Sanguine Tenacious Tidings

Pineapples and Stories

Now I really am on a streak Hi from Apondia


Prompt: Here's the opening sentence of your entry today- Lightning Paradise was the local hangout joint where the group usually ended up spending the night until--- the lights went out. Lightning Paradise was just where we all went to shed the stress of studies and jobs. It had sunshine, yellow walls with pineapples painted everywhere. The ceilings were crisscrossed with almond-colored beams between squares of goldenrod yellow tiles. Just sitting in the leaf-green booths seemed to relive the stress of a daily grind. Plus, servicers were always especially cheerful when they served up the fruit smoothies and vegetable drinks.

The menu contained a variation of healthful meals. Once in jest, I ordered scrambled eggs cooked with tomatoes, served with feta cheese. A short time later it appeared before me. The waitress, Bell, served it up with a tall glass of Orange Juice, one of my favorites. I dug deep for a hefty tip that day.

Then one-night real chaos struck. Outside an unscheduled blizzard was raging. Heavy fast blowing winds were hitting the windows and doors. The manager came out from his office. George was short and on the chubby side. He was often known to address the patrons with up-to-date weather forecasts or funny things he heard on Facebook.

Tonight dressed in a canary yellow silk shirt with a pocket shaped like a pineapple and Dark brown slacks he banged a spatula on the counter near the cash register.

Listen everyone. the city police have expressed a need for everyone to shelter in place. Some kind of a rouge storm is sweeping over the city. It is expected to dump several feet of snow and has already covered the outskirts of the city. The storm is driven by heavy fast blowing winds. Some automobiles have already been blown over. Meteorologists think the storm will take at least 45 minutes to clear the city as it travels East.

Just then the lights went out. George shouted, "Stay Calm, Stay Calm."

I could hear windblown objects hitting the large plate glass windows. All the city lights were out making the dark interior of Lightning Paradise blindly black. I heard the blast as one of the large plate glass windows cracked and shattered. People were screaming as they groped for cover under tables or tried to recover coats. Screeching metal blown across the pavement outside hit the wall of the building shaking the whole building.

Whack! The lights came back on with a jolt to my whole system. I could see a car upside down outside. Inside a piece of the roof was folded into the kitchen area. People were dragging each other out from under tables. One person had blood streaming for a head wound and was laying a body carefully out on the floor. George was running from one person to the next checking out all the injuries. The wind had passed. Outside there were sirens screaming up and down the streets but the city lights outside were still out.

George announced, "You can leave now I just got a call from the police. You can stay if you want. Maybe see if the electricity comes back on in the city. Lightning Paradise has its own generator. Police advise if you try to get to your homes be very careful the city is in chaos, 911 is flooded with calls, fire, and police are swamped. Hospitals are also full of casualties. People around me were still crying and moaning. Tables and chairs were scattered across the floor, wall pictures were smashed or hanging askew on the walls. Some of the walls had blood spattered across them.

MY friend and I opted to stay. We began by up righting tables and chairs. George, moving along with bandages and ointments, was still sorting through people who sustained injuries from the shattered glass windows. It would be sometime before Lightning Paradise looked like a stress-free place again.

THE END