THE TOWERS FAMILY SAGA
        Episode 64
The kitchen window rattled
as a sudden monsoon storm
swept across the valley.
Minnie stood alone in the
dark, watching the rain
hammer the desert floor.
"It’s coming down hard,"
she whispered to the glass.
Robert entered the room,
his silhouette framed by
a flash of blue lightning.
He wasn't thinking about
data or text today.
He was thinking about the
look in Minnie’s eyes.
"The wash is going to
flood the road," he said.
"I hope the girls aren't
out in this mess, Min."
As if on cue, the phone
on the counter buzzed.
It was Barbara, sounding
breathless and frantic.
"Dad, the roof at the
warehouse is leaking!"
"The new inventory is
right under the drip!"
Robert grabbed his keys
and his heavy rain coat.
"I'm coming down there."
Minnie grabbed his arm
with a firm, tight grip.
"You are not a young
Marine anymore, Robert."
"The roads are dangerous."
"I have to protect what
we built," he told her.
He stepped out into the
howling Arizona wind.
The water was ankle-deep
by the time he reached
the small blue sedan.
At the warehouse, he
found Virginia already
there with a flashlight.
"I got off shift and saw
Barb's car," she yelled
over the thunder's roar.
Dorothy and Shirley were
hauling heavy crates to
the back of the room.
The family was a chain,
moving in the shadows.
They weren't saving gold
or fancy silk dresses.
They were saving the
future of their name.
Robert climbed a ladder
with a tarp in his hand.
His heart hammered in
his chest like a drum.
He felt alive in the
struggle against the
elements of the earth.
"Hold it steady!" he
shouted to his girls.
They pulled the plastic
tight over the boxes.
The rain pounded on the
metal roof like bullets.
By midnight, the leak
was finally contained.
They sat on the cold
concrete, soaked and
shivering but smiling.
"We didn't lose a single
page," Shirley laughed.
Robert looked at his
four brave daughters.
They were the only
real legacy he owned.
The storm began to fade
into a soft, steady hum.
The saga was a story
of survival and grit.
The Towers were wet and
tired, but they stood.
The desert air was cool.
The danger had passed.

  My books and screenplays:
 www.boomlakeproductions.com
    Turquoise Software
    solartoys@yahoo.com