The Darkest Night
During the early 1990's, California experienced some of the craziest and harshest weather I can recall in the state during my lifetime. For three years straight there was flooding in Northern Cali as well as flash floods and mudslides in Southern Cali. For the record, SoCal gets this semi-regularly, but NorCal not so much. As I recall, this was when the el niño discussions really made the news. During one of those years, in a nice little house in a small town called Orangevale, a brother and sister had been left with their father for a weekend as their grandparents --the people who raised them-- were on a cruise to Alaska in celebration of their wedding anniversary.
The power was out for nearly a week and the torrents of rain never ceased. It fell and fell and some fell inside due to rusted turn-handle windows. I recently joined brigits_flame and the first week of October has the following prompt: the story must begin with 'There it goes.'
Here is a completely fictitious account of how it went that week:
“There it goes,” Jessica observed matter-of-factly. The last of the candles burned through its wick and snuffed out, leaving the trio in darkness. They could still hear the winds pelting rain against the windows and whipping through the trees in their back yard, calling like ghosts to those in the front; a conversation in a language of Nature few would dare to understand. The doors shook as the harsh wind slipped its fingers through the perimeters and pulled against them, trying to break the locks that secured the three girls.
“I’m scared.” Tina, the youngest, started to whimper into the thick blanket her older sister had wrapped around her.
“It’ll be all right.” Vanessa held tightly to her younger sisters, gently kissing Tina on the head. “It’s been a day at least, you’ve made it this far.” Her voice seemed distant and quiet, no match for the monster swirling outside. The windows rattled as the winds tried once more to gain entry.
“But there was light before,” Jessica reminded. She’d been startled awake the previous morning when Tina jumped in the bed with a flashlight.
“I want my mommy,” Tina cried softly as the wind drove the rain harder into the roof.
“I know, hun.” Vanessa tried to comfort Tina with a squeeze on the shoulder.
“Mom and dad are in New York,” Jessica said flatly.
“They are safe in New York,” Vanessa quickly added.
The curtains clattered and Tina gasped.
“They should have picked a different weekend to have an anniversary,” Jessica retorted.
Vanessa leaned close to what she thought was Jessica’s ear and whispered harshly: “I’m sure in retrospect they wish they’d married a week earlier. Now be quiet.”
A bright flash of light illuminated the room momentarily and Tina grabbed Vanessa tightly. “What was that?” she cried.
“That was lightning,” Vanessa answered calmly over Jessica’s quiet counting.
“One…two…three…four…five…six…”
“What is she doing?”
“She’s counting the seconds before thunder.”
“Seven…eight…ni-”
A loud boom echoed across the sky, drowning the howling wind and pestering rainfall momentarily. Tina shrieked.
“I want my mommy!”
“That was loud for nine seconds,” Jessica mused.
“Maybe you counted fast?” Vanessa couldn’t tell for sure but she was certain Jessica shrugged.
One of the living room windows rattled loudly.
“Did you ever unstick that thing?” Jessica asked. Vanessa saw an image of herself trying desperately to turn the handle but instead turning her hand red. Jessica, believing the silence as an answer, continued: “You didn’t, did you? That window’s still open a little bit, isn’t it?”
Vanessa sighed and tried to stand but Tina held tighter. “Don’t go!” she wailed.
“It’s all right.” Vanessa pried herself away from Tina’s grip. “Jessica is here with you.” She stumbled her way across the carpeting, using the sofa and shelves as a guide. Finally she reached the hanging curtains and moved them aside; reaching for the handle she intended to turn.
Another flash of light brightened the back yard. Vanessa saw a shadowed figure moving quickly across the lawn in her direction. Panicking, she pushed hard against the handle as stray rain drops slid between the open window and its closed brethren.
“One…two…thr-”
“Jessica make sure the front door is locked, now!”
“But Tina…?”
“Do it!”
Vanessa heard Tina screaming on the sofa, then a series of thumps as Jessica tripped on the corner of a shelf and fell against the wall at the entryway. Vanessa darted for the back door, checking the switch then testing it by pulling the handle.
Thunder rattled the door just as the figure fell against it. Vanessa heard it trying to open the door; then it stopped. A gust of wind chilled her, reminding her of the still open window. She rushed back to it but as she tried to turn the handle she felt it moving the other direction.
“Jessica!” Lightning flashed again, revealing the figure was pulling against the window from the outside. Vanessa heard more thumps as Jessica stumbled quickly to her aid and both girls managed to slowly turn the handle forcing the window closed. Vanessa reached for the latch and pulled on it, then pushed against it hard so it couldn’t be easily undone. She jumped to the other window and ran her hands across the panes, searching for the latch. Finally satisfied, she stepped back and took a deep breath.
“Jessica?”
“Yeah?”
“Take Tina to the bathroom and check the locks on the bedroom windows.”
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure the garage doors are locked.”
• • •
Vanessa could hear her sister shrieking from halfway across the house but it was the safest place with a predator outside. The bathroom was the only room in the house not open to doors or windows but the garage…it wasn’t entirely a garage. What was once a two car garage with two windows and two doors was now a one car garage with two doors. A wall had been installed to separate it from a makeshift bedroom with two windows that were rarely locked.
She stepped inside, the darkness she’d felt in the living room with her sisters was incomparable to the darkness she felt alone in such a confined place. There was no window. The rain bouncing against the aluminum garage door echoed against the thin walls but the wind was not as prevalent, here. Still, her heartbeat was loud in her mind as she tried to visualize the mess on the floor from her last visit; she did not come to this place often. All manner of spider and other vermin had inhabited the decaying self-built walls and the lock for the garage door was in one of the more inhabited corners and Vanessa was almost as afraid of spiders as she was of dark figures trying to sneak inside.
She took a few steps towards the door at the rear. It was much closer and led to the backyard and anyone coming from that direction would try this door first. It was also the more difficult to close. Following the walls, she came to the door and tried the handle just as something hit it hard from the outside. Vanessa stepped back but persisted, trying the handle once more. Locked.
Time was not on her side. She had to make her way to the lock for the garage door then back to the entrance of the new bedroom before the intruder could walk around the side of the house. Please Lord, let those windows be locked!
Vanessa inched herself back towards the door she’d entered from, and moved past it. She slid between the wall and the car. Once at the aluminum door, she knelt down, feeling for the locking system her father had recently installed. The steel whatever-it-was had been left properly in its locked position. She ran back to the door, cutting her arm on both the wall and exposed metal from the car in the process.
Please let those windows be locked!
Images flashed in front of her; the days when she’d sneak out-and in-using the side window. She’d never locked it and neither, to her knowledge had anyone else. Vanessa stood at the door and realized she’d checked the wrong room first. “I may have just locked myself in the garage.”
She turned the knob and opened the door. If the figure had come in through the windows she was done for. Closing the door behind her, she listened for any indication that something was amiss. She heard scraping against the window screen and she sprinted. The one good thing about this room was how clean it was; she knew she could run towards a wall without hitting anything. Reaching the window just as the figure yanked the screen down; Vanessa slammed it shut and searched vainly for the lock. A flash of light, followed quickly by thunder, gave Vanessa just enough time to find and latch the window before rushing to the next. She heard the old rose bushes scraping against the window as she checked the latch-locked.
• • •
“Jessica?” Vanessa followed Tina’s screams and unlocked the bathroom door. Tina rushed toward her and held tightly. Jessica embraced both.
“I’m here.”
“Everything locked?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
The three held each other tightly, listening to the wind against the windows and the rain against the roof. Finally they made their way back to the couch and wrapped together in blankets, waiting desperately for light in their new prison.
Approximately 1405 words
Made by The Prose Formatter
The power was out for nearly a week and the torrents of rain never ceased. It fell and fell and some fell inside due to rusted turn-handle windows. I recently joined brigits_flame and the first week of October has the following prompt: the story must begin with 'There it goes.'
Here is a completely fictitious account of how it went that week:
“There it goes,” Jessica observed matter-of-factly. The last of the candles burned through its wick and snuffed out, leaving the trio in darkness. They could still hear the winds pelting rain against the windows and whipping through the trees in their back yard, calling like ghosts to those in the front; a conversation in a language of Nature few would dare to understand. The doors shook as the harsh wind slipped its fingers through the perimeters and pulled against them, trying to break the locks that secured the three girls.
“I’m scared.” Tina, the youngest, started to whimper into the thick blanket her older sister had wrapped around her.
“It’ll be all right.” Vanessa held tightly to her younger sisters, gently kissing Tina on the head. “It’s been a day at least, you’ve made it this far.” Her voice seemed distant and quiet, no match for the monster swirling outside. The windows rattled as the winds tried once more to gain entry.
“But there was light before,” Jessica reminded. She’d been startled awake the previous morning when Tina jumped in the bed with a flashlight.
“I want my mommy,” Tina cried softly as the wind drove the rain harder into the roof.
“I know, hun.” Vanessa tried to comfort Tina with a squeeze on the shoulder.
“Mom and dad are in New York,” Jessica said flatly.
“They are safe in New York,” Vanessa quickly added.
The curtains clattered and Tina gasped.
“They should have picked a different weekend to have an anniversary,” Jessica retorted.
Vanessa leaned close to what she thought was Jessica’s ear and whispered harshly: “I’m sure in retrospect they wish they’d married a week earlier. Now be quiet.”
A bright flash of light illuminated the room momentarily and Tina grabbed Vanessa tightly. “What was that?” she cried.
“That was lightning,” Vanessa answered calmly over Jessica’s quiet counting.
“One…two…three…four…five…six…”
“What is she doing?”
“She’s counting the seconds before thunder.”
“Seven…eight…ni-”
A loud boom echoed across the sky, drowning the howling wind and pestering rainfall momentarily. Tina shrieked.
“I want my mommy!”
“That was loud for nine seconds,” Jessica mused.
“Maybe you counted fast?” Vanessa couldn’t tell for sure but she was certain Jessica shrugged.
One of the living room windows rattled loudly.
“Did you ever unstick that thing?” Jessica asked. Vanessa saw an image of herself trying desperately to turn the handle but instead turning her hand red. Jessica, believing the silence as an answer, continued: “You didn’t, did you? That window’s still open a little bit, isn’t it?”
Vanessa sighed and tried to stand but Tina held tighter. “Don’t go!” she wailed.
“It’s all right.” Vanessa pried herself away from Tina’s grip. “Jessica is here with you.” She stumbled her way across the carpeting, using the sofa and shelves as a guide. Finally she reached the hanging curtains and moved them aside; reaching for the handle she intended to turn.
Another flash of light brightened the back yard. Vanessa saw a shadowed figure moving quickly across the lawn in her direction. Panicking, she pushed hard against the handle as stray rain drops slid between the open window and its closed brethren.
“One…two…thr-”
“Jessica make sure the front door is locked, now!”
“But Tina…?”
“Do it!”
Vanessa heard Tina screaming on the sofa, then a series of thumps as Jessica tripped on the corner of a shelf and fell against the wall at the entryway. Vanessa darted for the back door, checking the switch then testing it by pulling the handle.
Thunder rattled the door just as the figure fell against it. Vanessa heard it trying to open the door; then it stopped. A gust of wind chilled her, reminding her of the still open window. She rushed back to it but as she tried to turn the handle she felt it moving the other direction.
“Jessica!” Lightning flashed again, revealing the figure was pulling against the window from the outside. Vanessa heard more thumps as Jessica stumbled quickly to her aid and both girls managed to slowly turn the handle forcing the window closed. Vanessa reached for the latch and pulled on it, then pushed against it hard so it couldn’t be easily undone. She jumped to the other window and ran her hands across the panes, searching for the latch. Finally satisfied, she stepped back and took a deep breath.
“Jessica?”
“Yeah?”
“Take Tina to the bathroom and check the locks on the bedroom windows.”
“Where are you going?”
“To make sure the garage doors are locked.”
• • •
Vanessa could hear her sister shrieking from halfway across the house but it was the safest place with a predator outside. The bathroom was the only room in the house not open to doors or windows but the garage…it wasn’t entirely a garage. What was once a two car garage with two windows and two doors was now a one car garage with two doors. A wall had been installed to separate it from a makeshift bedroom with two windows that were rarely locked.
She stepped inside, the darkness she’d felt in the living room with her sisters was incomparable to the darkness she felt alone in such a confined place. There was no window. The rain bouncing against the aluminum garage door echoed against the thin walls but the wind was not as prevalent, here. Still, her heartbeat was loud in her mind as she tried to visualize the mess on the floor from her last visit; she did not come to this place often. All manner of spider and other vermin had inhabited the decaying self-built walls and the lock for the garage door was in one of the more inhabited corners and Vanessa was almost as afraid of spiders as she was of dark figures trying to sneak inside.
She took a few steps towards the door at the rear. It was much closer and led to the backyard and anyone coming from that direction would try this door first. It was also the more difficult to close. Following the walls, she came to the door and tried the handle just as something hit it hard from the outside. Vanessa stepped back but persisted, trying the handle once more. Locked.
Time was not on her side. She had to make her way to the lock for the garage door then back to the entrance of the new bedroom before the intruder could walk around the side of the house. Please Lord, let those windows be locked!
Vanessa inched herself back towards the door she’d entered from, and moved past it. She slid between the wall and the car. Once at the aluminum door, she knelt down, feeling for the locking system her father had recently installed. The steel whatever-it-was had been left properly in its locked position. She ran back to the door, cutting her arm on both the wall and exposed metal from the car in the process.
Please let those windows be locked!
Images flashed in front of her; the days when she’d sneak out-and in-using the side window. She’d never locked it and neither, to her knowledge had anyone else. Vanessa stood at the door and realized she’d checked the wrong room first. “I may have just locked myself in the garage.”
She turned the knob and opened the door. If the figure had come in through the windows she was done for. Closing the door behind her, she listened for any indication that something was amiss. She heard scraping against the window screen and she sprinted. The one good thing about this room was how clean it was; she knew she could run towards a wall without hitting anything. Reaching the window just as the figure yanked the screen down; Vanessa slammed it shut and searched vainly for the lock. A flash of light, followed quickly by thunder, gave Vanessa just enough time to find and latch the window before rushing to the next. She heard the old rose bushes scraping against the window as she checked the latch-locked.
• • •
“Jessica?” Vanessa followed Tina’s screams and unlocked the bathroom door. Tina rushed toward her and held tightly. Jessica embraced both.
“I’m here.”
“Everything locked?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
The three held each other tightly, listening to the wind against the windows and the rain against the roof. Finally they made their way back to the couch and wrapped together in blankets, waiting desperately for light in their new prison.
Approximately 1405 words
Made by The Prose Formatter