Everything Lost

by Mike Fontanini

        It was a nice, sunny spring day. I was 35 years old and about to gain another year. I was watching the news that morning, and the weather forecast called for scattered storms. I thought nothing of it and went about my business.
        After having a simple breakfast of buttered toast and orange juice, I went to my computer and started playing a NASCAR racing game to forget about work and bills and money for a while. I didn't go to work since it was Saturday. I played the NASCAR racing game for a half hour, and then I decided that it was too nice outside to spend the whole day inside. So I went outside, and chose to go for a walk. I lived in the country so there was plenty of scenery, but I wasn't a farmer. I strolled down the gravel road, the sound of gravel beneath my feet. I ascended over a big hill and came to a highway. I walked all way around my block.
        When I arrived home, I noticed that cumulus clouds were piling up quickly in the sky. I concluded that the forecast was probably right, and there'd be some storms roaming around this evening. Being as nice as it was outside, I didn't want to go back in my house, so I stayed outside and sat down in my yard. I stared up and watched the clouds slide across the sky constantly changing shapes, making new formations all the time.
        Before I knew it, it was evening. I could see ominous, towering cumulonimbus clouds in the distance. I could distinguish that there was rain falling from beneath them. Every now and then a bolt of lighting hidden somewhere in the clouds would illuminate a section of the storm clouds. The breeze of earlier in the day had subsided, and the air was still. The trees were so still that it was a little eerie. I sat on my lawn watching the distant storms, for I enjoyed watching distant storms. They were fascinating to me, and I loved to watch the firework shows of lightning as long as it was a safe distance away. Having watched the gathering storm clouds for about a half an hour, I concluded that the storms were coming my way.
        As the storms neared, I judged I should probably retreat to the safety of my house. As I peered out of my window, I saw the front of the storm move nearer. The dark storm clouds were close enough now that I could clearly make out that they were rolling violently across the sky. This turbulence told me that this was a strong storm. Soon a hard rain came down and pelted at everything.
        The daylight was beginning to dim. The lighting had become more frequent since I had first started watching the storms. Its bright flashes interrupted the growing darkness of the coming night every few seconds or minutes, and the thunder that always followed, growled an ominous warning of the arriving storm. The lighting and thunder had a random timing. I witnessed a bolt of lightning slam into a tree somewhere far in the distance followed by a muffled rumble of thunder.
        The wind was higher now, as it had come up abruptly with the passing of the front edge of the storm. The rain let up a good bit, but the wind was growing. In the distance I saw a small tail of cloud sinking from the base of the storm clouds. It slowly got longer as if it was stretching to reach the ground. It was a funnel cloud, but soon it had evolved into a large, angry tornado.
        As I studied the tornado, I suddenly came upon a startling realization. It was coming right at me! I scurried fast as I could down the stairs and into my basement. I ran quickly beneath the stairs and put my hands on my head. The wind began to hit the side of the house with such force that each gust hit the house with a big, banging type of sound. Soon the banging was gone, replaced by pure roaring noise. I surmised that the tornado must be here right on top of me.
        Finally the noise quieted. Cautiously I crept from the debris and wreckage of my house. I could see the tornado in the distance. It was a few miles away. I watched helplessly as it plowed through one of my neighbor's houses. Then there was a flash as the tornado hit a power line.
        About an hour later, I heard a loud crack in the distance. Later I found out that my neighbor, Joe, whose house I'd just seen destroyed like my own, had put his pistol to his head. His wife had left him shortly after their son was killed in an automobile accident. With the destruction of his house he'd surely lost everything. Being a farmer without lots of money, the task of starting over must have seemed impossible to him. He was a nice neighbor and a good friend. I was saddened when I heard of this tragic news.
        As for my own possessions, I found few. I found a shoebox and decided to use it to carry anything I found. I discovered my computer smashed into the tree, which had somehow survived the storm. My car was upside down in the field and all bent and crunched up. I found my watch and put it in my box. I came across my old and worn cap that I used to wear as a kid. It had many memories, so I put it in my box as well. I found my driver's license driven into the side of the tree trunk. I found my wallet and my walkman and threw them in my box along with some matches I found. I wondered if there was any way that walkman still worked. I could not locate any more of my possessions.
        I began to walk up the road with no particular destination in mind as of yet. As I came over the top of a hill, I noticed there was now a light breeze. As it passed by me, it reminded me of when I was a kid, riding my bike down this very hill with my best friend with the wind blowing at us as we sped down the hill. My best friend has since moved away from these parts.
        As I continued walking, I came to a tree about two miles down the road from my house. In the tree was a tree house. It belonged to my best friend and I back when we were kids. We used to hang out in that tree house all the time. Somehow it survived the raging storm.
        Not knowing where the heck I was headed to yet, I climbed the tree and went into the tree house. I sat in the corner and thought for a minute. Then I decided I'd figure something out in the morning, and I'd spend the night here. Then I pulled my walkman out of my shoebox to see if it still worked. Somehow it did, so I listened to it. Sitting there in that tree house listening to that music, flooded by joyful childhood memories, I retreated into the past, to a time long since gone, a time when my best friend and I were here. We were just kids. We were free. I remember growing up I felt my freedom slipping away as it was being buried under mounting responsibilities. Visiting the past was pleasant, but somewhat sad at the same time, for I missed it so. I'd love to be a kid again, but I knew I could only escape to the past temporarily, so I would enjoy it while I could. The past was a much better place, for in the present I had only a few random and quite worthless objects that the storm for some reason left behind.

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	Everything Lost by Mike Fontanini
	It was a nice, sunny spring day. I was 35 years old and about to gain another year. I was watching the news that morning, and the weather forecast called for scattered storms. I thought nothing of it and went about my business. After having a simple breakfast of buttered toast and orange juice, I went to my computer and started playing a NASCAR racing game to forget about work and bills and money for a while. I didn't go to work since it was Saturday. I played the NASCAR racing game for a half hour, and then I decided that it was too nice outside to spend the whole day inside. So I went outside, and chose to go for a walk. I lived in the country so there was plenty of scenery, but I wasn't a farmer. I strolled down the gravel road, the sound of gravel beneath my feet. I ascended over a big hill and came to a highway. I walked all way around my block. When I arrived home, I noticed that cumulus clouds were piling up quickly in the sky. I concluded that the forecast was probably right, and there'd be some storms roaming around this evening. Being as nice as it was outside, I didn't want to go back in my house, so I stayed outside and sat down in my yard. I stared up and watched the clouds slide across the sky constantly changing shapes, making new formations all the time. Before I knew it, it was evening. I could see ominous, towering cumulonimbus clouds in the distance. I could distinguish that there was rain falling from beneath them. Every now and then a bolt of lighting hidden somewhere in the clouds would illuminate a section of the storm clouds. The breeze of earlier in the day had subsided, and the air was still. The trees were so still that it was a little eerie. I sat on my lawn watching the distant storms, for I enjoyed watching distant storms. They were fascinating to me, and I loved to watch the firework shows of lightning as long as it was a safe distance away. Having watched the gathering storm clouds for about a half an hour, I concluded that the storms were coming my way. As the storms neared, I judged I should probably retreat to the safety of my house. As I peered out of my window, I saw the front of the storm move nearer. The dark storm clouds were close enough now that I could clearly make out that they were rolling violently across the sky. This turbulence told me that this was a strong storm. Soon a hard rain came down and pelted at everything. The daylight was beginning to dim. The lighting had become more frequent since I had first started watching the storms. Its bright flashes interrupted the growing darkness of the coming night every few seconds or minutes, and the thunder that always followed, growled an ominous warning of the arriving storm. The lighting and thunder had a random timing. I witnessed a bolt of lightning slam into a tree somewhere far in the distance followed by a muffled rumble of thunder. The wind was higher now, as it had come up abruptly with the passing of the front edge of the storm. The rain let up a good bit, but the wind was growing. In the distance I saw a small tail of cloud sinking from the base of the storm clouds. It slowly got longer as if it was stretching to reach the ground. It was a funnel cloud, but soon it had evolved into a large, angry tornado. As I studied the tornado, I suddenly came upon a startling realization. It was coming right at me! I scurried fast as I could down the stairs and into my basement. I ran quickly beneath the stairs and put my hands on my head. The wind began to hit the side of the house with such force that each gust hit the house with a big, banging type of sound. Soon the banging was gone, replaced by pure roaring noise. I surmised that the tornado must be here right on top of me. Finally the noise quieted. Cautiously I crept from the debris and wreckage of my house. I could see the tornado in the distance. It was a few miles away. I watched helplessly as it plowed through one of my neighbor's houses. Then there was a flash as the tornado hit a power line. About an hour later, I heard a loud crack in the distance. Later I found out that my neighbor, Joe, whose house I'd just seen destroyed like my own, had put his pistol to his head. His wife had left him shortly after their son was killed in an automobile accident. With the destruction of his house he'd surely lost everything. Being a farmer without lots of money, the task of starting over must have seemed impossible to him. He was a nice neighbor and a good friend. I was saddened when I heard of this tragic news. As for my own possessions, I found few. I found a shoebox and decided to use it to carry anything I found. I discovered my computer smashed into the tree, which had somehow survived the storm. My car was upside down in the field and all bent and crunched up. I found my watch and put it in my box. I came across my old and worn cap that I used to wear as a kid. It had many memories, so I put it in my box as well. I found my driver's license driven into the side of the tree trunk. I found my wallet and my walkman and threw them in my box along with some matches I found. I wondered if there was any way that walkman still worked. I could not locate any more of my possessions. I began to walk up the road with no particular destination in mind as of yet. As I came over the top of a hill, I noticed there was now a light breeze. As it passed by me, it reminded me of when I was a kid, riding my bike down this very hill with my best friend with the wind blowing at us as we sped down the hill. My best friend has since moved away from these parts. As I continued walking, I came to a tree about two miles down the road from my house. In the tree was a tree house. It belonged to my best friend and I back when we were kids. We used to hang out in that tree house all the time. Somehow it survived the raging storm. Not knowing where the heck I was headed to yet, I climbed the tree and went into the tree house. I sat in the corner and thought for a minute. Then I decided I'd figure something out in the morning, and I'd spend the night here. Then I pulled my walkman out of my shoebox to see if it still worked. Somehow it did, so I listened to it. Sitting there in that tree house listening to that music, flooded by joyful childhood memories, I retreated into the past, to a time long since gone, a time when my best friend and I were here. We were just kids. We were free. I remember growing up I felt my freedom slipping away as it was being buried under mounting responsibilities. Visiting the past was pleasant, but somewhat sad at the same time, for I missed it so. I'd love to be a kid again, but I knew I could only escape to the past temporarily, so I would enjoy it while I could. The past was a much better place, for in the present I had only a few random and quite worthless objects that the storm for some reason left behind. Go Back to Writing Hompage