Before the Storm

The clouds came early that evening. Dark and low, they sat over the coast. A big storm was coming in the night.

Marisol did not panic. She knew this coast. If a storm comes, you don't run and shout. You work.

She closed the windows and brought the chairs inside. Her neighbour was doing the same next door.

“It's going to be a bad one,” the neighbour said. “The waves will be high.”

“I know,” Marisol said. “But the house is strong. If we close everything, we'll be fine.”

They tied the small boat to the wall. They moved the car up the hill, away from the water. The danger was real, but they were ready.

Some people on the coast still went to bed afraid. Marisol was not afraid. The storm would come, and the storm would go. In the morning, the town would clean up together, the way it always did.