To the 4th Power (Open Novella Contest 2)

Shielded

"Hurry up and get in." Francis's mother said, unlocking the car door.

"What's goin' on?" Francis asked as she got in the car.

"There's a hurricane comin'. We gotta get home and pack." Jennifer answered. Francis didn't get it. They had lived in Florida her entire life. Hurricanes were always coming at them. Francis and her mom always hunkered down and boarded up the house. They never packed before. They never ran.

When they got home Jennifer pulled two duffle bags out of the hall closet.

"Get some clothes. Don't forget underwear. And your toothbrush." Jennifer said in a rush.

Francis did as she was told. With the duffles full, Jennifer threw them into the trunk of the car.

"Aren't we gonna board up the house?" Francis asked in a worried tone.

"No time. Get in the car." Her mother answered. The car pulled off from the house no sooner than Francis had shut her door. They only drove for a few minutes. Francis saw the steeple of the big church on Martin Luther King Avenue grow larger as they approached it.

There were many other cars in the parking lot when they pulled in. Francis wasn't sure if there were always this many cars in the church parking lot. She had only been to the church a few times when she was really young.

Behind Francis's mother's Volkswagen, a BMW pulled into the parking lot. Sophia, her mother, and her father got out of the BMW.

"Hello Jennifer." The smooth southern drawl of Sophia's mother's voice caught Francis off guard. No one else in the neighborhood talked like that.

"Carmen, you're looking beautiful as usual." Francis's mother said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Carmen Sanchez, mother of Sophia, was wearing a skin tight red dress and a floor length fur coat. She was wearing a fur coat in Florida in the middle of August.

"Hi Franny." The male Francis Brown said to his daughter. He knelt down to be at her eye level.

"Hi Dad." Francis said, staring straight at him. She wanted to tell him that she found the locket he left for her. But she was scared to tell him that the locket was gone, that it exploded into light and nothingness. She didn't want him to be upset.

The male Francis smiled warmly as he gave our young Francis a hardy pat on the shoulder.

"Let's go in Lovebug. The rain's gettin' worse." Carmen said, drawing out each word longer than the one before. She curled her arms tightly around one of his, forcing him into a standing position.

Jennifer didn't talk to her daughter's father. He didn't try to talk to her either.

Inside the church there were a lot of people that Francis recognized. Mobi was helping Pastor Nelson put up a banner that said Hurricane Shelter. Adam was standing near them with two older women talking his ear off. He looked miserable. Five small children ran past Adam and the two women. Eugene was chasing them, making dinosaur noises. There was a woman watching Eugene intensely. She seemed like she was on the verge of tears.

A door slammed behind Francis. It was the wind. The sound of leaves being blown up against the stain glass windows increased in frequency. Pastor Nelson's wife hurried across the room and turned on a radio.

"Hurricane Darla went from a tropical storm to a category 3 hurricane in one day. Such increases in wind speeds have never been documented. Meteorologists have no way of predicting where to storm will land or how strong the winds will be when it does. The president has issued a state of emergency for the entire gulf coast. Although there may not be time, evacuation is recommended for all inhabitants of --"