Ravaged

Slowly the sky began to darken as the vortex made its way closer. I had been sensing its arrival for days. It had been slowly making its presence known. It's always more vicious and destructive when it creeps in because while you may know it's coming, you don't know exactly when. Then when you least expect it. When you're unprepared, when you have let your guard slip just ever so slightly, it swoops down. It unleashes its full wrath upon you and all of those around you. It sucks you into it and begins to toss you here and there. Savagely. It rips and tears at you. Tossing you here and there, and all you can do is just allow yourself to be thrown wherever it decides to throw you. The more you fight it the more destructive it becomes to you and all of those in its path. 

Then once the vortex has consumed you, has destroyed everything in its wake. It will toss you out. Leaving you dazed and confused. Uncertain of exactly where you are or how you even got there. You look around you and wonder how things got so messed up. Even though you have spent the last hours and days inside of the vortex the minute you exit it, you seem to forget that it was ever there at all. You're confused by the destruction you see in front of you. You can't understand why everyone around you is hurt and angry. 

At you. 

Because it wasn't you that did this, it was the vortex. It was totally out of your control. If you could have stopped it, then you would have, but you were just another helpless victim of its destruction. No different than the innocent by standers who were touched by it as it passed by them. 

Then the clean up must begin. You must begin to pick up the pieces and try your best to glue them back together. To rebuild what was destroyed by the vortex. Some things will be rebuilt and show no signs of destruction. While others can be repaired they will never truly be the same again. They are forever changed by the damage done to them by the vortex. You have to live with the damage. You have to accept that what was will never be again and that what is left is all you have. 

It is a heavy burden to carry, but carry it you must. Because you know the vortex will come again. It always comes again. All you can do is try your best to minimize the damage it causes and rebuild what gets destroyed. 

This is for a writing prompt at Studio 30+. The writing prompt was THE STORM.