It was mid June, and I was in Virginia in the house of my youngest daughter, when the weather man gave an alarm for a thunderstorm, followed by a heavy shower. I was working on a computer which was already fixed in that room before my arrival USA. I was writing the fifth chapter of my second novel on the life of an American Doctor, when I saw dirt black clouds hovering very low in the blue. At about 3.30 P.M the lightening streaks flashed in the sky, and the view became very frightening. The thunderous roar of the clouds was so furious that I felt overawed, shut my computer, and lay down on my bed. The wind was very forceful and chilly, as if it had touched the snow on the mountains. It seemed that it would topsy-turvy everything from uprooting the trees to splashing the buildings. The trees were taking a beating, and the top shoots of the branches cracking and flying in the air, which looked like small birds flying towards the ground, after being hit by ferocious winds.
My daughter called me down to collect the pillows and cushions from the deck of the house, fearing that they would be blown away by the mad storm, or get wet by the rain which was to follow soon. I opened the door and went to the deck where I found myself staggering under the great pressure of the irate wind, carrying dust and leaves. When I was collecting the cushions, a shoot of the tree struck my face like a blow dart, making me cry like a child, and without collecting all the cushions I came back and told my daughter to bring the left over articles herself. When she went out the storm was fiercer with continuous deafening noise of clouds and flashes of lightening, but she collected all the cushions and immediately ran back. She was waiting for her husband who was yet to come from his office. Her heart was throbbing and the heart beat became rapid as a result of extreme anxiety.
In another few minutes heavy rain started, and thereafter sleet pallets started striking the window panes, and the scene became completely harrowing. All of us were sitting in accompaniment in the family room when the light went out, and it became completely dark. In the absence of heat in the house we started feeling chill, and spread blankets over us. To be safer from the biting cold we shifted to a library, which was a small room near the main gate of the house. All the utility services like telephone, wireless connection and light went off, and she was unable to contact her husband. She tried calling him from her mobile but it was also dead. The road became a carpet of sleet with refuse settled on it, and looked filthy. The vision became blurred and the wind knocked against the windows with increasing frequency and force.
All of them were very worried for her husband who got stranded in the uncertain weather, and my daughter became agitated, and said so many hurtful things to the children, who became very scared from her mother�s outbursts. She stamped out of the library to the kitchen to prepare tea, when her husband entered the house from the garage side; she heaved a sigh of relief. He looked tired, and she gave him a hot cup of coffee and snacks. Even after two hours the wind was hard enough to rattle the window panes.Two trees fell down in the back of the house and several others were uprooted in their community and covered the road. A strong wind buffeted the window panes repeatedly and lumps of sleet struck over them producing a loud noise. She thanked God that her husband had come back home though strife torn. There was no refuge in the whole of community, and the victims of storm were not allowed to disturb them by knocking their doors for shelter. To go into another�s territory and knock their doors without appointment is illegal in USA. People used to keep umbrellas in their hand bags, but it proved useless in a strong wind, for fear of being blown away.
The power came to life after two hours and we switched on the heat in the house. The storm abated, but the chill was still unbearable. My daughter scrambled out on the deck to look out for the plastic caps of the railing, which blew away and were not to be seen. When she was coming in, she lost her footing and pitched forward. She fell down on the heels of her hands that struck the floor of the deck hard, and her right knee got injured. It hurt like hell and she gave a loud scream. All of us went out and lifted her bodily. Her mother applied �Move Gel� on the hurt part, and she was asked to lie down with a blanket on her. Thank God! There was no spinal injury, which could prove fatal.
Her husband trudged out and knocked away enough ice from the bonnet of the car, cleaned the windscreen, and the engine which was disabled came to life after several revs. He was so frightened that an involuntary growl issued though his mouth, but he remained busy in scrubbing the ice from the bonnet. He channeled all his strength to park the car in front of his garage in spite of being worn-out. The garage door was having enough snow in front of it, but he was thinking to take his wife to the hospital if her condition worsened. He headed to the main gate of his house several times staring vacantly through the spattered glass doors to judge the weather conditions and felt anxious.
In the evening we made a final farewell to the storm that made a permanent place down our memory lane.
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