Forgive Me, My Love ~ ReddNook

Chapter 18

A little later the three tanukis left the house. Timmy and Tommy went to Nook's Cranny while Tom entered the resident services. To his surprise, Isabelle was already there, watering the flowers.

The Shih Tzu raised her head and smiled lovingly at Tom. "Good morning, Tom! Looks like I'm the early bird for once."
"Morning, Isabelle. Last night wasn't particularly relaxing for me," he replied, suppressing a rising anger.

And it was only Redd's fault!
"Yeah, I know what you mean," she sighed, sat at her desk and ran her paw through her fluffy ears. "The storm was terrible! There has never been anything like that on our island."

Tom nodded silently and booted up his laptop. "I hope Timmy and Tommy weren't too scared," Isabelle added with concern. Tom laughed lightly. "They said, that they hardly noticed anything of the thunderstorm. They must have slept soundly."
Isabelle giggled. "That's good to hear!"

After noon, around 1 p.m., the storm suddenly became more violent than ever. The windows in the resident services rattled, outside you could hear the wind whistling and the patter of the rain sounded threatening. Isabelle looked up nervously and peered out of the window.

"Oh dear, this rain is terrible. I hope all residents stay at home." Tom stretched his stiff limbs and said unimpressed: "Don't worry, Isabelle. The storm will definitely stop soon."

His co-worker blinked uncertainly. "I'm not sure ..." Suddenly the door was forced open, so that both were frightened. "Gosh! You have to see what's going on out here right now. Absolutely crazy!"

"Lucifer!" Tom shouted indignantly. "Don't always burst in like this!" The redhead stepped closer, his clothes were soaked and a small puddle formed around him.

"Sorry, but hell is going on on the island right now. I saw chairs and tables flying around and a tree just fell over!" Tom could hardly believe what Lucifer was reporting.

"Is this storm that bad?", Isabelle gasped, her eyes wide with shock. Lucifer nodded. "Yep. Besides, the waves in the ocean are dangerously high. If our island get flooded, we're pretty screwed."

"I don't think it will come to that", Tom said. Lucifer stared at him angrily. "You didn't saw it!" To Isabelle he ordered: "Make an announcement that all residents should stay in their houses!" The Shih Tzu nodded eagerly. "At your command!"

Then the redhead stormed outside again. Isabelle pressed a button and spoke into the microphone: "To all residents: Please stay at home until the storm is over. There is no need to panic. Close all doors and windows and keep calm. I repeat: Stay at home."

After finishing the announcement, she asked worried, "Do you think it would be safer for us to just stay in the resident services until the storm ends?" Tom leaned back in his chair. "Well, I think that's a little exaggerated. It's not that bad."

He got up and looked out the window. "It's just rain." The sky was pitch black even though it was only afternoon. The wind raged, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed over the sea. Suddenly an object flew straight towards the building.

Tom was startled and was able to duck in time when the window shattered with a loud crack. Isabelle shrieked and put her paws on her head protectively. Shards trickled down on Tom, but he was unharmed.

Slowly, he straightened up. "What the hell was that?" He asked, panting. It turned out that the cause of this damage was a small stool. Probably came from a resident's garden.

Isabelle gasped in horror. "Tom, are you okay ?!"
"Uh...yes," he replied quietly and stared in disbelief at the broken window. "Just rain, huh?" Isabelle mumbled weakly. "Yes, yes, I got it," the Tanuki sighed. "The storm is more dangerous than I thought."

The rain could now penetrate the building and the strong wind swept the files off Tom's desk. "What a bummer," he growled. "Now I have to fix the window too. Today is really not my day."
"Don't worry about the stupid window!" Isabelle said indignantly.

"If that thing had hit you, it would have turned out badly for you! You were really lucky!" Tom blinked at his assistant in surprise. "You're right. But what do we do now? We have to cover the damage somehow, otherwise the rain will pour in."

Isabelle nodded. "You could nail a board over the window."
"Hm, hm. That should work."