The family box

     He stood on his front porch, a cup of lukewarm coffee in his weathered hands. In the distance, black clouds rolled in the sky as the tornado siren began to wale.” Damn it to hell" he grumbled as he went inside and grabbed a small box he kept next to the front door. He scooped up the damn cat, held onto the box and went outside into the already mighty wind. He struggled a bit to get the doors open to the storm shelter, and in doing so, the cat lept out of his grasp and disappeared into the darkness.

     Sitting on a simple wooden chair, he let his eyes adjust as he glanced around the place that could save his life. It was her that made him build this damn place, he was content in the fact that the probability of a tornado hitting them was remote. Now as he sat and listened to the winds blow, and the closed doors shake with a vengeance, he smiled and gave her thanks. “Glad you’re not with me right now," he said to himself a knot of fear crawling through his entire body.

     Minutes passed that seemed like hours, but finally, all was quiet as he waited a few more minutes before opening the doors. The sunlight greeted him as he climbed out of the darkness blinding him for a moment. It was gone, all of it, gone. Where the house once stood only the foundation remained. His neighbor Johns car was in the big oak tree they planted fifty years ago to honor the birth of their only child. Debre was scattered all around, and sirens could be heard coming from all directions. All he could do was sit down on a chair that he didn't recognize and carefully open the box he had been clinging to for what seemed a very long time.

     Inside was a picture of their wedding day, their son’s graduation from west point, the farm they bought and shared for forty-seven years, and the family bible. That was what remained of his time on earth. The rest was blowing around, coming to land at a stranger’s front door or lodged in a tree. He wondered if somebody found some of his things would they keep them or try to find him and return those parts of his life? He got up and tucked the box in his arms then began to walk down the old dirt road towards a place he didn't know. The cat followed behind him, and he thought that was a good thing. 

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