Page 7 of Born a Hero

Looking at his watch, he wasn’t surprised to see that dawn would be breaking in an hour. Realizing the rain had slowed to a heavy downpour from the raging storm conditions of earlier, he prayed it would soon stop altogether.

The new day couldn’t come fast enough for him. Forcing himself to relax, he understood that the hours ahead would need a herculean effort from everyone involved. The worst part for them would be keeping poor Justin from distressing over his missing mother.

Chapter Eight

Thankful for the large metal garbage can below that gave her a platform to balance on, Dena clung to the pole for what seemed like hours. While fighting the elements to keep her head above the water, she cried heartbrokenly. The guilt over losing Justin weighed on her and became worse as time went by.

Memories of the precious past kept her mind occupied as her body instinctively hung on though her muscles screamed at the treatment. The only way she could get through the horror was to ignore the dark cold water, forget about the wind that had played havoc with her surroundings, and pay no attention to the continuous flashes that ripped open the skies.

A few times, lightning flares came extremely close, and that’s when she understood her own danger. Worried about being struck, or worse, having the water around her become ignited, she fretted about drowning and leaving her boy alone in the world. All her thoughts centered on the one person who meant more to her than life itself.

Completely drenched, colder than she’d ever been in her life, she watched houses, cars, trees, and people clinging to all kinds of floating contraptions like life rafts, bathtubs, and pieces of wood float past.

One man tried to get to her with his canoe, but he had no oar and the water just carried him away before he could help. Suddenly, she saw a large tree on its side heading in her direction, it’s branches floating in the water and it’s trunk showing signs of where it must have been ripped from the ground.

Terrified it would tear her away from her perch, she prayed it would pass by. Unfortunately, it didn’t. Under the water, the tree’s branches got caught up by the pole and it smashed into where she clung.

Screaming her fury at God’s meanness, she buried her face and hung on. Once everything settled, she saw how the tree’s branches had encircled the pole, using it to brace against.

She felt the brush of the branches below her body and was actually able to lay her weight on one of the larger ones so she could rest her arms. Carefully, she let the tree do the work in keeping her head above the water and realized God had blessed her, not punished.

Relief rushed through her and for the first time since she watched her boy float away in the car, she understood she might live through the madness. Wiping the hair from her face, she braced her whole body on the branch, cuddled into as small a ball as she could and drifted off.

It was the lightning striking the tree that woke her up to her new danger. That force had moved the tree over enough that the pole no longer held it secure.

Seeing through the light of the morning, she sensed when the tree finally broke loose and knew she didn’t have the strength left in her to hold her body’s weight on the pole any longer. Seeing that the rain had slowed from a hurricane downpour, she had two choices. Try and hold on, staying where she was, or go with the tree and let it take her with it. Maybe to safety.

Knowing her hands were too sore too maintain her weight safely, she listened to the small voice in her head and made the decision to take what the good Lord had given her.

She watched as inches and then feet separated her from the safety of the pole. Lying flat over the wider part of the trunk now, she prayed. When the tree finally broke loose and started on a journey up the same wide street as Justin had gone earlier, she begged with everything in her not to fall into the cold, muddy water.

Half asleep, she rested her weight on the tree and saw the destruction all around and it broke her heart. The wide street had been a beautiful residential area before this nightmare. The width between the yards was spacious compared to the newer subdivisions where houses were forced together so close one could imagine reaching across from one window to the neighbor’s and pass on a cup of borrowed sugar.

These homes were built for space and seeing it looking like a lake made her heart sore. Suddenly, she came fully awake to realize she wasn’t moving any longer. The tree had gotten wedged by a streetlamp and the force of the water had it starting to swing wildly. She clung but knew it might only be a matter of minutes before she could be flung off her perch.

Now wide awake, through the dawn’s early light, she made out the closest house where a face appeared in a dormer window. Frantically, she waved hoping the person would see her danger and help her.

Screaming, knowing the tree was likely to twist her off and terrified to jump into water with so much debris between her and safety, she made herself ready for whatever eventuality would befall her.

Chapter Nine

Bryce couldn’t believe his eyes. He moved over to the far window and checked again. Sure enough, there was a woman in danger… terrible danger.

She must have been clinging to the tree that was now trying to fling her off in its wild behavior of twisting and being buffeted by other debris nearby. Unfortunately, the wind had also picked up and was quickly becoming a source of worry. It would have been a problem trying to swim across to get to her in the cold water but fighting against the squall would make it hellish.

No matter, he had no choice. Waking Sonja, he got her attention and showed her the plight of the poor woman outside.

“What do you want to do? We can’t let her drown.”

“Thank goodness you found those floaters. We’ve got to tie them together. Can I use the belt from your robe?”

Quickly pulling it free, she said, “Good idea. Three of those suckers will be a better raft.”

Talking out loud, he planned. “We can tie the main rope to me again, but I’ll need you to haul us back if you can.”

“Of course I can. I’ll angle it around the rafter and use it to help me.”

Bryce divested himself from his warm clothing and in just a pair of trunks, he helped Sonja tie the rope around his chest. Together, they opened the window and Bryce lowered himself and his floaters carefully into the waves, worried when the wind caught him he’d be flung around.

---