The Eye of the Hurricane

The dogs on my block were loud, then quiet. Our ears popped, the rain started, the wind picked up and the lights went out. The storm came sideways and what could bend bent and what couldn’t broke. It was loud, then quiet. Everyone came outside to stand in the street and look at the sky. We agreed that this greenish orange purple light was like nothing we’d ever seen. I said, “So this is intermission,” and our neighbor laughed politely. Then I said, “How do we know when it’s over?” And she said, “I think they ring a little bell.”