Chasing Storms

By: Kailee Reese Samuels

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Things don’t always go accordingly to plan.
Sometimes they change in a blink, a breath, a heartbeat.

I was raised where men had a ring emblazoned on their back pocket, a hat on the dash, and a loaded gun rack. Every man I ever knew had a sharp knife in their jeans and rope in their truck just in case. And everyone knew everyone’s business cause that is what made us family.

I grew up where you didn’t wear white after Labor Day or before Memorial Day and to do so was almost as bad as killing someone. We went to church on Sundays, had picnics with our neighbors, and left the windows open at night. I left as a teenager determined to leave the middle of nowhere for the big city.

I’m all grown up now, and my little hometown ain’t ever felt a supercell storm like me. I hustle with the best, lay it down, crack it open, and find the way in, but I’m not the one who is dangerous.

That’s them.
And I wasn’t expecting the offer they put before me.

I’m in real trouble.
And so is my heart.

I need shelter.
And it won’t be with him.
No matter what he says.