The Storm Shelter

Preface

As I think back over the years my mind takes me to the days of childhood when all things seemed sublime. I could count on my family having food on the table. I could count on my dog always being there when I needed a friend. I could count on my teachers giving me plenty of homework, not that it made me feel sublime, but I could count on it just the same. I could even count on the weather. In the summer I knew that maybe once or twice a week we were going to get a certain amount of rain. In the winter I knew there would be days when I could throw a few snowballs or build a snowman. Yes, back then I could always count on the weather, but that was then. Now things have changed and the only thing about the weather that I can count on is the fact that death and destruction will abound across the face of the earth in the wake of fierce storms taking pity on no living thing. Could it be these storms are not brought on by the forces of nature but are driven by a mysterious force of another kind?

Prologue

Deep in outer space on a world called Kulorkia a space fleet commander by the name of Commander Krikori is receiving orders from his superiors. He would be leaving his world for the purpose of gathering all the ingredients needed to revitalize the atmosphere of Kulorkia. The planet of Kulorkia had technologically advanced to the point where space travel was child's play and, with their mathematical equations, had the ability to pinpoint with complete accuracy the distance to any planet in galaxies many light years away. They had also developed the ability to travel at the speed of light and faster, thereby going through the time portals of space. However, time had eroded the atmosphere of Kulorkia to the extent where life was being sucked out the planet and, without rejuvenating the atmosphere with the right elements, Kulorkia would soon die out. The top scientists there had studied many other worlds and failed every time to come up with what they needed until they discovered the planet earth.

For many years now the earth had been studied from the planet Kulorkia. They knew the percentages of elements that made up the earth's atmosphere and decided that it held the right ingredients for sustaining life on their planet for many thousands of years. It took several years preparation for the long journey but now it was time. The orders to Commander Krikori stated that they would use any means necessary for acquiring all such elements. With one hundred small spaceships docked inside the huge mother ship Commander Krikori and his crew departed for the planet earth.

Chapter 1

It was the first week in May of 2012 and Logan Sandford was tired but feeling good. He was cruising down the freeway now in his pickup and in just a few minutes he would be getting off at exit twenty two. Then just two miles to the little borough he'd called home all his life, just a stones throw from two other towns close by. That's why the hole in the road where Logan lived was called Stones Throw, Kansas. Five miles further west was Hackenville and four miles southwest was Wynford.

Logan had just gotten off work at a big construction job in the suburbs of Wichita. He was head foreman for Chadwick Construction and his present duties were hiring and scheduling all the contract work on the custom homes they were building in that area and making sure the work was done to his satisfaction. Ten homes were completed and sold with forty more in the works. Logan was proud of all the work being done on the homes and had relayed his feelings to all the crews involved. They knew he required a lot from the crews whether it was the carpenters, painters, plumbers or the cabinet installers. Logan strived for perfection and that's what he got.

Everybody liked Logan because nothing ever shook him up and he thought each man was as important as the next. He laughed and joked with them all but each man knew when it came to getting the job done, it had better be right or there'd be hell to pay. The new homeowners all praised the work of Chadwick Construction and told Dan Chadwick he couldn't have found a better man to be head foreman. At the same time they wondered about this man with the freckly face and curly sand colored hair sticking out from under a baseball cap. How did such a man with a permanent Elvis grin on his face get so much work and respect out of his men? It just showed them that attitude and personality was the answer and the fact that he could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.

Driving home he had his radio on listening to a bluegrass station he liked when the news came on. The news of the day was about all the havoc Mother Nature had reaped upon the earth in the last few years. They mentioned hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti and also the one in Japan, all of which killed thousands of people, leaving destruction everywhere not to mention the deadly radiation from Japan's nuclear plants.

Logan heard the newscaster tell about all the tornado activity this year alone and how it seemed they were increasing in strength and size to the extent where whole towns were wiped out in a matter of seconds leaving countless lives lost. The final disaster happened only a month ago when a meteor of considerable size hit the earth in the Sahara desert with tremendous force. Scientists think it may have caused a shift in the magnetic poles causing changes in the earth's orbit and weather patterns.

Logan listened intently and then remembered what a friend at work had told him just the week before. Charley Hoskins ran the paint crew that so far had done all of the painting on the homes. Hoskins Painting didn't always turn in the lowest bid but Logan knew he could always count on their work being top notch.

They were all taking their morning break and somehow the conversation turned into talk about the drastic weather changes and other strange things such as the one Charlie Hoskins brought up. Charlie and his wife Nicole were getting ready to make a trip to Denver to see Nicole's folks. Charlie had just flipped off the TV with the remote and glanced down at his watch when, for an instant, everything turned black. Then time jumped ahead an hour and they were going seventy miles an hour down the freeway toward their destination. Charlie said it happened so quickly it was hardly noticeable, but it scared him when he found himself all of a sudden speeding down the highway. A few seconds before he had been in his living room.

Charlie didn't want his wife to think he had lost his mind so, in a round about way without raising suspicion, he asked her what they were doing the hour that he had just lost. She was as dumbfounded as he was and didn't remember anything from the time they left the house. They had to pull off the road to regain their composure. It was then they both saw a huge swirling black cloud in the sky off in the distance and they watched it slowly being sucked into a hole until there was nothing left but blue sky.

Another one of the group said that he had fixed breakfast one morning to surprise his wife when she got up. When she came into the kitchen he told her to sit down and then served her coffee and scrambled eggs with toast. They shot the breeze over the breakfast table then he got up and turned around only to see a flash of light, then found himself preparing breakfast for his wife again. He repeated the exact same thing serving his wife coffee, scrambled eggs with toast. She had no clue as to what had happened but her husband remembered every detail after it was over and figured a whole hour had repeated itself in just an instant.

All these things were going through Logan’s mind as exit twenty two came into view. A few minutes later he pulled into his driveway. Logan's wife Megan, their little girl Summer and son Connor came out the door to meet him. Logan thought his wife Megan still looked beautiful with her dark hair and big brown eyes. She had a loving spirit about her that affected everyone she came in contact with. To him, tired and sweaty as he was in his grubby work clothes, the sight of Megan coming out the door still aroused the desire he had for her.

When Logan proposed ten years before and she accepted, it was the best thing that ever happened in his life. Now they had two wonderful children as a result of their love. Summer was a little blonde headed five year old with two front teeth missing and freckles galore. She was the apple of Logan's eye and Connor was an eight year old with sandy hair and that silly little grin already set in place just like his father. Logan was proud as punch of his two children and thought there couldn't be another family in the world that shared more love than his.

Hi daddy, you sure are dirty! said little Summer.

Yeah, and I'm gonna rub it all over my little girl. Come here and give your daddy a kiss.

Summer didn't care about the dirt and just ran and jumped in her dad's arms saying, It don't matter if you're dirty 'cause love still works all the same.

That's right, punkin. Love has a way of working right through dirt. That shows how strong it really is and I'll always love you, little blossom, just like the prettiest flower in Heaven's rose garden.

Do you love mommy like a flower too, daddy?

I sure do, punkin. Your momma's like all the pretty flowers in the rose garden and you were just a little bud when we picked you and look what a pretty flower you are now.

What are you, daddy?

Well, sweetheart right now I think I feel like an old weed that's been walked on.

Ah daddy, you sure are funny, said Summer.

How was your day, Connor?

It was great, dad. Say dad, how many houses have you got finished now. The last time you took me there you had eight finished and people were living in some of them.

We've got ten completed now, son and they are all occupied I'm happy to say. As a matter of fact I received a five hundred dollar bonus this month, so guess what. We are driving to Wynford, that is if your momma hasn't started supper.

Oh, can we mom? asked Connor.

Well, it's alright with me, dear, if your father isn't too tired. He'll have to get cleaned up first but I think we can still get to Wynford by six thirty. Do you think you can hold out that long?

You bet. Can we eat at Burnie's Diner? They got killer burgers?

You and your father. I think you both would rather have a burger than a big juicy steak but I guess it's alright with me and I know your father wouldn't mind, said Megan.

Okay kids. Give me a half hour and I'll be ready to roll, said Logan after kissing Megan once again.

Just before six thirty they walked into Burnie's Diner and took a booth. The waitress was a friend of Megan's by the name of Hannah Caldwell. They'd both graduated the same year from Wynford High School. She came over, smiled and said, Well, if it ain't the Sandford's. What's up Megan girl? Hi Logan. What are you all gonna have tonight. I bet I know what Connor wants. He always orders a burger with fries. Is that right, Connor?

Yep. I guess you got me figured out alright, Hannah. I bet you don't know what Summer wants. She probably doesn’t know herself.

Oh yes I do, Connor. You don't know everything. I want to see if Hannah can guess. Can you guess what I want, Hannah? asked Summer.

Well, let me see, darlin'. In my mind I keep seein' a hot dog smothered in catsup and relish with some curly fries on the side with a big glass of chocolate milk. Did I come close this time or did I miss it altogether?

How did you do that, Hannah? That's exactly what I want.

Maybe I gazed into my crystal ball, said Hannah with an impersonation of a witch's mean cackle of a laugh.

Well, like my daddy says sometime, you sure hit the nail on the head, said Summer.

I'll take a fish sandwich with fries and a coke, Hannah, said Megan.

Give me the same thing my son's gettin' Hannah, and don't spare the fries. You know how we men are when it comes to burgers and fries. Bring us Cokes too and tell Burnie to burn the outside of my burger. He knows how I like it.

You got it. I'll be right back with your drinks, said Hannah.

About ten minutes later Burnie brought the sandwiches himself. Here you go folks. Logan, are you still gonna put in a storm shelter like you was talkin' about the last time you were in here?

I'm thinkin' pretty serious about it, Burnie. There are not many homes in Stones Throw but I was thinkin' if I put one in I'd make it big enough for ten people to get into. That would probably hold our close neighbors along with us. It would be tough to turn a neighbor away in a bad storm and I don't think the cost would be that much more.

'You're probably right, Logan. You, bein' in the building trade, know a lot more about that than I do. Where in your yard would you put it?"

Well, we've got twenty acres and most of it's pretty flat but there's a ridge that runs directly behind our house not over thirty feet from the back door. I figured on puttin' the storm shelter right directly into the bank behind our house and have a strong door going straight into a small room and another going into the main room. There would be two or three feet covering the roof with a ventilation shaft and I'm even thinkin' about a periscope.

"It sounds like you've got it pretty well laid out in your mind, Logan. I've been to your place several times but never paid that much attention to the layout of the ground. I do remember the bank though and I don't see why it wouldn't work,' said Burnie.

It'll work, Burnie. I'm gettin' the itch to get started now seein' as how you brought it up. I'm gonna start workin' on the plans over the weekend and maybe get some people out next week. I know all the good contractors around so I'm not worried about it not bein' done right.

Let me know when it's finished, Logan. I'll bring the wife and check it out. I may want to put one in myself one day.

Will do, pal.

Are you really going to start on the storm shelter next week, Logan?, asked Megan while they were heading home.

Not without your okay, sweetheart. You know I don't do anything without your support. Besides what gets done at home is for the whole family and I think we should all sit down at the table and discuss it. I can't wait to get Summer's input. I'm sure she'll be making all kinds of recommendations. She takes after her mother one hundred percent.

She takes after me in the fact that she loves you more than anything in the world. That is one hundred percent for sure, said Megan.

Well, you know there's nothin' I won't do when it comes to protectin' my family, sweetheart. I'd walk through fire and brimstone if I had to and I'm sure you would do the same.

Daddy! I would walk through fire to save you and mommy, said Summer.

Yeah, me too, said Connor.

"We know you