Sara Niles's Blog: Sara Nile's Blog - Posts Tagged "essay"
The Ice Storm by Sara Niles
Essay length short story: 4389 words
Tags: winter storm, domestic violence shelter,record ice storm,community
The forces of nature unleash one of the most devastating and deadly ice storms of the century and while the small, rural community struggles to survive, Sara and her co-workers work to protect the shelter clients and children.
Short story taken from Out of the Maelstrom by Sara Niles
We live in a world so full of explosive power that the extent of natural forces continues to baffle us, from the jolt of a lightning bolt that can melt metal and fuel a city, to the rupture of a volcano. Sometimes the lethal power is in the form of the simplest elements of all, air and water, and occasionally in a lifetime or two, we witness these theatrical performances of Mother Nature.
I expected something dramatic to happen all day, the possibility of an anomaly in the weather was mentioned in passing by co-workers and clients, and of course, store clerks, nervous about getting safely home after work.
The suspense was nerve racking, the ‘gunfire’ like sounds reverberated all over the neighborhood just as darkness had fallen. The massive old quick frozen trees produced loud pops and cracks as they were mercilessly split wide open, crashing into roofs and onto cars sitting in the neighbors car ports, my car was safely tucked in my closed garage, and I hoped it would be spared. The electricity all over the town and throughout most of the county was out, the lines were continually snapping and sagging and the power poles snapped under the weight of the heavy ice laden power lines. It was going to be a long, dark and dangerous night as the wind whistled and the trees screamed. Our house was surrounded by several types of large trees, including one huge three sectioned tree about fifty feet from my garage and I feared the trees could kill us in our sleep if they landed just right, so I stationed myself in the living room by candle light keeping vigil.
It was already below freezing with the temperature dropping rapidly while the ice fell in steady sheets clattering onto the metal roof of the house, adding perilous pounds of weight by the minute. It was totally black outside.
Most of the small town would be without heat and light for a long while, but since our heat supply and cook stove was powered by underground gas lines, we would be warm and would be able to cook hot food, that is, if we were not crushed in the night. I had eaten a warm supper and was watching the candle flicker through the fern leaves of my living room, shadows dancing off the walls.
Free on Amazon now: http://www.amazon.com/The-Ice-Storm-F...
From Out of the Maelstrom
Out of the Maelstrom
Tags: winter storm, domestic violence shelter,record ice storm,community
The forces of nature unleash one of the most devastating and deadly ice storms of the century and while the small, rural community struggles to survive, Sara and her co-workers work to protect the shelter clients and children.
Short story taken from Out of the Maelstrom by Sara Niles
We live in a world so full of explosive power that the extent of natural forces continues to baffle us, from the jolt of a lightning bolt that can melt metal and fuel a city, to the rupture of a volcano. Sometimes the lethal power is in the form of the simplest elements of all, air and water, and occasionally in a lifetime or two, we witness these theatrical performances of Mother Nature.
I expected something dramatic to happen all day, the possibility of an anomaly in the weather was mentioned in passing by co-workers and clients, and of course, store clerks, nervous about getting safely home after work.
The suspense was nerve racking, the ‘gunfire’ like sounds reverberated all over the neighborhood just as darkness had fallen. The massive old quick frozen trees produced loud pops and cracks as they were mercilessly split wide open, crashing into roofs and onto cars sitting in the neighbors car ports, my car was safely tucked in my closed garage, and I hoped it would be spared. The electricity all over the town and throughout most of the county was out, the lines were continually snapping and sagging and the power poles snapped under the weight of the heavy ice laden power lines. It was going to be a long, dark and dangerous night as the wind whistled and the trees screamed. Our house was surrounded by several types of large trees, including one huge three sectioned tree about fifty feet from my garage and I feared the trees could kill us in our sleep if they landed just right, so I stationed myself in the living room by candle light keeping vigil.
It was already below freezing with the temperature dropping rapidly while the ice fell in steady sheets clattering onto the metal roof of the house, adding perilous pounds of weight by the minute. It was totally black outside.
Most of the small town would be without heat and light for a long while, but since our heat supply and cook stove was powered by underground gas lines, we would be warm and would be able to cook hot food, that is, if we were not crushed in the night. I had eaten a warm supper and was watching the candle flicker through the fern leaves of my living room, shadows dancing off the walls.
Free on Amazon now: http://www.amazon.com/The-Ice-Storm-F...
From Out of the Maelstrom
Out of the Maelstrom
Sara Nile's Blog
"My writing is mission oriented and imbued with a deeper purpose because of my traumatic life experiences: I write nonfiction in order to make an appreciable dent in the effect of domestic violence an
...more
- Sara Niles's profile
- 57 followers
