'Porters and Hurricanes

I don’t know what to do.

I want to grab my family up and run. Don’t stop until I reach the car. Start it up, slam on the gas, and burn rubber like they do in the movies. As the tires squeal and the smoke billows, my kids are still closing the doors as I gain speed.

But my dumb butt doesn’t do that.

I turn to every one. “I’m going down there—“

“THEN HURRY UP AND DO THAT, STOUTEN! I DONT HAVE MUCH TIME!”

That weirdo down the hill interrupted me again! And now he knows my name?

Now I’m pissed.

“STOP READING MY MIND!”, I scream back. “CAN I TALK TO MY FAMILY WITHOUT YOU INTERRUPTING ME?”

No response. Silence. Thank you, strange, mind-reading, dying guy.

I turn back to the family.

“I’m going to go down there by myself first. Look this guy in the eye and see what’s going on. Something tells me I have to. “

“Something tells me you should too, babe,” Angela says as she grabs my hand. “But he knew your name.”

“I heard that.”

“Dad?” Haley says. “I think I speak for all of us that we are scared.”

“No need to be afraid, babygirl. For some reason, I’m not afraid. “

That wasn’t quite the truth. I’m scared as hell. My hands are shaking. I’m sweating and it’s not even hot outside. My mind and my heart are racing. But for some reason I have a confidence I have never felt before. Similar to how Captain Kirk on Star Trek must have felt before he was going to teleport to a new planet. He really didn’t know what he was getting into once he arrived. He might have to fight a big ugly monster or kiss a beautiful green alien woman- who knows? Kirk was nervous but dammit he had a job to do. For Starfleet Command! So my job was to find out what this crazy guy wanted with me and my family.

I start my decent into the unknown. Which is really just me going down that hill.

“Kirk. Over and out.”