The Storm

****

Have you ever imagined being stuck in a cave during a storm with a stranger and nothing to eat or drink? Well that's what happened.

I never knew that the storm would be this serious. Buildings were collapsing and people were running in different directions.

Ric and I took refuge in the cave because trying to go home would be an act of foolishness.

The storm grew stronger and stronger and suddenly, we saw some blue particle substance coming towards our direction like dust.
We started coughing profusely for about fifteen minutes as if we had taken some kind of drug.

Different thought ran through my mind. What if we get stuck in here and there is no service to call for help? I mean I have seen it happen in movies and it definitely doesn't end well.

I guess sometimes we should be careful of what we think about.

Immediately, the cave started shaking as if it was going to collapse but before we could make it out, the entrance collapsed and we were shut in.

****
My legs began to shake, my heart started to raise, I was short of breath and also cold.

It was dark in here but Ric soon put on the touch on his phone.

"What's wrong with you" he said in surprise as he saw me sitting on the floor unable to breath properly.

"I am claustrophobic" I said in an out of breath tone.

Ric rushed close to me, folded my legs close to my body and held me tight.

"I want you to close your eyes and focus on the sound of my voice. Imagine you are in the beach with your family and friends. You are having a good time. Imagine that everything you have ever wished for has come true..."

His voice was soothing to the ears and suddenly I was no longer shaking and my breathing was back to normal.

He was still holding me closely in his arms and this made me feel like I was safe.
"How did you know that all you did will help me calm down? Nobody has ever been able to help me stop such attacks" I asked him.

"My mum also have the same problem of claustrophobia and also asthma. Ever since I was little and my dad passed away, I was the one who helped her during this attacks. It has become my specialty".

So why did you come to Transville leaving her alone in Boston. The question popped out of my mouth without even realising the impact it might have on him.

He was quite for a moment then spoke up. "My mum passed away last month so I decided to come stay with my aunt to finish high school before going off to college".

I knew I shouldn't have asked him such questions. " I'm sorry" I said in an hushed tone but loud enough for him to hear.

"You don't have to apologize, you didn't know" he said in an assuring tone.

Soon we slept cuddled up in each others arm because it was really cold.

*****

A ray of light shinned through a tiny hole in the cave. I woke up covering my eyes with my hands trying to block the light from entering my eyes.

I woke up Ric who was still fast asleep. "We need to find a way to get out of here and as it is I haven't eating since yesterday".

Ric got up and tried pushing some rocks but it was a wasted effort as the rock wouldn't even budge.

"They must be looking for us by now and there is no way of letting them know we were here as there was no signal in our phones. We will have to wait till evening so that we can wave our touch through that hole" Ric said.

Ever been in a situation when you just sit have nothing doing and different stupid ideas just run through your mind and then end up doing what you'll regret later?
Well that's what happened in the cave.

I sat on the floor quietly while ric kept moving from pillar to post trying to find a way out of the cave.

I started singing one of the songs from a cartoon I watched with Sophie. I guess if I could remember correctly the name of the cartoon was "Moana". The music was stuck in my head as she had made me watch it with her more than a thousand times.

I've been steering at the edge of the water
Long as I can remember
Never really knowing why.

I wish I could be the perfect daughter
But I come back to the water
No matter how hard I try...

It was when I heard Ric clearing his throat as if giving me a sign, that was when realization dawned upon me that I have singing out loud this whole time.

Singing is definitely not my thing and am also terrible at it.

Of course Ric burst into laughter. I guess me singing with my bad enough voice was the highlight of his day.

I was completely embarrassed as I had never let anyone seen me sing before.

"You should get signed into a record label" he mocked me.

Quit rubbing it in and let us find a way to get out of here.

We could here people shouting our names outside but it too far away and there was also no way of letting them know where we were.

I think we'll have to stick with our original plan of waiting till dark.

****

It was soon dark and we prayed that there was still a search party out there looking for us.

We flashed the light of Ric's phone through the hole, hoping that someone would see it.

After an hour of flashing light, the battery of the phone was almost dead. Just when we had lost hope, I heard someone saying "I think I see a light flashing from that rock".

"Hey Hey Hey we are in here" we both yelled at the top of our voice.
They finally started looking for ways to remove the rock.

Moment later they opened the cave and we were free at last.

I saw my mum and dad and ran to them and gave them a tight hug.

"I thought I was never going to see you guys again" I said with tears of joy pouring out of my eyes while my dad continued patting the back of my head gently.

***

I got home and mum made dinner. I ate like a lion who has been starving for a week.
After eating, I took a long hot bath in bathtub before laying on my bed.

Man!!! I finally fell like I can live.

Hey guys thank you so much for reading. It means a whole lot to me that you took out your precious time to read this book.

Question for the chapter:
Who has watched the cartoon "Moana"?