October 26, 2010, Nashville, Tennessee, 10:30 a.m., D.S.T.~

Dear Journal~

A terrified Michiko Osaka here. 

I figured that since it is autumn now, the bad weather threat would be overwith by now.  Not so.  As I write, we are under severe weather watches and warnings; they will be going on for a good part of the day.  We are currently under a tornado watch until 5:00 this afternoon, and there are severe storms to the west of us, heading this way.

Some of the storms are moving east at 55 miles an hour or greater, and some of these storms have the potential to become tornadic.

I have already been through one tornado; I don't need to go through another one!  When I was in the last tornado, I got injured; because of it, I lost my sight.  I am now blind.  I still haven't gotten over the bad memories, and then in May, we had severe flooding, which caused me to be temporarily displaced until my apartment was repaired.

I guess you can say that I am shellshocked by bad weather.  Every time the sirens sound or I hear even the mere mention of bad weather, I have severe panic attacks, and I have to go to the Emergency Room to get a shot, to calm me down.  It's really horrible!!

Kazuhiko (Kaz), my boyfriend, and my seeing eye dog, "Osaka", are safe with me, as I write this down on my special computer.  They are trying to keep me calm, but they aren't really doing a good job: I hear the thunder, and it sounds like the appreoching storms really mean business.  I also hear the winds starting to pick up, and I wonder if the sirens are going to start sounding off next.  Those tornado sirens have a built in chill factor of their very own!  I hate the sound of them!!

Now this is my second tornado, and I'm no more used to it than I was the first time.  What if I get injured again? What if I end up paralyzed? What if my apartment blows apart by the winds?  What would I do then?? I'm already blind: I don't think I could handle being paralyzed and homeless on top of it!  Haven't I already been through enough??

Ohgodohgodohgod ... the tornado sirens are going off!!  That must mean only one thing: a tornado must be on the way here!  What am I going to do??  Oh, Jesus, help me!!  Oh, God, please let me get through this; I'm shaking-scared!!

*to be continued.*