My first experience with hurricane-like weather...
Winds blowing at speeds I have never seen, enough to trip car alarms. The scene unfolds; I am carrying my leg braces in my arms, chanting, "oh my god. Oh my god." Minutes before, the three of us speculated that the storm could be a potential tornado greeting. Krystan asks, "What should we do?" I reply, "We should go in the closet. I open the door. Neither of us enter. Frances walks back into our suite after running downstairs to let a young woman inside the dorm who was out in the storm. Again, I'm carrying my braces and cell phone around.
After unsuccessfully trying to strap on my braces, due to my jittery nerves, I join Krystan and Frances at our little kitchen table.
Outside the wind is howling. I start to hyperventilate. Then the street lights shut off. Panic clutches me. I yell, "FRANCES! I don't want to die!" Frances takes my hands and in a calm voice assures me that everything is going to be alright. She suggests that we sit in the hallway. She gets me a chair. I tell her, "No, I want my chair [from my bedroom]." I have standards, even in crises. As we sit, Krystan is providing witty remarks (per usual) and Frances is talking--telling stories of what is happening outside. In no time at all I ease into the familiar bond that the three of us have created. I have finally managed to get my socks and braces on. Time passes. The storm begins to quiet. I state the obvious aloud, "I could never work on a crab boat." Both Krystan and Frances burst out laughing over my realization.
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