Tachyon part 2

Another dream. Just as I was falling asleep, I think back to where I was before I returned to Oklahoma–

It is January 2009.

Despite the recent housing bubble POP! and havoc wrecked throughout the economy, I am still employed by a building products manufacturer in Joplin. I help maintain their online training and am finishing up my Master’s degree in instructional design.

Somehow, I survive the most recent round of layoffs. I am thankful to have a job. It’s going to be a tough road for my employer but the company has managed to survive for over 60 years.

Another convenient time jump… It’s been a few years and the economy is recovering somewhat. My work is the same as always: a lot of upkeep with some occasional updates to the training curriculum. Now, I’m thinking about finding another job in a larger city. Living in Joplin has been a good experience since I had not lived in such a smaller population center before. But I miss the so-called city life and feel it’s time for a change. Maybe back to Oklahoma City?

This afternoon, I am watching tv in the southside duplex I’ve been renting since I first moved here. It’s a really bad weather day–severe thunderstorms throughout–and the weather service is anticipating tornadic activity. Good thing I didn’t go out riding on the motorcycle.

As the weather gets progressively worse, I think I hear the civil defense sirens but I’m not sure.

The duplex doesn’t have a storm shelter and any bathtubs I could hide in are on the second story. The duplex is also L-shaped with its center being a bathroom that is wedged underneath the staircase and the laundryroom.

The channel I’m watching starts to report a tornado near the Kansas-Missouri state line and heading east. It is moving towards Joplin and has started to intensify. Seeing the possible storm track I don’t know where else to go so I have to make a decision.

I put on my motorcycle gear: helmet, jacket, pants, boots. I’m not riding away, but the gear will provide some protection from any wind-thrown objects. By now, the tornado has become incredibly large–the news is using the term “wedge shaped”–and I decide to hide in the lower bathroom… I can barely hear the tv over the winds as the tornado grinds through my neighborhood.

It is May 22, 2011–

Then I wake up.

I saw some video footage after the Joplin tornado hit. The duplex I was living in at the time was destroyed–but I had already moved out two years earlier to start a job in Oklahoma City. Hopefully no one was living there at the time but I cannot be sure.

And to this day, since I still live in rental properties with no storm shelters, if a tornado is spotted within ten miles of my home and closing I will don my motorcycle gear as a precaution.