The weather was coming to get us, Barbara

All day long the weather radar showed angry swaths of red marching toward us, an evil horde of lightning, thunder and terror bent on reducing us to protoplasmic mulch.

I tried to ignore the shrieked warnings – “He’s coming to get you, Barbara” – but eventually it became impossible to resist and even I looked.

Tornadoes. Thunderstorms. Hurricane-force winds.

So I told Mom I’d be over that night in case her power went out. At that point I was really, really, really wishing she’d bought that Generac but what to do? In due time I suppose.

So at 9 I trudged to Mom’s as the Line of Death nudged Pensacola on the radar screen.

Except the Line of Death became potholed with gaps and green areas and within an hour there was no line, just a disconnected string of light rainshowers. No lightning. No thunder. No Cantore fodder at all. I told Mom I was going home, that I wanted to sleep in my bed so I wouldn’t become a zombie at work the next day.

When I got home, I made the mistake of firing up the interwebs before hitting the hay and after half an hour it became obvious the Line of Death was getting its act back together.

I stayed up until 1 a.m. hoping it would all just go away, but it didn’t. Soon the wind was roaring and the rain pummeling. I could hear a constant thumping of objects bashing against the roof. I hoped poor Mom was sleeping through all this. It’s the thunder and lightning she hates, but this would no doubt give her a gray hair or two if she knew it was happening.

I entered a fretful sleep and woke up at 3 to hear the tumult continue. It was hurricane-like. Finally at 5 a.m. it slackened.

This morning the yard is littered with dead limbs and leaves. All my hard yardwork is for naught. Mom did in fact sleep through it, but guess what: I was a total zombie at work. A slab of dead meat sitting in that chair. I bet I sleep tonight.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .