The Pyle Inside

We were not prepared. We had no food, clothing, or shelter. All we had was each other. I looked outside and saw that, it was dark and gloomy. People were rushing down the road trying to get back to their house. I could see the fear in their eyes. The wind started to pick up. I felt a cold shiver over my body. “The lower chamber on the east, and whispers with a sort of stifled bark.”
My father ordered me to go down into the basement with my mother. I followed the order my father had given and ran to my mother and told her that we needed to down stairs as quick as we could. Then, suddenly, the power went out. “The wind works against us in the dark, and pelts us.” By now the wind outside had to be up to at least 115 miles per hour. The breeze was howling and branches of trees were snapping. Power lines were being torn down, and car windows were being smashed. I took a step back, utterly terrified. I held myself tightly. My father stumbled down the stairs. “I count our strength, two and a child.”
I thought it was the last time I was ever going to see my parents. There was no way we were going to survive. But, I kept positive.
“Davis, I want you to go upstairs as quick as possible and bring down all the food from the kitchen now! Debby, I want you to go gather blankets and pillows and I will go gather all the clothing!” I could tell he was very worried. I scuttled up the stairs and into the kitchen. I took a peak outside. It was devastating. But I couldn’t focus on that because I had to focus on the task at hand. I darted to the cabinets and opened them.
What should I grab? Lucky Charms? Yes. Pretzels? Yes. Bread? Yes. Chips? No. Then I dashed to the fridge. The hail was coming down very hard. I grabbed milk, eggs, ham, some forks, spoons and knives. By the time I was down stairs, my dad had already gathered everything and was making a fire in the fireplace. “How cold creeps as the fire dies at length.”
My mom made her way down the stairs with blankets and pillows. We were going to sleep on the floor next to the fire to stay warm. I gently kissed my mom on the cheek. “Till even the comforting barn grows far away, and my heart owns a doubt. Whether ‘tis I us to arise with day. And save ourselves unaided.”
I woke up to the sound of the weather report. The rain was still falling. “Devastating weather in the Washington, DC area has seen people evacuated from damaged homes, trapped cars, and railway lines that have been damaged.” We crept our way up the stairs to examine the damage of the storm. It was terrible. But in that moment, I knew I was safe and everything was going to be okay.