Braving The Storm

     By this point in the new semester, I have become accustomed to the weekly disasters I seem to face in my apartment. Whether it be power outages or a relentless war waged against the cockroach incursion in the kitchen, the life I have led within the boundaries of my home has been one of ceaseless defense, a restless attention to the state of things that can go wrong at any moment.

    So, when a hurricane was predicted to wipe off Tallahassee from the map, and classes were cancelled for the week, I figured it was par for the course. For the first time since arriving, the roach incursion had lessened, and no power or water outages had happened this week. Naturally, God himself had decided to take it upon himself to participate in the weekly disaster on a larger scale, almost as a punishment for daring to believe that Wade and I could live a single week in peace at home. As the storm approached and more reports of its intensity began to roll in, the majority of the population of Tallahassee had decided to evacuate to avoid the punishment of the storm.

    Maybe it was bad luck, or simply a desire to spite the disaster, but I had decided to stay behind at home to brave the storm. My parents had been asking me to consider evacuating with friends fleeing the city, or to buy a bus ticket home for the week to escape the wrath of the hurricane. In a prime example of classic stupid confidence, I rejected the opportunity to escape, and I opted to brave the storm with Wade in our shitty little apartment.

    One problem, though: Wade was not planning on staying at the apartment. He had decided to stay with his partner and another fellow film student during the storm. My expectations were a little shattered, as I had imagined a glorious final stand with my best friend in a crumbling, flooding apartment as the roaches were washed out in a biblical flood. Reality set in, and he graciously invited me to join them for their storm. Simultaneously, my buddy Matt had reached out to me asking if I'd like to stay with them for the storm, and given the difficult choice between the two groups, I decided to stay with my other friends, to have a bonding experience that would bring us closer together.

    After Sam and Wade were kind enough to help me move my valuables and supplies to Matt & Evan's apartment, we had a chill night and watched a bunch of Youtube videos and shared our music. The next morning, however, we realized that we needed more snacks. What's the point of surviving a hurricane if all you do is eat canned beans? With a mission in sight, we trekked miles and miles to the nearest CVS that was open, as the rain started to settle in. To our dismay, we arrived at the CVS only to realize it had closed 20 minutes early because of the storm that was rolling in later this afternoon. We later repeated the same mistake with a Target that was said to be open, but wasn't. Blinded by our greed and gluttonous desire, we had wasted precious time and mental stability marching solemnly in the rain, to a destination with no reward.

    Still, we managed to pick up our spirits. After a few disastrous ventures out into the rainy city, we decided to call it quits and stay in for the remainder of the storm. We hit the gym, chilled in a sauna, and generally had a great time. As night fell, the hurricane finally was upon us. I had heard from friends in neighboring Gainesville about how hard the hurricane had hit them, knocking out power for the city and damaging their campus heavily. Still, lacking developed frontal lobes and better judgement, me and the boys went out into the parking garage, ready to face judgement day.

    The winds howled and the rain peppered our skin with sharp, stinging droplets as they whipped into our faces with the force of the storm. Even in relatively good cover, the storm had made its severity known. Perched on the top floor with a phenomenal view, we watched as the storm began to roll into Tallahassee in the distance, with flashes of lightning and distant explosions in the background, illuminating the dark with orange-red flashes.

    However, life has a strange sense of humor. As we braced for the full force of the storm to hit us, ravaging our city and knocking out our power, the winds lessened, and the rain, while still persistent, felt weaker. I checked my hurricane radar app on my phone, and to our shock, the hurricane had suddenly bounced away from Tallahassee as it had begun to hit. By some miracle (which people have jokingly attributed to our magnetic lab), the storm was pulled off course and had spared our homes. Feeling an odd mix of relief and mild disappointment, we crashed in our rooms and passed out.

    By next morning, the skies were clearer than ever, with a gentle breeze filling the empty streets of Tallahassee. Without so much as a branch in the road, not only was Tallahassee seemingly unscathed- it was actually cleaner than before. With no damages to our campus or apartment, life returned back to normal within the day, without even affecting our pizza delivery guy!

    Some hurricane.