Author's Note: Where the Heart Is - viewpoint of Sister Husband, the woman who welcomed the main character Novalee into her home, during the tornado"TV just put out a tornado warning. They spotted a funnel cloud over in Vian," I said.
The sky had started to turn a greenish color, darkening by the minute, clouds growing taller, starting to twirl just slightly. Everything was so still, not a sound stirred. Suddenly, a flash of lightning came, the thunder clapping 4 seconds after. Then came another flash and immediately, there was a crash, so close that the trailer shook violently.
“We gotta get our pets, Mommy!” Americus yelled as she began to walk out the door.
“You stay close darling!” Novalee yelled.
“Come on, Mommy.”
“No, you stay close, we’re about to leave.”
“Novalee, you go on with Americus. I made Dixie some potato soup. I’ll take it by on my way to the cellar,” I said. Once again, the thunder crashed shaking the trailer home making Novalee flinch. “That was God telling you to take that baby and get on to the cellar.” I warned.
As they left, I had a great feeling knowing they would be just fine, especially since Novalee had grown into such a good mother. I couldn’t be happier that she had come into my life.
I watched from the window to verify that Novalee and her daughter, Americus, climbed into the cellar. They left the door open for me so I could come in when I come back from Dixie’s. I’m uncertain that Dixie will actually be there, but I made her a promise that I intend to keep.
As if broken from a trance, I suddenly turned around to notice the soup was boiling fiercely going over the top. I turned down the heat, but in the process, it boiled right onto my arm making me roll on the floor in pain. Keeping in the tears, I inched towards the refrigerator in need of an ice pack when the soup boiled over onto my bare foot. I yelped, but didn’t want Novalee to hear so she wouldn’t be hurt in the storm.
Clenching my burned foot, I began to cry knowing I was letting people down. I failed. I failed to keep a promise about bringing potato soup to Dixie, I failed to get to the cellar before the tornado struck, and I failed to say goodbye to the people I love.
The cyclone roamed around destroying everything in its path I witnessed as it began to head straight for my trailer. Suddenly, the trailer tipped onto its side sending the refrigerator on top of me. I felt a sense of weightlessness as the twister picked up the trailer, smashing it into the ground. The walls crunched inwards toward me and ripped off piece by piece.
Through the nonexistent wall to my right, I peered out to see the cellar door was closed and I knew Novalee was safe inside. To my left was my Bible which I grasped in my hands and I prayed out loud for Novalee; I knew I would die with the lord and go to Heaven. That’s when the trailer toppled down, completely destroyed with the ceiling, or what used to be the ceiling, on the ground and I fell unconscious.
Later, I began to open my eyes and felt so much pain throughout my body. The blurs allowed me to figure out an idea as to where I was. I was in an ambulance. Forney sat next to me and I could see an avalanche of tears rolling down his cheeks. I couldn’t bear to see it, but looked down and saw the Bible still in my hands; an intense, burning pain rushed though my chest, and I shut my eyes never to be opened again.
