial food than dandelions, but nobody had anything to catch it with. No one had thought to bring their fishing gear when they fled their homes for safety.

“Get over here, dammit!” Mr. Hanscom yelled while swatting his hand around in the water. He was one bitter old man who lived diagonally across from Megan’s trailer in the park. This journey has only brought out his already existent bitterness ten-fold.

“Mr. Hanscom,” Megan said while shaking her head. “You aren’t going to catch any fish with your hands. You may as well save yourself the stress.”

Mr. Hanscom made a sort of growling noise and then plopped himself on the ground, hanging his head between his scrawny knees. Megan could hear him weeping softly. She was slightly put off by it, but she figured this journey would put anyone out of their minds. She crouched down next to him and rubbed his back, hoping he wouldn’t yell at her for it. “I know, I know.” She consoled, “it will be okay.”

“How do you know?” He his sad face peered up at her through his wrinkled hands. She could see the fright in his tear-filled eyes, which had not yet spilled down his cheeks.

“I guess I don’t, really. I just have hope.”

“My wife was a lot tougher ‘an me, you know.” He sniffled and wiped a fallen tear. “She would have said the same thing as you and woulda meant it too. I miss her, my wife. She passed a year ago.” Mr. Hanscom burst into a full blubbering cry.

Megan wrapped her arm around him in a side hug. “I know how you feel, Mr. Hanscom. My daddy died from cancer. My life hasn’t been the same without him. But I’ll tell you something, what gives me the strength to keep going is that I know he is always here with me, protecting me. You see this locket?” She lifted it to show him. “He gave this to me.”

“To remember him by.”

“No. Well, yes, but also for protection. He is always watching over me to keep me safe. Just like your wife. Haven’t you got anything of hers to hold for protection?”

“Why, yes. I have her favorite white-gold bracelet in my pocket.”

“Wear it, Mr. Hanscom. And she will keep you safe.”

The group has been travelling for about a week now, stopping at nights to make canopies out of branches so they can sleep in somewhat of a shelter. They hadn’t even made it out of Aroostook county, it seemed to have been never ending. They walked along the river just in case they needed water. Many of the travelers were getting sick from heat stroke and weren’t looking too good, Megan thought. When she woke up inside of her tree limbed canopy with her mother and brother huddled next to her, she felt the stickiness from the muggy day that had just began and she peeled her body away from them. She felt so thirsty that her throat felt like a cat was inside scratching it. She started toward the river down over the hill. She also needed to rinse off the dirt and grime that had mixed in with her sweat and built up on her body throughout yesterday. She walked out until the lukewarm water touched her waste. She used her hands to splash water into her armpits and scrubbed. She knew she wasn’t actually getting clean, but at least she felt slightly better. The flowing water had a soothing sound to it this morning. It made her feel calm, until she remembered how badly her throat was hurting. She cupped her hands together and used them to scoop water into her mouth. She knew it was disgusting to be drinking from the river, not to mention the same water that she just rinsed her grubby body with, but she knew she didn’t have much of a choice.

As Megan started back to the canopy, she heard someone weeping softly. She knew it was her brother. He had cried off and on the entire week. She rushed over and saw that her mother was gone. She must have either had the same idea as Megan and went to get water, or she was checking in on Kelly, which she often did. Megan scooped up Anthony’s head and placed it on her lap, running her fingers through his hair. “Shhhh…” she soothed, “it’s going to be okay.”

“I’m scared, Meg.” His bottom lip quivered. “When will this ever end?”

“I don’t know, Anthony.” She rocked him and sang You Are My Sunshine, while holding onto her locket. She continued to caress his hair. By the time she had finished the song, Anthony was fast asleep peacefully in her arms. She thought it was strange, considering it normally takes a lot to get him to go to sleep, especially when he is frightened as he is now. But she took it as a win, and left him to nap in the canopy.

Megan set off to find Mr. Hanscom, who had slept in a canopy shelter that she had made for him. When she approached the shelter, she immediately felt something wasn’t right. She ducked inside and there she saw Mr. Hanscom sleeping on his back, smiling. He was wearing his wife’s bracelet on his left hand - closest to his heart, Megan figured - and holding it with his right. She suddenly realized that Mr. Hanscom wasn’t actually sleeping at all. It hit her like a brick to the back. He was dead. She sobbed for several minutes.

When Megan found her mom in Kelly’s canopy, she began telling her what had happened to Mr. Hanscom, when Meredith interrupted her, “I know. Everyone is dropping dead like flies around here today.”

“What? Who else?”

“People are startin’ to die of starvation and heatstroke,” Kelly inputted.

Megan sat by the riverbank reminiscing in the memories of her father. She watched the bass bob their heads out every so often, wishing she was able to eat one for dinner. She squeezed the locket and began to weep. Suddenly, she felt the urge to try and catch a fish, knowing too well that she wouldn’t have any luck, but she thought she would give it a whirl anyway. Her hands swatted aimlessly in the river. Only unlike Mr. Hanscom, she shocked herself when she grabbed hold of a large river bass. She yanked it out, her eyes bulging out as she stared at the fish in awe, not actually believing she just caught it with her bare hands. After staring at it while it flopped in between her hands, she ran up the hill and showed everyone that they had dinner. “It must have been pure luck,” she said when asked how she managed to catch it.

Later that day, Meredith discovered Kelly standing on the edge of a rock ledge. Below it was a shallow quarry at least 150 feet down. Meredith peered over Kelly’s shoulder. “What are you looking at, dear?” Suddenly she noticed Kelly was crying.

“I just can’t do it anymore!” she sobbed.

Meredith squeezed her tight. “I know its hard, and I know we don’t know what we’re doing or where we’re going, but we’ll make. I promise.”

“That’s just it. I can’t take the unknown anymore. I’m hot, I’m exhausted, I’m hungry, I’m thirsty. And there is just no hope for any of us. I don’t even know why I ever thought there was.” She took a step closer to the ledge. Meredith reached for her hand, but it slipped through her own. “Just let me go, it’s easier this way.”

“You can’t go out this way, Kel. Please just come with me. We will figure it out. This isn’t the way.” She heard footsteps and turned around. There was Megan, standing and watching like she usually did. “Go on, honey. Everything is fine here. I need you to go back on up now.”

“Kelly…” Megan started.

“Megan, go!” Meredith snapped.

“Kelly, you don’t want to do that.” She rubbed her thumb and two fingers on her locket.

“Yeah, and why not?” Kelly cried.

“Because this isn’t the way out.” She rubbed the locket more aggressively now. Sweat dripped from her eyebrow. All of a sudden, Kelly snapped out of her suicidal state and slowly backed away from the ledge.

“Thank you,” Kelly whispered to Megan as she solemnly walked by and headed up the hill.

“What did you do?” Meredith asked her daughter. Megan was just as shocked as she was. She shrugged.

Anthony was sweating profusely but his skin was cold, and he appeared lethargic. “He’s dyin’ of heatstroke!” Kelly exclaimed. Anthony was lying in a fetal position. Megan picked him up like a baby and carried him down to the river. She splashed water on his body in hopes to cool him off. Nothing was working. He tried to cry, but his tears were all dried up. Megan didn’t know what else to do for him. She sat in the dirt and rocked back and forth, hugging her knees to her chest. She grasped the locket and squeezed, pleading for protection.

The next thing she knew, Anthony stopped sweating and the color in his face returned. He sat up with full strength. Everyone watching was in total shock. How did he just bounce back like that? Megan did not understand how her little brother was almost dying, and then out of nowhere was back to normal again.

It’s been ten days now since the tornado. The town was still empty. There were no buildings, homes, people, or vehicles to be found since they started their journey through Aroostook county. Megan noticed, however, that there were still animals around. They had come across a few deer, though nothing to kill them with.

At this point, everyone in the group had either died of thirst, starvation, or heat stroke, or decided to stay where they were at, instead of continuing their journey. All who remained in the group was Megan, Anthony, Meredith, and Kelly. They had no idea where they were going at this point, or what they were looking for.

When they stopped for the night to build their canopies and sleep, Megan had a very vivid dream for the first time since she slept at home. When she woke up, all she could remember from the dream was that her father was handing her the heart-shaped locket, as he had when he was alive, but he kept repeating, “go home and go to sleep.” Megan was a huge believer that dreams symbolize occurrences in our waking lives, but she could not figure out what this one meant. Though she did remember that when he gave it to her in real life, he had said “this will take you home.” She didn’t quite know what that meant at the time.

Then suddenly she figured it out. “Mom!” She hollered, “mom, I know what we need to do!”

“What?” Meredith sounded tired and annoyed.

“We need to go back home!”

“What home?” Anthony chimed in.

“Our trailer!”

Meredith shook her head, “you know our trailer is destroyed.”

“But,” Megan started, “haven’t you thought it was weird that our trailer is the only building we have seen during this whole entire journey since the tornado? I mean, yes, it was flipped over upside down, but it was still there.”

“She’s right,” Kelly said, “we haven’t seen another house since.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“We need to go back there!” Megan exclaimed.

“Are you kidding me? We have been traveling for ten days, it would take another ten days just to get back there. We have no transportation besides our feet and I am NOT backtracking.”

“Mom, I have no time to explain, but we have to do this. I have a hunch. Please just come with me.” Megan pulled her mother by the arm and started down the street. She paused for a moment and held the locket in both hands. She bowed her head and closed her eyes. Meredith could tell she was thinking hard but didn’t know what about. They all simultaneously glanced to the right and found a horse peering out from the woods.

“What in the world!” Meredith exclaimed. Megan winked at her. “It’s all saddled up and everything!”

“Let’s go!” Megan waved them over and they all piled onto the horse. She pulled the reins, and the horse started their long journey back to Forest Ave. The four of them held onto each other, Kelly the caboose.

Megan heard a huge thump and felt there was suddenly less weight on her back. “Whoa!” She yelled and the horse came to a halt. Megan glanced back to see that Kelly wasn’t on the back of the horse any longer.

“Kelly’s gone!” Meredith screamed in horror. They jumped down and found Kelly lying in the dirt, blood pouring out from her head.

“Go on without me,” Kelly mumbled.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you,” Megan whispered guiltily.

The trio solemnly continued on their way.

They finally reached Forest Ave after five straight days of travel. The upside-down trailer was still where they had left it, across the street from the foundation they had used for safety, which was now nonexistent. “What now?” asked Meredith.

“Now we go in and go to sleep.” Megan said.

“Sleep? What would we do that for?”

Anthony yawned, “I could go to sleep.”

They started toward the shattered storm door. Exhaustion hit Meredith like a bus. “Yeah,” she yawned, “I guess I could sleep.”

They climbed into the door which was almost too high to reach but they managed. They stood on the ceiling inside the trailer. Their furniture was flipped over on the ceiling. “Anthony, help me flip the couch back over,” Megan demanded. They all huddled together on the couch and went to sleep peacefully.

When the family woke up the next morning, they were surprised to find everything back to normal. The couch they slept on was on the hardwood floor, sitting across from the television set which was unharmed, and the area rug in front of it was lying right side up. They all looked at each other confused. “I had the strangest dream, mom,” said Megan.

“It wasn’t a dream, Meg.”

“Are you sure?” Megan stood up and started to look around. Pots and pans that had been scattered on the ceiling the night before were now stacked neatly in the cabinet where they belonged. The kitchen table was in the kitchen instead of the bathroom, with its four chairs pushed in around it.

“Everything is back to normal,” Anthony said.

Megan shrugged. “I guess Daddy’s heart-locket really did protect us!” She smiled. “You know, I used to hate living in a trailer park, but now I’m just grateful to even have a trailer park again. Come on, Anthony, let’s go outside!”

The two kids raced to the door. Meredith followed them, confused but smiling. When Megan opened the door, she couldn’t help but scream. The trailer park lots were empty, like they never existed. They ran outside down the street. There were no houses in site, just like before. It seemed as though they were the only people in existence. Megan sighed, “I guess Dad could save us, but not the rest of the world.”