The 2017 Eternity Authors' Challenge

[Flo]

~ 8 A.M.
May 18, 1980

He could hear her stirring. Alli had always been a restless sleeper. Sleeping in the back of a car didn't help, though. The station wagon, his fathers old Ford Country Squire, had room, sure, but it certainly wasn't as nice as a bed. She wasn't awake yet, so he simply enjoyed the morning.

The hatch opened quietly as he stepped into the early morning. He could hear birds chirping. He shut the latch quietly, so as to not wake her. She was grumpy enough in the morning, let alone after being woken up. They had a late night of drunken revelry with some friends, and needless to say the hatchback had more than a few hours of excitement.

It was much needed. He had only recently gotten a new job and it had caused stress in their marriage. Seattle was a little over two hours up I-5 from where they lived in Castle Rock, WA. The job was fantastic, finance was a good business, but the distance was a problem, especially to Alli. Married life could be stressful enough without barely seeing each other. Every time he offered to simply move, Alli became all the more frustrated. Castle Rock was where they were from. It was home. Every major milestone of their life together happened there.

They came to Mount Saint Helens national park nearly every summer together, since they had been in high school. They were sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. It was good for them to get out in nature. It was where they both felt most like themselves -- most together. Even in the midst of a very stressful season for the couple, they wouldn't miss this trip for the world.

Their friends were all in campers or tents nearby. No one was yet awake. It was just he and the forest. He poked at the fire a bit. There were still coals, much to his frustration. He had made them promise to put it out when they went to bed. They were probably too drunk to remember. In the distance he could see the mountain. Everything seemed serene, despite the bulge in the mountain. There were rumors that it could be ready to blow, but nothing substantial.

As he poked the fire a bit, he felt it. The ground began shaking. An earthquake? He stood up as he waited for the tremors to end. One of his friends poked his head out of their tent.

"Paul, is everything alright?"

Paul waved them off. "Just a little one, nothing ser-"

When suddenly there was a large, audible crack. Paul looked up and saw the mountain sliding down. An avalanche of rock. Then, an explosion as the molten rock below the earth became exposed. Black clouds of smoke erupted from the mountain.

Paul stood in awe before being shaken by nearby activity. The others were in a mix of panic and drowsiness. This was certainly an exciting morning alarm. Alli screamed as she awoke and saw the eruption. The scream jolted Paul into action. He quickly ran to the wagon. They needed to leave, now. As he turned around he could see the others doing the same. Some were trying to pack. Paul shouted at them to ignore the things and get out of there. He checked the mirror and saw the cloud growing taller.

After seeing to it that everyone's car started, Paul drove off down the path. They'd soon reach Spirit Lake Highway, where they could drive much faster. Once there, it was a state of chaos, as cars were driving as fast as they could to get away. The sky grew dark in the rear view mirror as thick black smoke spewed out of the hole ripped in the earth.

They were mostly out of danger by this point, though, and soon enough they reached Castle Rock and home. As they stopped and stepped out of the car, they could see the cloud of fire and smoke. Soon, ash would begin falling. Paul hurried Alli inside while he unpacked the car.

It had been such a peaceful morning.

---



Later that day

"Do you think we'll be safe here?" Alli asked, her voice full of nervousness. Outside the window, ash was falling.

"The news says the ash is mostly going east, with the wind. We shouldn't get hit too hard."

"How do you explain that then?" she gestured to the fine grey particles falling from the sky. "It won't last long right?"

"It shouldn't. This is just because of how close we are." He came up behind her to pull her close. "It'll be alright. I promise." She accepted the embrace, though her eyes remained out the window, a stern look.

"You should call into work, let them know you won't be able to make it."

"I already have, Jim understands. He says its all over the news. He couldn't believe how close we were." Paul pulled the drapes over the window, plunging the room into a dim darkness lit only by a nearby lamp. "He gave me the rest of the week off."

She smiled, the first time she had all day. At least she would have him. She couldn't imagine him leaving her alone in this darkness. "Did everyone else get home safely?"

"I haven't gotten a hold of Lorraine and Ken yet, but I'll try again in an hour. They live further north than most of us, so it probably took them a while to get back. Everyone else is home now, from my understanding."

She sighed. What a day.

She moved into the living room, where the television was set to the news. She could see pictures and graphs of where the flow went, and where the ash cloud was projected to extend. She was surprised at how many states would be affected. Just like Paul had said, the cloud was predominately moving east. She noted their campsite, only twenty minutes after they had left, it had been engulfed in pyroclastic flow. She shivered. They could be dead.

Later in the evening, as they lay down to sleep. She pulled him close. Sure, things had been difficult, but this experience had shown her how lucky she was. They looked at each other as they pulled away with a silent promise. A promise to try again, to try harder.

-----

Hope you enjoyed it o/ I originally thought of Mount Saint Helens when I saw ash, and decided to write up a little story about it. It's only about 1000 words, but it wasn't meant to be a long one. The joyride involves them fleeing the scene, while the eggshells are represented by "walking on eggshells" as everyone else sleeps early in the morning. I definitely took some creative liberties with some locations, but I tried to include some details from the actual event as well as local geography/roads.

This is my first one submission like this, so let me know what you think! I don't have a very flowery writing voice so forgive me if it seems a bit clinical