twisted and terrified

Set in Bramblepoint and dated Jul 19th (aftermath)

He had retired early that evening along the lake shore, but was awoken by the storm as furious winds howled and the skies broke open, unleashing a torrent of rain so swift and hard it struck like hundreds of small stone. Lightning splintered the dark of the night, and the roar of thunder was so profound he felt it in his chest.

He hurried to find shelter in the forest that neighbored the lake, unaware of the behavior of lightning, of its affinity for tall objects like trees. Fortunately, it spared the blue-nosed wolf its wrath this night. The tornado, however, did not. Like a demon it snarled, tearing past as Luke cowered fearfully amongst the roots of an old pine. His ears were pinned to his skull, dampening the sounds of trees snapping around him, but a terrifying crack close to him made him lift his head.

He watched with horror as another tree, snapped off its trunk, came barelling toward him. He was too slow in his effort to dodge. He was struck down, one limb knocking him unconscious with a blow to the head, the rest trapping him beneath them. Unbeknownst to him, the fallen spruce was his savior - sparing him from being ripped from the ground and thrown by the savage twister. He awoke the next morning in the calm, the quiet, still shrouded by the limbs of the evergreen.

Slowly, painfully, he pulled himself free. Dazed and thirsty, he limped toward the lake, favoring his right foreleg. One side of his face was streaked with the blood from a gash on his forehead, and his entire body ached, his skin bruised beneath his coat. But he was alive, though he began to doubt that fact as he stopped to stare slack-jawed at all the fish scattered around him.