by Carmella Cyr

Created on: November 15, 2009   Last Updated: November 16, 2009

Crows flew in frantically over the golden field clad with waves of wild flowers. Their voices, echoed in symmetry as they exquisitely approached the highest branches of the knotty pine trees, in sync. A dark, old cabin sat on the edge of the field nestled in a cave of trees. Grace, who owned the cabin, visited it specifically to create works of art. The cabin was usually empty, especially in the winter. Today was a warm summer day with heavy rains predicted later on in the evening. Grace had planned to go back to the city around early evening to get ready for work . Little did she know that a chain of events, phenomenal in nature, would occur and change her life as she knew it. Grace was hyper-vigilante regarding her artwork. It was like breathing air to her. If she could not create something, anything on a daily basis she was miserable. The cabin was a perfect place for her to create. It was quiet, scenic and natural. The cabin was heated by a woodstove, candles served as lighting, water was scooped up from the stream and the birds played a record of natural music. The beauty that surrounded Grace was angelic in itself. While Grace was preparing to head back to New York City her battery operated radio suddenly went on, seemingly by itself. She thought she probably left it on and it just picked up a frequency suddenly. The announcement was startling in itself. Apparently, the Northern Mountain Correctional Center had an uprising and a prisoner considered very dangerous due to a mental illness, escaped. The correctional center was located about 3 hours away. Immediately after the announcement, there was another announcement. This one was about a possible national emergency due to an 'air raid' that could occur over central Vermont. Now, this did not make sense to Grace. She stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out what she just heard. She listened a while longer and the same newscast was repeated. This time, there was even more reason for alarm. Apparently, the air raid was a result of some kind of foreign objects seen in the sky earlier in the morning. Was it another country attacking us, or war? She couldn't figure out what the foreign objects were or what that meant. She thought it wise to stay close to the radio and to try to call her daughter with her cell phone. The cell phone did not work. But she knew the radio would keep working because she had 3 packs of batteries stored in the cedar chest.

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