Thunder in the Dark

Kirt eyed the damaged portion of the levee.  More than half of its width was still intact.  Beyond, the shorter path to the hangers looked infinitely more inviting.  “Okay, we go back.  But we’d better take the snacks with us.”

“Be careful,” said Sara, moving with him to the car.

Kirt pulled the keys from the ignition and reached into the back seat for the bag.  Ever so slightly, he felt the vehicle shift.  “Get back!” he yelled, jerking himself clear.  But before either of them could react further, the ground beneath them gave way.

Sara screamed in terror.  Pivoting as she fell, she grabbed for anything that would save her, but her hands encountered only the cool wetness of dark, yielding soil.  She clawed at it feverishly, pulling away thick, soggy clumps that cascaded upon her as she slid to a stop, facedown, fifteen feet below where she once stood.  Lying motionless, she waited for the inevitable crush of the river, her paralyzing fear evolving into the calm acceptance of the watery destiny her nightmares had repeatedly tried to prepare her for.  She thought of Kirt and their unexplored romance, and the cruelty of her pending fate caused tears of regret to well beneath her tightly closed eyelids.

Pulling himself from the sludge near the bottom of the slide, Kirt stood and wiped spatters of muck from his face.  “Sara?” he called, blinking blinding dirt from his eyes.

There was no answer.

“Sara!” he called again, louder, his stomach knotting with dread.  But as he listened for a response, the only thing he heard was the baleful rush of the swollen river.  Frantically, he cleared his vision enough to look around and held his breath when he inspected the area immediately next to her upturned car a few feet away.  He spotted a splotch of white on the torn face of the embankment above him and knew it was her, half-buried in sod.  His heart sank when he saw she wasn't moving.  Madly clawing his way up the slope, he called for her again as if to frighten away the horror of the unimaginable.

Hearing her name, Sara lifted her face from the wet soil, surprised the levee was still holding.  Rolling onto her side, she looked towards the voice and was elated to see Kirt making his way to her from below.  Slowly, she sat up and wiped the grime from her cheeks.  “I’m alright.”

Kirt threw his arms around her when he reached her, his grateful heart hammering with adrenalin-laced emotion.  “Thank God.  You had me worried there for a minute.”

“I thought we were goners,” said Sara, hugging him back.

Kirt looked into her eyes and, for an instant, forgot their peril.  “I love you,” he heard himself say.

Sara’s heart swelled.  She opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a gigantic gush of mud and water as the destabilized levee completely gave way.