Hurricane Punch by Sue DeCrescenzo
Mystical Maidens Series The weather forecast wasn’t good. A category 5 hurricane was aimed directly at Florida’s Gulf Coast. The sounds of hammers nailing plywood over windows were heard all around Sydney’s neighborhood. Her parents left her the family home and moved out west. They were tired of the humidity and the threat of storms. Most of the neighbors left were her parents age. Several of Sydney’s friends came to help shore up the neighborhood in exchange they could come to her house and shelter during the storm. Sydney made sure there was plenty of batteries, candles, matches, granola bars, bottle water, snacks, and peanut butter sandwiches. Her friends brought pizzas, beer and “fixins” for the hurricane punch. After several hours, the winds picked up, but Sydney’s friends had done a great job of securing neighbor’s windows, loose patio furniture, potted plants, etc. They were as ready as they could be. Sydney did a final check of her lanai and watched the sky. The clouds moved in one direction, the winds another. The sky was pea soup green. The humidity was so thick it was almost hard to breathe. Syd could see the ocean off in the distance. It was boiling and turning like a pot of water about ready to boil over. The air conducted an electrical current as another lightning bolt crashed on the horizon. Sydney had lived all her life in FL, and she hadn’t seen anything like this before. Something didn’t feel right, but she shook if off and joined her friends inside. Her friends had already decided, the heck with it – let’s party. Someone made up a batch of “hurricane punch” in a garage pail. Music played, people danced, and laughter drowned out the winds and rain. Sydney keep checking the forecast. The storm was still stalled off the islands south of FL. Now the party was in full swing. The lights flickered; then went off. The partied on.
Then just as quickly as the storm started to move north, the winds died down, the sky changed to a deep blue, the sea calmed down and the worst of the storm passed out to sea. They were all spared. Some say it was a miracle. Others said there was magic in the air. However, miracles and magic aside, there was no electrical power. It was 90 degrees and Sydney couldn’t breathe. No one else seemed to notice. Sydney left the party and headed for the beach. Sydney’s head ached, her tongue felt like sandpaper and her stomach was doing backflips. Note to self; never drink anything ever again called Hurricane Punch mixed in a garage pail. As Sydney walked onto the beach, the sand felt cool on her bare feet. At some point, she decided that the cool sand would feel good on her forehead, so she laid down. In fact, it felt so good; she fell asleep. Syd opened her eyes. Something woke her up. She looked around then brushed the sand off her face. She vaguely remembered how much she drank. Ugh, she vowed, never again. Everything seemed blurry, but Syd thought when she left the party, it was dark. Now the moon lit up the entire beach. She sat up slowly and noticed something sticking out in the sand. It looked like a large brass teapot. Syd thought, it must have washed up in the storm. She picked it up, brushed off the sand and seaweed. It gave off an eerie glow, then got warm and Sydney dropped it. A cloud of steam escaped from the spout.
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