Other Stuff: Hurricane Winds –
By Wayne Halm –
Have you ever wondered what happens to the air inside hurricanes?
Not your biggest concern? Well I can help you, I’ve written the brief story below about it. That way you can find out without much effort.
Of course the story is a dramatization, writers find it hard to resist. I do write “dry and boring” when people pay me to – so if you want dry and boring, send me a check.
Otherwise, enjoy the story.
The Paulie Story
By Wayne Halm
Hi my name is Paulie, I’m a puff of air. I’m not a strong puff, but I have a fantastic girlfriend. Maria is a pretty little puff, she spent some time in the Yucatan flower fields and smells wonderful. We always breeze around together and swirl over each other. The rest of the guys are jealous. But that may have changed now.
Just last week I was playing “White Cap” with my buddies in the bright sunshine over the southern Gulf of Mexico. White Cap is a fun game. To play a bunch of us push on the water to make a wave. Then someone, The Capper, rushes at the crest and tries to blow the top off making a white cap. We all cheer and celebrate when it works. I like the game, I am good at it.
A ship came by and we decided to try white capping it, I was the Capper. Everyone was pushing on the ship, and I rushed in to cap it. I wanted to impress Maria and rushed in really fast, but the ship was hard, it didn’t move, and hitting it really hurt. I was knocked senseless and breezed around in circles for a while. Maria swirled around me and kept me off the water until I recovered.
Then things changed. The sky clouded over and something pulled all of us puffs in the same direction. We had no control and didn’t like it. But pulled we were, slowly at first, then faster, and faster. It was not a good feeling, I began to get scared.
We scrapped along the warm Gulf water making waves and white caps at the same time. But none of us cheered, we weren’t in control, we were just pulled and pushed. The water warmed us and we began to swell up, and get bigger. Swelling was a giddy sensation, it made some puffs feel powerful. But not me. It was dark and noisy under the clouds, I acted brave for Maria but it was just an act. We clung to each other.
Then it got quiet and the Sun started shining again. I looked up and above me was a perfectly round hole in the clouds. The Sun felt good, but not for long. I was being quickly pulled up through the hole. Round and round I spiraled again and again, getting ever higher and faster with each spiral. I got dizzy and lost my grip on Maria, she was ripped away from me. I panicked, tumbled through the spirals, and called to her. Suddenly I was at the top.
At the top I was pushed away from the hole and just slid out over the cloud tops. I couldn’t see Maria anywhere and felt lonely. The puffs around me were nice enough, but they hadn’t seen her either and had no idea what was happening to us.
It was strange at the top, really bright and really high, it was much higher than I had gone before. And it was the coldest place I’ve ever been. I began to shiver, contract, and get smaller … and I began to fall.
At first, I fell more or less straight down toward the water. Then the “pull” started again and I began to arc around toward the hole again. With the fall and the pull I was moving very fast. I was worried sick about Maria and kept calling her name.
But I didn’t reach the hole again, I crossed the shoreline. On shore there were lots of hard things to bump into. I remembered the ship and grabbed a roofing shingle and held it in front of me. I just closed my eyes and screamed. The shingle and I crashed through a bedroom window. In the room things were chaotic and confusing. I got pushed around a bit then shoved into a closet … and the door slammed shut.
And now, here I am, still stuck in a closet. It’s dark and lonely in here, I don’t like it. I can hear an electronic voice talking again and again about how bad the wind is and how it is hurting people. I guess I was part of the wind, but I’m not bad air. I didn’t want to be wind. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to go home, find Maria, and breeze around in the sunshine. I’m not bad air. Please let me out.
I do hope you found the story entertaining. Click on the “return” link below to read more stuff I have written.
Golfing on Kauai 