Ted flipped off the television, silencing the weather reporter. Tossing the remote onto the couch, he walked over to the living room window and stared out. It was quite a wonder that they still had electricity given the winds already bearing down. The storm was still a ways off coast, but once it arrived, such temporary luxuries would vanish.
He grieved for his neighbors and the others in the surrounding areas of the state. Ted knew this particular hurricane was going to be one of the worst in recorded history. The destruction was going to be massive, the loss of life incalculable. Many had already evacuated, but not all. In the end, such preparations wouldn't matter. This storm had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Nowhere? A smile played at the corners of Ted's mouth. Maybe it had, indeed.
The sounds of Samantha fussing about over last minute details upstairs drifted down to him. It moved him to take another glance around the place he and his wife had lived in for the last ten years. It was a fine house, modestly decorated with a number of items from their short travels about the world. His work in international antiques had allowed them to visit many beautiful corners of the globe. Ted had always wished his acquisitions would take him to Australia, but he and Samantha had never made it. Regardless, the last decade had been filled with outstanding travel and not a little bit of adventure.
"Ted?" he heard Samantha call him from upstairs.
He found himself nodding in a sort of acquiescence. He would miss this place. Taking the staircase, he heard the winds brutal assault on the house increase, the rains beginning hard. The lights flickered as Ted reached the landing, but managed to stay on. Turning down the hallway, he strolled into the bedroom where he found Samantha cross-legged on the floor with one of the devices they had hidden in their closet.
"The data stream has all been sent," she said to him without looking up.
"Excellent, dear," he replied as he began unbuttoning his shirt.
Samantha sighed as she stood up and ran a hand through her short blonde hair. Leaving the mechanism on the floor, she peeled off her tank top as well as her shorts. Soon naked, she joined her husband on the bed and curled up next to him. Ted leaned over and kissed his wife, the intimacy igniting into laughter as the lights flickered again and finally went out.
"Well, that was great timing," he said.
Samantha giggled beside him as the hurricane shook the house harder. Ted lay on his back with his wife resting next to him, lovingly trailing a finger across his chest. They both stayed there in silence for some time and simply listened to the sounds of the storm batter the neighborhood.
Ted was lost in daydreams when the device his wife had left on the floor began to emit a rapid beeping sound. Samantha made a little noise of approval and hugged onto him tighter. The house began to quake even more violently, the room fill with a blinding blue light and Ted sighed.
"What?" asked Samantha.
"Shame about Australia."
"Yeah," she replied as they disappeared into the storm.
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544 WORDS
rating: 12
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