I stood out on the rocky cliff. I could hear the waves clashing against the rocks, the water foamed and cleared away in an endless cycle of a transparent white covering the blue crest of waves and fading away. The sun was about to set, it now glowed bright red surrounded by an orange ambient flow and a bright yellow halo. The wind softly brushed through my hair, and I began to feel the chill of the night air looming about. The storm still a distance away, the grey cluster of clouds with the flickering flashes of lighting as it hovered across the sea. I sat down against the cold hard rocks dangling my feet off the edge.
I had just returned home from the war. To finally visit my family after so many years of being in a hostile country. The people there all gave me these dirty looks, as if I was the devil. I guess they didn't like American occupation. My family could care less about the Nazis or Hitler, I was there because my father had died a few years earlier. When we got the news my mother was so depressed, I had to give her some hope that his death wasn't in vein. So I signed up and left. I was surprised that beautiful sister of mine hadn't married some handsome rich guy yet. I suppose she's the play hard to get type. I hope she finds a man to make her truly happy.
"George! What are you doing?" said Sophia, my sister. She wore a yellow dress, and wore a brown purse with a long strap over her right shoulder. She had that angered, annoyed and worried look on her face. She trudged towards me like a stampede of bulls. I quickly stood up and smiled at her innocently as she approached. The rock beneath my feet began to crumble, and I lost my balance for a moment. Sophia grabbed me and pulled me back to solid ground. "Thanks Sophy, I thought I was gonna have to sleep under the cliff for the night," I said. "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face Georgy," she said with an agitated tone, " Mom says, to come get you for supper!" I was hungry, I had been for the past couple of hours, but the view was so amazing out here, I had forgotten. "Alright Sophy," I said," I'm not even that hungry anyways." I didn't want her to know that I had given in so easily to her demands, she'd probably boss me around even more if I did. "Oh gosh," Sophy said with a surprised look on her face," We better hurry if we want to get home before that storm hits." Sophy and I took off into the tree line separating the woods from the coasts and the cliffs. The sun had dipped below the horizon and the orange glow began to fade as the skies grew into a darker deep blue tone. As we marched home, I looked up and could see the stars coming out one by one, popping into the sky as it grew darker. The sound of lighting scared Sophy a little, but I thought the drips of rain before getting home would give me an excuse not to bathe for the night and go to sleep.
The storm closed in on us faster than I had thought. Half the sky was covered by dark clouds. "Hey Sophy," I said," we should start running, I don't think Mom would be happy if you caught a cold, you just got over the last one." She nodded in agreement,"Yea, you'r right, the last one I had was terrible." We ran together up the treeless hill. We reached the top and paused for a moment to look around. The hill was high enough, so we could see the clear to the roof of our house, and the coastal area that we just came from."Look Sophy," I said as I pointed to a small house with smoke rising out of the chimney, just barely off the edge of the horizon," Mom must be cooking us a fine stew, I can't wait to get home!" Sophy smiled, I could tell she too was hungry. A loud thunder exploded behind us, light drops of rain came down from the sky. Then it gradually got heavier as we ran down the hill. The winds grew stronger and stronger. It blew in the very direction we headed home. The sky was a deep dark grey, the light from the sky was fading, and if we didn't get home soon, the storm would overtake us, and we'd be caught in a wet, windy, darkness. I grabbed on to Sophy's hand as we ran towards the direction, that I would suppose was home. She tripped and fell my hand came loose, and a ran a few feet ahead. I realized my sister had slipped. I turned around only to see a massive tree collapsing, the branches and leaves hit the ground with a loud cracking noise, underneath it was Sophy. "Sophy!!," I cried," Sophy!!!! Please, please be alright." As I ran towards her I began to cry in fear that my sister was dead or injured. "Hey, you idiot, get me out of here!" she screamed from under one of the thick branches. I felt a huge sigh of relief and began tearing my way into the heart of the tree to find her. I finally got to her, but she was trapped under a a big branch. "Hey, my beautiful sister, are you alright?" I said to her. She laughed and said,"My leg feels like hell, now get me out of here!" I tried lifting the branch, but it was too heavy. "Come on soldier boy!" she taunted, " You got more than that." I took a deep breath, and lifted the branch with both of my hands. The tree began budge. The rain was even heavier now, and I could barely see anything. The sky was pitch dark, but a small glimmer of light in the distance still gave me hope. It was home, mom's warm little cottage. I had remembered what my father taught me one day while we were out cutting trees down for firewood . He said that lifting wood wasn't about just using the strength in our arms. It was about our entire body. I kneeled down and placed my right shoulder under a part of the branch, and hugged it. I pushed against the floor with my feet and as if I was given extra strength, I could hear the branch begin to crack. I held on to the branch with my right arm and pulled Sophy out from under with my left. " George, I...." she said and pausing because her wet face began to drip warm tears, and despite the rain drops, I could tell she was crying," I don't think I can walk." I picked her up and headed towards the light in the distance. We approached the house, mom must've heard Sophy's cries, because she was screaming in agony. "Oh my dears", mom said "What on Earth happened? I've been worried sick!" I entered the room with Sophy in my arms."Mom," I said," I'll explain in a second, please get me some warm blankets, I need to get Sophy to bed, she's hurt."
I placed her down in the bed gently. She was quiet now, she was probably tired from all the crying on our way back, but I could tell she was still hurting. Sophy fell asleep instantly after mom gave her the pills to stop the pain. I was still shocked at what happened, so I didn't say anything at the moment. "It's alright Georgy dear," said mom," We'll talk about it in the morning. Have some soup and get some rest, Sophy had some already before she left so don't wake her." I couldn't eat that night, I wasn't hungry anymore. I just sat there and fell asleep next to my sister. I kept thinking in my mind, thank God she was alright.
No comments:
Post a Comment