I stood looking at the devastation. The house was ripped in half, debris across the lawn and field beyond. The barn was gone. I watched as the family picked at their belongings, sighing at broken things and exclaiming over found items as if they were buried treasure. My forehead creased in empathy. The tornado hadn't touched my house. All of my belongings were safe. There were a few trees down and we were out of power, but we were fortunate. I couldn't imagine what my neighbors were going through. I began to wonder about Things. Things have a way of storing memories, of attaching themselves to you. You never want to lose some Things. But it's all the same to a tornado. Nothing is sacred. Or spared. I went inside. I began packing up some essentials. Extra Things I couldn't have lived without before, but now seemed trivial. I put them into boxes and invited the neighbors over for lemonade. We chatted and I offered my boxed up Things. As they climbed into their truck, my tears were as happy as theirs. 2008-02-08T05:02:56Z http://ficlets.com/feed/story/20478 <p>these things, these extra things became treasured items to those in need, those with out.<br />Timely story with the recent hurricanes.<br />House down the street from me burnt to the ground this morning, no on hurt thank God. walking past the house made me think of what is valuble possession wise.. what can i really not live without.<br />So I put photos of my beloved mother in the safe .<br />Those are treasures to me.</p> http://ficlets.com/stories/20478?basename=39522 2008-02-08T05:02:56Z SKermitgorf http://ficlets.com/authors/kermitgorf