I recently had some catastrophic weather blow through my area. Three confirmed tornadoes hit, two of them fairly close to my house. The local officials are saying it’s the worst natural disaster our city has ever seen. Luckily, I didn’t see any damage, just a lot of debris and no power for 24 hours. Living by candlelight for a day wasn’t bad compared to what others are going through.
It can be difficult to process events like this. Seeing videos of the damage is both scary and sad. People I know have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and they are left having to pick up the pieces and start over. It’s a lot to process and I find that writing about it helps.
I’ve written about this in my journal a few times over the past week, but I now feel like there’s a story here, as well. A short piece of fiction that might delve into the fear and anxiety that is stirred up by an event like this.
Of course, there’s a part of me that feels guilty for using this situation as inspiration. It’s something I mentioned in a previous post on finding inspiration in someone else’s loss. But I also feel that, as a fiction writer, I can’t pick and choose where my ideas originate.
In this case, it’s also therapeutic. It’s going to take weeks for the city to clean up, and probably months before things get back to normal. And to make things more interesting, we’re heading into hurricane season.
I’m not yet sure what this story will be about, but there are a few scenarios bouncing about in my imagination. If nothing else, it’ll end up in my next short story collection.
RB