When I first picked this spot this spot to build my house, I was young and foolish. I never thought of the consequences. Now I have to.
As I watch the storm on the horizon, I reminisce in all the memories I created here. All the time I spent searching for a way into and up the lighthouse. The sunsets and sunrises I watched from that view. The time I put into building my beautiful white fence, surrounding my cottage. I took a deep sigh and headed back inside to finish packing up. I needed to make sure I had everything and was gone before the storm hit.
I first glanced around my living room, grabbing my family pictures and a few antique display pieces. Next stop was my kitchen. I viewed the space I spent most of my time, baking and cooking. I shook myself out of the past and scanned the area for what I should take. I picked up my decorative plate collection, and the basic cooking supplies, since I didn’t know how long I’d be driving for. I decided I’d come back for the food later. I walked through the house, taking pictures off the walls as I went, to my bedroom. T grabbed all the pictures immediately and packed up everything so far. I picked up all my heirlooms and decorations I’ve collected over the years and my blankets off my bed. In the process, I had flashbacks of all the close calls with storms I had, that I spent cowering under these blankets. I shook with fright and went back to packing. I threw all my clothes into a box and stacked it with the rest. My next stop was my bathroom where I threw all the stuff from my cabinets and shower into another box.
I started taking all the boxes out to my van and noticed the wind had picked up and the storm had started moving faster. So I finished up with the boxes and pulled my dolly inside to bring furniture into my trailer. I dragged my bed, nightstand, desk and television out to the trailer and checked on the progress of the storm again. It had moved substantially closer. At this rate, it will be here within four hours. I had hoped to be able to leave tomorrow morning but my plans had to be accelerated.
So my next move was stuffing my coolers with fridge and freezer food and boxes with all the rest of the food. That only took about forty – five minutes so I still had some time to grad my entertainment things. I did some laps around my house throwing all my books, movies, board and video games and electronics into boxes. Those boxes and coolers I took out to my trailer. It had started ringing so I knew the storm wasn’t far away and I should be leaving now, but there were a couple more things I needed to do.
I ran inside grabbing my baby box and my keepsake box and tossed those into the trailer. Checking if I had enough room, I grabbed the dolly and brought my dad’s chair out to the trailer. The storm was now only a half an hour away if I was lucky. I began to panic, knowing I wouldn’t be far enough away before the storm hit and I had another flashback.
The first and last time my parents came to visit me here was around Thanksgiving. I had made an amazing turkey, my first time in years, and I had expected we would be doing a lot of catching up, except that wasn’t the case. When they arrived, they had an obvious great disliking towards the area and my house. They had barely stepped inside before they stopped. My mother told me they were moving away from Nova Scotia, farther inland to Manitoba. She said they would no longer be able to visit and the call distance was too expensive so this would be our last goodbye for a long time. I was shell shocked. They stood there waiting for my response until I finally asked why. They responded that they were tired of all the false warnings and wanted to be able to live without fear. All I had to say, was that I was sorry to see them go but I hope they find what they are looking for. We hugged goodbye and as they were leaving, my father turned around, with a pained look in his eyes, and mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’.
I was shaken back to reality with that statement, but also with the storm hitting shore. Now was the time I had to leave. I began pulling away, but I knew as soon as I started moving, that it would take a lot of work. The wind was throwing my trailer back and forth, making my van jolt and my driving harder. Once I had pulled out of the driveway, the storm was at its strongest. The road leading from my cottage to the highway takes forty – five minutes to drive on a good day, without a trailer, so in this, I guessed one hour and a half to two hours. This journey would be a long one and, hopefully, the storm would slow down, or even stop, so that I could safely escape. That was not the case.
About halfway down the road is a small cave on the side. If I could get to that I can wait out the storm, however, I need to survive to get there. I ran through the options in my head. If I drive fast I get there sooner but I risk flipping the losing my trailer. If I drive slower, it takes longer and I’m less likely to flip and lose the trailer, but the eye of the storm might reach me. I decided on somewhere in the middle and risking all of that.
I sped up to follow through on my decision, and I could feel the trailer shake more and more until I get up to speed. The panic of losing my belongings was building inside me, though, the cave was getting closer with every second. I could feel another flashback coming on but I pushed it away to focus on my driving. Eventually, I saw the folded tree and knew the cave was only a few hundred meters away.
I couldn’t see the cave, but my memory helped me to know when and where to turn and head up into the cave. I felt the bump of the tires transferring from gravel to dirt and the incline as I hit the ramp to the cave. I could feel the dirt beginning to give way, so I pressed the acceleration down more and made it up the hill into the cave.
I knew my possessions and I would be safe and dry in here, but I realized I had no wood or source of heat. I had planned to leave tomorrow, giving me time to pack more survival supplies. I knew I had to head out to collect wood so that it could dry soon. However, I also knew that if I headed out in this, I would be blown away and killed, or simply chiller and soaked to the bone. I also can’t run the heater in my car the whole time as I need to conserve that for when I get back on the road.
With nowhere to go and nothing to productive to do, I decided to search through my clothes to layer and my food for items that expire soon. I threw on my winter boots, a sweatshirt, sweater, winter coat, and a windbreaker, in an attempt to keep warm. In my food, I found an open box of cracker and some cheese, so I made a small meal out of that. My next move would be to make a list of everything I needed to do. My main priority at the moment was to dry off wood and find a way to create heat. I also needed to tarp off the entrance to the cave so less wind blows in. Later on, when I have more time, I need to inventory my food to see how much I need to ration it. I should also check the progress of the storm, at some point, to see if there is an end in sight. I had no idea how long I would be in the save, so I had to be prepared.

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