Chapter 1
“Amber, I can’t do this. I can’t let my parents watch my kids for the weekend so I can go to a rock concert with you.” I said feeling guilty.
“ Kalli you can’t keep feeling guilty about wanting to go and have some time for yourself. It has been three years since Craig has died and you have been pushing yourself ever since. You are a widowed mother of two and you need time to rejuvenate so you can be present for them.” “Please just do this with me and I won’t bug you for a long time about going out. You need this.” she pleaded.
I knew she was right and my kids were now ten and twelve. They could handle a few days with my parents. I sighed. “ Alright, but not too crazy okay.”
Amber smiled. “ Awesome and don’t worry about packing because I’ve already done it.”
“Amber, we are going two hours away for two nights. I don’t think we are going to need that many clothes.” I said teasing her.
“Girl, we are going to do more than just go to a concert. We are going to the club too.” she said excitedly.
Amber was excited for this girl trip because she was a stay at home mom of three and her husband Joe encouraged her to get out with me and just take a small break. “ I told you nothing crazy.” I said jokingly.
“ It won’t be. I swear and the day after the concert we are going to the spa before we come home on the third day. We both need this.” she said, her eyes begging me to just agree again.
“ Okay, but I’m not dancing after my three drink limit because you know how I get.” I said grinning.
She grinned. “ I’ll keep you in check. I’ll see you at eight am sharp in the morning.” She said before walking out the door.
I closed the door to my bedroom and called my mom. “ Mom..” I said when she answered the phone.
“ Yes, Kalli, who else would it be?” she teased.
“Amber has convinced me I need to go on this girls trip with her. Are you still willing to watch the kids for a few days?” I asked.
“Kalli, you know your dad and I are more than happy to. You are thirty three and still young. You need to get out there and find someone to spend your life with. I know they will never be Craig because you two were high school sweethearts, but I hate seeing you just moving through the motions of life. I want to see you vibrant again… We will watch them for you anytime.”
“ Thanks mom.”
“Linda, is that Kalli?” I heard my dad ask from the other room.
“Yes Brandon it is. I told her we’d be happy to take the kids for a few days.”
“ Tell her to go have fun and we are happy to help.”
“I’ll be over there in twenty minutes with the kids. I have to leave by eight in the morning. Amber has us on a schedule.” I said laughing softly.
“ See you in a little bit, honey.” she said before we hung up.
“Ansley! Christopher!” I yelled for them.
“ Yea mom.” Ansley said, poking her head out of her room.
“ I need you and Chris to pack for a couple days to spend with Mema and Papa. I’m going on a girls trip with Amber this weekend. Pack whatever you want. We have to leave in about ten minutes.”
“ Mom…”
“ Yes honey.”
“ I’m glad you are getting out and having fun like you used to. I miss that and maybe next weekend we can do something? You know just you, me and Chris?”
“ I would love that.” I said hugging her. “ For now let’s get packed and I had better go help Chris.”
I sat outside my parents house after dropping off the kids and thought about how different life would have been if Craig wouldn’t have been trying to save us in the tornado. There was no warning and all of a sudden the wind started blowing like crazy. It was in the middle of the day and there wasn’t any chance of rain or storms that day. It was like a weird freak accident that happened. We were at the park with the kids and it all happened so fast. He was yelling at me when the wind picked up to get in the car. I was across the park with Christopher pushing him in the swings and he had been making a sand castle in the sand pit with Ansley.
I could see the fear develop in his eyes as we walked towards him and the urgency in his voice increased. I picked Chris up at this point and was running towards him. He had picked up Ansley and took my hand running and pulling me to the nearby ditch. He told the kids to lay down on the ground and I got on top of them and he got on top of me. We instructed the kids to grab the grates on the storm drain and we did the same. Craig and I looked back and there was a rain wrapped tornado about a mile wide about to go right over us. I tucked my head down and closed my eyes.I could barely hold on to the grate and I could feel the grate begin to bend forward. Craig began yelling over the roar of the wind.
“ I love you and the kids Kalli, and I always will. Please don’t let them forget I love them.”
“ We love you too Craig.” I yelled back not registering what was happening. My head was tucked down and I instantly felt more air and it was harder for me to hold on. I hadn’t realized that he was sucked up. When everything was over was when I realized that he wasn’t on top of me anymore. I could finally hear the kids’ cries and they had begun to cry for him and I pulled them close to me.
I got down to their level. “ I don’t know what happened, but right now we need to stick together and go to the next house or business we can find. I love you and daddy loves you. I have to find someone who can help us.” Ansley wiped her tears and then Chris’s. They each took my hand and we started walking.
My car was embedded into a nearby tree and my cellphone had been sucked from my back pocket. We had nothing to communicate with anyone. All of the park play equipment had been mangled and we were twenty miles from our home and a mile or so from any public place. The power lines were down so we had to be careful.
My phone began ringing and I wiped my tears away as I answered.
“Hello?”
“ Hey girl, I thought I’d come over and spend the night so we could just get up from your place in the morning and we wouldn’t have to rush.” Amber said excitedly.
“ That’s perfect because I don’t like being alone and we can sleep in.” I said slyly. I was not a fan of getting up early.
Amber laughed. “ We are not sleeping in. There will be plenty of that this weekend.”
“ I suppose you’re right.” I said as I backed out of my parent’s driveway. “ I’ll be home in less than ten minutes.”
“See you soon.” she said.
