The Sanduskys have fared through the storms (they had minor damage to their house and are temporarily in a shelter until repairs can be made). The Sormientos have fared the storms, too, but they had more significant damage to their house. M'buti is most understandably upset over the damage. (They lost their roof and suffered water and wind damage to their livingroom. They are also without power.)
I am ready to go back to Africa. And the sooner the better!
This is M'buti. I am still shaking as I write this in my journal. We no longer have a house. Our house was damaged by some storms, and we are now at a shelter for displaced persons. More than one person suffered damage as a result of the ferocious storms last night, and I am still upset as I think about what happened.) Thankfully, the kids and myself aren't hurt, but my husband, Roberto, isn't that lucky: he has a broken nose; a large tree branch smacked him in the face, and his face is all swollen, as is his poor nose. His nose and cheeks are also black from bruises, and he says his face hurts. He really looks horrible, and it makes ME hurt just to LOOK at him!
We were at home when the storms came, and for a minute, I thought we were all going to die. The winds made noises I had never HEARD before (it sounded like a million people were crying), and the sirens went off, sending chillbumps down my spine, and the lightning looked as if it was coming into the house, the light was so bright, and also the thunder was so loud it sounded like bombs were going off! I thought for a minute we were under attack, and it scared the fuck out of me! I started crying, and I was afraid for our very lives! I was wishing we were anywhere but home; but we couldn't go anywhere because it was so bad out. We also heard the sound of stuff hitting our house, and then a loud "WHOOMPH" as the walls went; and we also heard the sound of glass breaking. It was absolutely terrifying! (We were in the basement; we went down there just before it really got nasty out.)
My husband's truck got some damage, too: a tree fell on it, caving in the driver's side; so his HUMMER is undriveable. He is very upset about his truck, and I am too because he loves his HUMMER! Now his HUMMER got hammered, and now he doesn't have a truck until the insurance people look at it and it gets fixed. We saw the HUMMER when we came back up, and when I saw the damage to our house, and also to Roberto's truck, I just started to cry like nobody's business!
Now we are at a shelter, and I am afraid that we will be here at least a few weeks or so until the damage to our house can be fixed, and I am worried what we will do for clothes. All we had with us when we came to the shelter were the clothes on our backs; we had no money (my husband has money, but then he always does!), and I was waiting on my disability check, which was supposed to have come today in the mail; but now we are here, so there is no way I can check to see if I got my disability check! (All I have on me now is less than 50 cents.) Just to think of how our house looks is enough to get me crying all over again, and it seems that is all I have done ever since I first saw the damage to our house.
I am also worried because we haven't found our dog, Rodriguez, and I am afraid for him. I hope he is okay or not dead; I don't know what I (or Roberto) would do if anything happened to our dog!
I heard about the storms in Texas on the eviening news and hoped they would pass you by Karen. From you writes looks like they didn't. very good story. l&p g
Reviewed by Debashish Haar
6/4/2004
WONDERFUL development...excellent descriptions...I was kinda thinking about a third person narration...!
Reviewed by Robert Blackwell
6/4/2004
Excellent writing, as usual. I'm sorry not to have reviewed more often; I am rarely here nowadays. {{{{{{{{{hug}}}}}}}}}}
Explore the mystery of how nature makes unexpected gifts of creative wonders to an unsuspecting caregiver one late night and early morning in southeastern Georgia, USA.
