A Distant Future

A distant Future Part 9

SUSAN

Susan cursed the colonists as she looked around then figured out how to setup her tent and then anchor it down so it would not be blown over in a storm. "That freak better hope I never find him. I'll rip those ugly wings from his back then cut his throat myself before dumping his ugly carcass into the middle of the colony for this outrage. Why they would side with that non human freak I'll never know, but I'll make them all pay."

She took a drink of water from her canteen then continued to look through her backpack for anything she could use to find her way back to the colony. The entire time she did this she failed to notice that the wind was getting stronger and smelled more like rain each passing moment. A vicious downdraft knocked a large branch down several feet away from her and that got her attention. Susan looked up at the darkening sky and the madly swaying treetops.

She needed no more invitation to get into her tent and hope nothing fell on it while she cursed Jake, Sarah, and especially, Mitch. Lightning flashed across the sky several times throughout the violent storm and several times it struck in the canyons to the west of her. Sleeping was impossible for her as the storm raged around her and kept her awake and afraid. It was going to be a long and frightening night for her.

MITCH

Mitch saw the storm coming in and knew his tent would have to be taken down and set back up in a hurry on the ground or he would be soaked in the rain that was coming. Within 10 minutes his tent was down and wrapped up into a bundle so he could set it up on the ground not faraway from the area in a

spot where the trees were not so full of dead branches that would likely fall during the storm.

20minutes later Mitch spotted a good place where large trees had fallen over some time ago to form a three sided barrier from the wind. Without waiting to see if the storm might abate soon he landed in the spot and set his tent up and then anchored it securely just in case of a rogue wind gust. A quick flight back to the place he had been resting at to retrieve his pack was rough as the trees were starting to sway a bit at that altitude. He timed his landing carefully and retrieved the backpack then waited a few moments before diving off the tree and then spreading his wings to fly down to where he had setup his tent. Setting his pack down he immediately went hiking a ways into the woods and came back with a couple of large branches almost two feet in diameter.

With a little work he managed to get them laid over the top of the fallen trees to help make a roof of logs to protect his tent from any falling branches. It was starting to rain by the time he climbed into his tent and closed it up. The wind picked up along with the rain. The lightning struck in the canyons off to the east as it rained heavily.

COLONY

Jake and Sarah Watched in amazement as a strong downdraft dropped a beautiful young avian woman almost to the ground. Jake stood staring in amazement at the wild maneuvers she completed in a seemingly impossibly short distance in order to avoid crashing and then watched as she shot back up into the air and then vanished over the tops of the trees as they stood staring.

Sarah finally broke the spell. "Jake, I now officially believe you about seeing a winged woman. When we get inside I want to try to figure out who that was." "Let's get inside first and talk about it later. The wind is still picking up and the rain has yet to hit." Jake and Sarah made it to their shelter just as the first crack of lightning lit the sky brightly.