The Pirate and The Piper

The Hurricane

The Hurricane

No matter how hard I tried, no one listened to what Iekika had seen until their scientists had been able to confirm that there was indeed a hurricane coming for the Thousand Isles. Iekika seemed happy that I'd tried, but not surprised that I'd failed. Of course, when you can see the future it's hard to be surprised by anything.

Everyone helped to prepare the palace for the hurricane, nobles, royalty, and servants alike. The king even invited people from the nearby islands to stay in the palace, which was quite shocking for me knowing how much he hated commoners.

Kade and I had nailed wooden boards over the skylights to keep our bedroom safe. I was feeling very apprehensive about the hurricane, but Kade promised to stay by my side until it was over.

The storm clouds didn't look like any I'd ever seen before. At first, I almost didn't recognize what they were, since they were fluffy and white instead of a heavy dark grey, but Kade had told me all about hurricanes so that I'd be prepared.

The clouds rolled in late one evening, right after dinner. Kade and I were in our room where he was teaching me Islander when the rain first started. The storm was windy and violent unlike any I had ever experienced before.

"Why didn't we leave the island?" I asked.

"There's nowhere that's safe to go, at least not that we could get to in time. Hurricanes tend to go over the whole Thousand Isles, so we just have to deal with them."

I nodded. It made sense, although it was quite terrifying to think that there was nowhere to flee to.

I couldn't fall asleep that night since the wind was so loud.

"Kade?" I asked, just loud enough to be heard.

"Yes, John?"

"What if the island floods?"

"The palace will remain safe. We're at the highest point on the island."

"But how do you know that the water won't come up here?"

"I asked Iekika."

I relaxed. "Mahalo." Knowing that Iekika had said the palace wouldn't flood made me feel a lot better.

A sudden gust of wind shook the castle, and I shivered. Kade reached out and hugged me, which was comforting. I knew I wasn't acting very brave, but I hated storms and this was the worst one I'd ever been in.

Kade hugged me tighter and kissed me. "It'll be over before you know it," he told me.