A Day Before The Storm

Today, I went biking. My legs are cold from the biting wind and the droplets of rain that it brought along, but I felt wonderful. I haven’t gone biking in a long time, partly because the only bike I am tall enough to ride belongs to my brother, and partly because I don’t have the time for it. So today, when I rode my bike and pedaled across the neighborhood, it felt like the first time in years.

It was thrilling. I don’t know what it is about the wind blowing past your face, causing your jacket and hair to fly, or being able to control how fast you go through the pedal and breaks. I don’t know what it is about those things that make me feel like I’m a heroine from a western movie or novel.

Anyway, as I ride on my bike and take in my surroundings, I am overcome with a pressing premonition of danger. The sky is covered with clouds, and the atmosphere is chilly. The trees sway with the wind in an almost hypnotic fashion, as though they possess some kind of wooden magic. Everything moves slowly, and the clouds that hang above us are thick and grey.

When I reach the front of my neighborhood—the part where you can see the main road opposite it, I am slightly surprised to be met with silence. The road is empty, and it is the first time I've seen it this way. No cars whooshing past, no jeepneys stopping at the corner of the road, and no people walking by. Nothing.

The entire world seems quiet today. The dogs I usually fear have stopped barking and are hidden, and everyone is at their homes. The wind is rustling ever-so-carefully, and apart from me and my bicycle, the world is still.

It is this subtle atmosphere that makes most people feel panicked. It is like the way the sea pulls back before releasing a gigantic wave. It is the calm before the storm. In this case, the storm of the year.

When I return to my house, I am aware that Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda will hit my place in a few hours. I am aware that after one day, the world won’t quite be the same, and some of my things will have been broken. I am aware that my backyard and everything past the gate of my house will have been flooded. Above all, I know that there is nothing I can do.

I am aware of all these things, and so, like mother nature, I brace myself and wait for it to arrive.

Written yesterday: Nov. 7, 2013.

xoxo
Bea

Practice Writing: Suspense

Sometimes, when there's no wifi (and so there is nothing to do), and I'm bored, I do this thing called "practice writing" in my iPod touch. It's when I write a random story, or opening, just so I could practice on a particular "feeling" or "genre" (if that's the word). I write anything that pops into my head, and just make things flow.

Here's a Practice Writing Thing I Wrote on the Airport

I woke to the sound of quick rain drops beating on the bedroom window. I jerked awake, eyes wide open, and scanned the room, looking for the intruder. Darkness. Apprehension filled me up inside. My eyes circled the dark corners, until I was certain I was alone.
I was alone.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I was sure it would be tonight. I lay back and pulled the covers on me, knowing full well this would be another one of those sleepless nights. The pillow was soft under my head as I gazed at the ceiling to think.
It was the nightmare, I realized. It was the nightmare that woke me up. Not any ordinary nightmare, because it was always the same one. I shuddered as I remembered the intense details, the vivid images that consumed me in my sleep. The nightmare, in so many ways, was worse than reality.
I was running again. Running towards the grassy plains of Nigrasa. Running away from them. Running away from him. The wolves, the wolves were chasing me. And no matter how far I run, I always ended up in the place I tried so hard to avoid. The jungle was my prison, and I could not free myself from its grasp. And the next thing I knew, I was falling. Falling down the dark shadow of a hole with no end. I kept screaming. Because I knew where I was headed next. And I knew who I would see. Him. His menacing laughter, chorused with the howls of the wolves, echoed through the darkness, filling up my ears, terrorizing me, until I woke up screaming.
I looked at the alarm clock. 5:00 A.M. It was early morn, only an hour before my usual wake up time. It was going to be a long day.
I glanced at the window again, making sure nothing was there. And despite the present circumstances, i smiled a bit to myself. It looks like I would live today. I wasn't dead yet.
My name is Aderna Collins, 14 years old, and a sophomore in Fortuna High. Up until a few months ago, my life was completely normal. By normal, i mean a life not involving psychopathic werewolves, and cursed bodies. A life where you don't have to worry about keeping alive until tomorrow. A life not involving him. Its a mad goose chase out there, and the odds were not in my favor. Everyday could be my death, or my life. Everyday was a risk to take.
Still, I have to keep moving, keep breathing, and i have to keep myself alive. Because this is my last chance, an I'm not going to ruin it again.


XOXO
Bea