Tornado Warning

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This is the piercing siren that interrupts TV shows. In aggressive capital letters, it spells out the risk in the relevant areas. It may be accompanied by a plain blue screen, making it difficult to focus on anything but those words and those words only.

 

It is when a tornado is brewing.

 

This is the shouts and the slammed doors. It is the puffy faces and the tired eyes. It is the dinners gone cold in anticipation for reunion.

 

This is the spinning, arms flailing out. This is collapsing to the ground once the familiar dull throb develops. This is the realization that even if the body is still, once the spinning starts no amount of sitting can make it stop.