The Sky We Call Heaven

Days of rain had swelled the river, floods threatened to break loose.  The storm had continued on for the past week, leaving the town in terror of what would attack next.  While rich folks had been trapped in their houses, huddled up next to the radio, listening through the static, many others hide in the alley…like me. Cold, scared, and alone. We all sat, waiting for our worlds to end. We were done with the suffering, or I was at least.  I was tired of the tethered up clothing, the scraps of food for dinner, the cold, wet, stormy nights.  I wanted to be inside, next to a fire with my family.  I wanted to eat a dinner, a real one.  But most of all, I wanted to get away from this storm.

I live in New Orleans; storms are normal.  I'm used to living on the street, having it rain every night or so. I know how to avoid lightning and stay safe from tornadoes; it's second nature to me. However, the last week has been worse than I could have ever imagined.  It all started with a spring shower, the beginning of May, it seemed pretty normal to all of us. It was heavy rain, all of us huddled together on the streets, but still, pretty normal.  We waited the storm out, hoping it would last only a day.  There was at least three days of consecutive rain, with only breaks for short amounts of time. We all prayed to God that he would make this horrible storm stop, but we hadn't even faced our worse offender yet.

Four days into the storm, we had received word from a local shop that there was a tornado spotted, and was looked to touch down near us.  We all appreciated the kind word and thoughtfulness of telling us, but we still had no where to go. We were still stranded on the road, waiting to die.

As more talk went around about the tornado, we knew there was a less and less chance of surviving. Families slept together, not sure if they would make it another night. Little kids, still running down the street, laughing and screaming -- like nothing was wrong.  It broke my heart to imagine losing them, or them having to live without us.  Every rain drop that fell was just another second ticking away from our lives.

That night, while we slept, a tornado came crashing through our city, our alley...our home. I survived.  I don’t know how, or why, but I did. I was one of the few.  As the morning sun grew, people emerged from the rubble. Some heartbroken by the loss of loved ones, others reaching out for the hands of their family.  Standing water surrounded us, buildings fallen to the ground, crashing into the remains of our city.  At this point, I was questioning if it was better to be alive, or better to be watching this from the sky.  The sky we call Heaven.