Fear of the dark
Story: the Tale of Tate Mills
Title: Sing it Out Loud part 13
Rating: PG
Challenge: Vanilla #10 Phobias, chocolate chip #15 Stoic, mango #2 Look behind you
Toppings/Extras:
Word count: 987
Summary: Tate is about to make a choice that will alter his future. How will the events to come play out? Will he win a spot on “Sing It Out?” Will he ever get a job? He’s choosing to do something he wants to do for the first time in three years, how it will affect his relationship with his sisters who were thrown into his care, are yet to be seen.
Notes: This is part thirteen of the Tale of Tate Mills. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy. Thank you to everyone who is reading it.
I wake up five hours later with Kirsten’s head against my right leg and Stevie against left. I notice small fingers entwined with mine on my right hand. I smile at Kirsten, kiss her and try to stand. That was by far the scariest night of my life.
I stretch before I walk out of the bathroom. I expected damage to our house but it’s exactly as it was when I sent the girls to bed last night. Out my kitchen window I notice a giant maple crushing my SUV. If the tree had fallen on the house it would’ve fell into Kirsten’s bedroom and had she been in there it would have crushed her. I get on my knees and thank God for letting it fall on my car instead.
“Tate, are you all okay?” asks my neighbor.
“Yeah, we’re all fine, thank God,” I say looking up to the sky.
“Looks like your SUV didn’t survive,” says Old Man Yeager who lives in the house directly across from ours.
“I’m thankful it fell on my car instead of the house,” I tell him.
“Do you have power?” Yeager asks.
“No, do you?” I ask.
“No. I hear the McKinney’s lost half their garage and I hear the damage is pretty bad at the end of the street. I’m going to get dressed and see if anyone is hurt and needs help,” Yeager says.
I nod. That’s probably a good idea. I wake up the girls and tell them to get dressed. We meet in front of the house to see what can be done for the neighbors. The three of us walk down the street looking at the damage to our neighbors’ houses.
“Tate, I need your help,” cries Daryl Yeager, my neighbor’s eighteen-year-old grandson.
A house of an elderly couple was destroyed. The old man was wondering around his yard looking for his wife. Apparently she’s still in the house. As my heart breaks I run over to help Daryl.
“Mrs. Tanner,” Daryl cries.
No answer.
We search the rubble for the old woman, calling out to her as we do so. I hear a small voice coming from the back.
“Daryl, over there,” I say.
We find the woman trapped in a hole in the floor. Her leg is clearly broken from what we can see. It takes both of us to get her out. I had to jump down into the hole to lift a bookcase off her then Daryl took her beneath the arms to lift her out of the hole.
We helped her find her husband and Mr. Yeager called an ambulance.
“Here,” Mr. Tanner says handing me and Daryl fifty dollars each. Daryl and I both refuse.
“We don’t want your money, sir,” Daryl says.
“Take it, you two saved my wife’s life,” Mr. Tanner says.
We decline the money once more and walk away before he can try to guilt us into taking it.
“Tate!” cried a familiar voice. I’m embraced from behind by a pair of strong arms. It’s Malachi. He lifts me about a foot off the ground.
“Put me down,” I say.
“I was so worried about you,” Malachi says.
He sits me back on the ground. Kip and Foley come into the picture. Both have gloves, tool boxes, first aid kits and whatever else may be needed. We spend the rest of the day helping the neighborhood before finally turning our attention to my SUV.
That was my first car. I got that baby when I was seventeen. I worked my butt off for nine months to buy her and it hurts a little to see her go, but when I think of where that tree could have landed I’m relieved God pushed it the other direction.
I look at Kirsten who is sitting on the porch talking to Daryl’s younger sister who is about her age. My eyes get a little moist, I rub them and focus my attention of the car so the guys won’t notice I’m about to cry. Stevie is flirting with Daryl near them.
“Better him than me,” Kip says putting gasoline in his chainsaw.
“I like Daryl, he’s a good guy,” I admit, “But I’m not ready for her to start dating.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen. No offense but have you seen your sister,” Kip says.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.
“Nothing, forget I said anything,” Kip says, “I need a cigarette.”
“Okay, Tate, your car is completely totaled do you have insurance?” Malachi asks.
Obviously it’s totaled.
“I hope so,” I say.
Foley crawls through the window and breaks the glove box open to find out. He nods his head. He found the vehicle registration and proof of insurance in the glove box along with the knife I keep in there.
I can hear the car crushing beneath the weight of the tree; Kip and Mal are now standing on top of it.
“Foley, get out of there it’s dangerous,” I say.
“There’s a lot of stuff in here,” Foley says climbing into the backseat to get some of my stuff back. When the weight of the tree starts coming closer to Foley I bite my nails. If he doesn’t get out of there he’ll be crushed.
I act very quickly. I break open the back door, grab Foley just as the massive trees falls into the backseat. Foley falls onto the sidewalk on top of me where he impulsively kisses me. I hit him.
“Thank you for saving me, Tate,” Foley says as if the kiss never happened.
“You’re welcome. Don’t ever do that again,” I say referring to both the kiss and nearly scaring me to death.
“Are you two alright?” Malachi asks just noticing what happened.
“Foley was almost crushed under three tons of massive tree,” I say.
“Sorry about that,” Kip yells over the sound of the chainsaw.
Title: Sing it Out Loud part 13
Rating: PG
Challenge: Vanilla #10 Phobias, chocolate chip #15 Stoic, mango #2 Look behind you
Toppings/Extras:
Word count: 987
Summary: Tate is about to make a choice that will alter his future. How will the events to come play out? Will he win a spot on “Sing It Out?” Will he ever get a job? He’s choosing to do something he wants to do for the first time in three years, how it will affect his relationship with his sisters who were thrown into his care, are yet to be seen.
Notes: This is part thirteen of the Tale of Tate Mills. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy. Thank you to everyone who is reading it.
I wake up five hours later with Kirsten’s head against my right leg and Stevie against left. I notice small fingers entwined with mine on my right hand. I smile at Kirsten, kiss her and try to stand. That was by far the scariest night of my life.
I stretch before I walk out of the bathroom. I expected damage to our house but it’s exactly as it was when I sent the girls to bed last night. Out my kitchen window I notice a giant maple crushing my SUV. If the tree had fallen on the house it would’ve fell into Kirsten’s bedroom and had she been in there it would have crushed her. I get on my knees and thank God for letting it fall on my car instead.
“Tate, are you all okay?” asks my neighbor.
“Yeah, we’re all fine, thank God,” I say looking up to the sky.
“Looks like your SUV didn’t survive,” says Old Man Yeager who lives in the house directly across from ours.
“I’m thankful it fell on my car instead of the house,” I tell him.
“Do you have power?” Yeager asks.
“No, do you?” I ask.
“No. I hear the McKinney’s lost half their garage and I hear the damage is pretty bad at the end of the street. I’m going to get dressed and see if anyone is hurt and needs help,” Yeager says.
I nod. That’s probably a good idea. I wake up the girls and tell them to get dressed. We meet in front of the house to see what can be done for the neighbors. The three of us walk down the street looking at the damage to our neighbors’ houses.
“Tate, I need your help,” cries Daryl Yeager, my neighbor’s eighteen-year-old grandson.
A house of an elderly couple was destroyed. The old man was wondering around his yard looking for his wife. Apparently she’s still in the house. As my heart breaks I run over to help Daryl.
“Mrs. Tanner,” Daryl cries.
No answer.
We search the rubble for the old woman, calling out to her as we do so. I hear a small voice coming from the back.
“Daryl, over there,” I say.
We find the woman trapped in a hole in the floor. Her leg is clearly broken from what we can see. It takes both of us to get her out. I had to jump down into the hole to lift a bookcase off her then Daryl took her beneath the arms to lift her out of the hole.
We helped her find her husband and Mr. Yeager called an ambulance.
“Here,” Mr. Tanner says handing me and Daryl fifty dollars each. Daryl and I both refuse.
“We don’t want your money, sir,” Daryl says.
“Take it, you two saved my wife’s life,” Mr. Tanner says.
We decline the money once more and walk away before he can try to guilt us into taking it.
“Tate!” cried a familiar voice. I’m embraced from behind by a pair of strong arms. It’s Malachi. He lifts me about a foot off the ground.
“Put me down,” I say.
“I was so worried about you,” Malachi says.
He sits me back on the ground. Kip and Foley come into the picture. Both have gloves, tool boxes, first aid kits and whatever else may be needed. We spend the rest of the day helping the neighborhood before finally turning our attention to my SUV.
That was my first car. I got that baby when I was seventeen. I worked my butt off for nine months to buy her and it hurts a little to see her go, but when I think of where that tree could have landed I’m relieved God pushed it the other direction.
I look at Kirsten who is sitting on the porch talking to Daryl’s younger sister who is about her age. My eyes get a little moist, I rub them and focus my attention of the car so the guys won’t notice I’m about to cry. Stevie is flirting with Daryl near them.
“Better him than me,” Kip says putting gasoline in his chainsaw.
“I like Daryl, he’s a good guy,” I admit, “But I’m not ready for her to start dating.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen. No offense but have you seen your sister,” Kip says.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.
“Nothing, forget I said anything,” Kip says, “I need a cigarette.”
“Okay, Tate, your car is completely totaled do you have insurance?” Malachi asks.
Obviously it’s totaled.
“I hope so,” I say.
Foley crawls through the window and breaks the glove box open to find out. He nods his head. He found the vehicle registration and proof of insurance in the glove box along with the knife I keep in there.
I can hear the car crushing beneath the weight of the tree; Kip and Mal are now standing on top of it.
“Foley, get out of there it’s dangerous,” I say.
“There’s a lot of stuff in here,” Foley says climbing into the backseat to get some of my stuff back. When the weight of the tree starts coming closer to Foley I bite my nails. If he doesn’t get out of there he’ll be crushed.
I act very quickly. I break open the back door, grab Foley just as the massive trees falls into the backseat. Foley falls onto the sidewalk on top of me where he impulsively kisses me. I hit him.
“Thank you for saving me, Tate,” Foley says as if the kiss never happened.
“You’re welcome. Don’t ever do that again,” I say referring to both the kiss and nearly scaring me to death.
“Are you two alright?” Malachi asks just noticing what happened.
“Foley was almost crushed under three tons of massive tree,” I say.
“Sorry about that,” Kip yells over the sound of the chainsaw.