Storms a Brewin

Julia sat watching the weatherman warning of impending doom and gloom as storms rolled across the country, headed right toward her state. It was nothing new. They went through this every few weeks. Climate change was a bitch, and Mother Nature didn’t like to be messed with. It's too bad that no one told the powers that be since they continued to do nothing to help with circumstances man had created.

She pulled her legs up onto the chair and watched as the map came up on the television screen, the weatherman pointing to a line of deep reds and greens that would be moving into the area within the next fifteen minutes.

The winds picked up, making the windows shake as the rain began. It was a soft and gentle rain at first, but it wasn’t long before the drizzle turned into a downpour. Julia stood and went to look out the front window toward the road, watching the tree across the street, waving back and forth, leaves falling and blowing across the lawn. Branches began to fall, littering the landscape.

The sound of the weatherman’s voice seemed off. She turned from the window and watched as he told of tornado warnings entering the area. The first funnel cloud was twenty miles away, she wasn’t worried exactly by that news. Returning to her chair, more warnings started to scroll across the bottom of the screen. It looked to be one hell of a storm. Julia hoped it would pass right on by like it tended to do, but an eerie feeling took hold, traveling down her spine and making her shiver.

More watches and warnings filled the screen, every county was lit up on the map. It looked like this line of storms was destined to move across the entire southern portion of the state. Thunder roared as lightning strikes lit up the house, crackling and booming in tandem.

Julia moved to the kitchen and pulled out her flashlight, turned it on, making sure the batteries were good just in case. Then she went to the cabinet in the hallway pulled out candles and carried them to the dining room table. Then the tornado sirens went off.

“Damn,” Julia said.

She turned back to the television. The camera cut to the news anchor reporting that tornado sightings were coming from the next county. The newscaster stared at the camera, her eyes wide. A loud, ear-piercing scream came from the television as thunder boomed making the lights flicker. Thunder crackled across the sky and the sirens continued wailing. Julia stared at the television, waiting for anything to happen, but the screen remained black.

A tree branch zoomed past the window, and the intense winds sent debris up into the air and ricocheted the windows. This shit was getting real and she needed to be innovative and take cover. Julia grabbed the flashlight and headed to the basement staircase. She could never decide if she should stay in in the stairwell, or sit in the basement. What if the roof collapsed? Where was the safest place to be anyway? Just as she sat on the step, the lights went out.

WC: 529
Prompt 14: 14. While watching the evening news, the anchor looks directly at the camera and begins screaming before the camera cuts to black.