Black Friday

Sarah's eyes flicked around the room to the rhythm of the ticking clock. The dim swinging basement lamp was the only source of illumination - the static on the T.V was no help.

Her father would be back soon. He was never late. His time in the Korean War had instilled a level of time management that could never be reversed.

Only once, had he ever indulged in a spontaneous adventure. On Sarah's sixteenth birthday he'd driven her all the way to the nearest movie theatre to see The Return of the Jedi together. She'd been excited for months, and all her friends bailed on her. Kyle had uncharacteristically told her and her mother to get in the car, because they were all going together.

Choosing to move from Borden Ontario, all the way to Edmonton Alberta, was no mere whimsical fancy. Kyle retired in 1985 after thirty-five years of service in the Canadian military. Sarah's mother, Colleen, felt it was best to move closer to family. It conveniently worked out that Sarah had been accepted to the University of Alberta.

Kyle was kneaded into agreement by Sarah, and his wife, and by August they were already set up in the Clareview neighbourhood. Colleen wasted no time integrating herself into a community of moms with adult children. Sarah set her sights on her new adult life.

Without a routine, Kyle searched for something to busy himself with. He eventually took up cycling in the warm months. By July of 1987, he was routinely home after 3pm, so he could make dinner.

At 3:45, Sarah couldn't stand to simply watch the clock anymore. She peered through the tiny window at the ominous black sky. Nervously, she noted the T.V, which an hour ago reported the tornado that had touched done in Leduc, with weathermen promising updates; now there was nothing but static.

Violently, Sarah jumped at the basement phone ringing. She answered, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Hello?" she trembled.

"Sarah?" her dad answered frantically on the other line.

"Dad!" she exclaimed. "Where are you?"

"I'm on a payphone, in the LRT station." he said, "stay in the basement!"

"Mom's next door!" Sarah started, daring another peek outside.

"Stay put! I lov-"

Everything with power went simultaneously dead. Sarah bolted upstairs - she had to get her mother. When she opened the door, it ripped straight off the hinges and flung across the living room. Sarah didn't even pause to put on shoes.

She staggered through the violent howls of the wind, and gritted her teeth as she stepped in gravel. In the last few steps to the door, a gust of wind crashed her into the door's glass panel. She steadied herself, ignoring the blood gushing from her head as she pounded on the door.

"Mom!" she screamed frantically. Colleen wrenched the door open, and pulled Sarah down the hall, cradling her bloodied head.

They dove into their neighbour's basement shelter just before the tornado ripped through the house.