Dark Night

         Danny Schusterman pressed his cheek against the cool window pane and watched as the lightning bolts flashed through the pitch black sky; one right after the other. He watched the cloudy expansion begin to grow on the pane around his nostrils as the heat of his breath collided upon the glass. The weather forecast called for an eighty percent chance of rain that was to clear out by mid morning, however it was beginning to look like that forecast was incorrect.  As he sat back in his chair, he took a swipe at the steamy area with the palm of his hand and looked out at the neighbor's flag that was being tossed about in the wind.
         “Would you call that a breeze or a gale, Pepper?”  He reached down and began to pet the top of her head.  “Are you scared, girl?”  He watched Pepper’s tail begin to wag and began to think differently. Could it be possible that an animal feels the same emotions that a human feels? He had heard of many stories where an animal had saved a family from danger or a baby from a room engulfed in flames. Never the less, is it still possible for an animal to have that same registered emotion that triggers fear? Or happiness?  “Where's Ruby? Is she hiding under the bed again?" He looked about the living room for his other canine companion, but was only greeted with the longing eyes of Pepper. She must be wanting her treat, he thought. It was getting to be about that time. "At least you are still here with me." He lowered his head and was welcomed by a quick lick across his chin.
         Out of the corner of his eye, Danny caught the glimpse of another bolt of lightning.  However, this one looked much closer than any of the others. "One, one thousand. Two, one thousand. Three, one..."  The thunder that followed crashed the night air and seemed as though it  everything within the house, even the rapidly beating heart that pounded within his chest. "That one was close, huh girl?" He noticed he was now the only entity that dared to be anywhere close to the storm that was brewing outdoors. "Pepper, did you...." He was unable to finish the question of his dog's whereabouts before another clash of lightning tore through the sky and exploded into the large Silver Maple tree in his front yard; ripping two or three limbs completely away.



                                                                  *    *    *

         
         It was a midnight ride. One that he had performed many other times with his friends.  They would all congregate at Mr. Jones’ deli market and would head out from there.  Saturday nights were always the ideal time because Mr. Jones would lock up early. He would tell all the town folk that it was because of church the next morning, but most knew it was the bottle that was calling his name. From there, it was only about an hour ride, pushing the upper limits of the bike.  "Fear No Limits" was the motto those nights.
         “Let’s race.” Robby Lang squared off at Danny, beckoning him to step up and face the challenge. He was a lanky fellow; often clumsy and rather peculiar around the females. Others had pinned him with the name “Lanky Lang”, even though it was met with unmatched hostility. Needless to say, it wasn't a name that people used often if at all.          Danny saw that his friends were watching intently and he knew that this night would definitely be going around the halls of school Monday morning. He did not want to go down in the books as the one who had chickened out.  This was his night to prove himself.  His bike, his street.
         “You’re on!”



         Another bolt of thunder rolled through the silence that had surrounded the room, shaking Danny back to.  He looked down at his side, but Pepper was no longer sitting there.
         “Pepper. Ruby. Come here, girls.” Danny pierced his lips together and began to whistle. He stopped just as quickly as he started; not from the sound that was trying to creep from his mouth, but from another sound that started from outside his walls.  At first, it sounded so distant; so far away.  Danny sat as still as he could, as though the quieter he was would make the sound more audible.  If it wasn’t for the electrifying bolts flashing in the sky, the rolling pins of thunder, or the ever-gusting blasts of air pounding against the house then maybe he could actually hear the siren just a little clearer.
         “Pepper. Ruby. Where are you?” Danny found it awfully strange that they were not answering his calls.  He leaned in his chair, peeking down the hallway to see if he could spot one of them. Nothing.  The sirens were getting louder. 




         Everything was black, with just a tint of red. Danny wasn’t quite sure if he would call it a red; maybe more of an amber.  The ringing in his ears was immense, but he thought that he could make out screaming.  Just faintly, but there it was.  He could not tell if his eyes were open or closed, but everything was still black.  What happened?  There the screaming was again.  He tried to focus.  He slowly lifted his hand and placed it upon his chest.  He could feel the cavities of his lungs fill with air and quickly lower back down; rising again, but stopped.  The screams came again.
         Danny’s eyes flew open when he realized that he was the one producing the screams.  He slowly moved his head to the side and saw his bike, probably at least half a mile down the road, engulfed in flames.  It all came back in a flash.  He had lost control of his bike on a section of road known as “The Trail”. He knew that he had ridden over many other times, but not at such high speeds. 
         In the distance, he could hear the sirens of approaching emergency vehicles.  He closed his eyes. Rest seemed really nice right now.
         “Can you hear me?” The voice snapped Danny awake.  He tried to nod his head, but found that there was something around his neck preventing him to do so. He could no longer feel the pain. “Son, we have to move you as quickly as possible.”
         “Ok.” Danny pushed the two letters out. He realized that he was having difficulty breathing. The ups and downs were in shorter intervals and were becoming more painful.
         “You don’t understand. It is going to be rather difficult to remove the post so that we can put you on the stretcher.” Danny furrowed his brow in puzzlement. What post?  He looked down at his torso and saw the fence post that had impaled him on impact.



         Danny noticed that he was sitting in the dark, but didn’t know for how long.  He reached down and pushed the tires of his wheelchair, guiding himself through his living room to where he knew he kept the radio. He flipped the switch and heard a voice belting, “heading into northeastern counties.  Everyone in this vicinity must take cover now. Once again, the tornado has touched down and is heading…” The radio went to static.
         “Pepper! Ruby!” Danny knew that the basement was going to be their only hope for surviving this night.  He was not quite sure if it was the fear of the tornado that he was feeling or if it was not knowing where his dogs were that was bothering him the most right now.  He began to roll his chair to the entrance of the hallway and was soon greeted by whining.
“Pepper. Ruby. There you are.” Danny could barely make out the shape of the two dogs sitting at the entrance of the hallway. “Move!” The dogs only squirmed about, never leaving from their post.  Danny was getting very irritated. “First, you wouldn't come. Now you won’t move. Move!” Danny pushed the wheels until he was practically nudging the dogs.  Still, they would not move. He placed his hands back on the tires, when a sound that he had never heard before stopped his hands from applying the needed pressure to move forward. His body froze in udder disbelief as the sound grew louder. With one quick motion, as if a magician flung the handkerchief from off of the hat, the wall to the living room was ripped away.
         “Oh, my God.” Danny could not believe what he was seeing. One minute, he had been sitting against that very wall, looking at his neighbor’s flag.  The next minute, it was ripped from the very foundation that it had been planted.  He looked out the gaping hole of the living room and watched the debris fly in and around his home. Not once did he put his hands back onto the wheels, nor did he question what he knew was coming.  He had escaped once before, but he knew that he would not be so lucky tonight.  He watched the two by four leave from the entanglement of the twister and head into his living room.  The wood pierced his left lung, ripped him from the seat of his chair and slammed him into the back wall. With one last attempt to make contact with reality, Danny stretched out his right hand towards the two remaining companions in his life.  He slowly let down his arm and began to close his eyes.  Rest really seemed nice right about now.