Rose woke up the following morning and glanced out the bedroom window. She noticed puffs of cumulus clouds in the Caribbean sky.
She listened to the international news on TV while she brewed some tea.
“. . . the Japanese Nikkei dropped 201.62 points or minus 1.41 percent to 14,096.59,” the anchorman said. “Turning to American news, more firefighters in California have been called to the scene of the inferno as wind-whipped flames continue to spread. The fires are traveling perilously at five miles per hour, burning everything in its path, damaging property, and destroying homes as well as dry brush. So far, no fatalities have been reported. However, there are reports of minor injuries and twenty-two homes have been damaged or destroyed. Shifting winds have made firefighting difficult and northerly thirty-five-mile-per-hour winds with gusts up to fifty are driving flames up one major populated hill known as the Santa Monica Mountains, threatening homes and properties.”
Rose poured hot tea into a cup and sipped it. News of the firestorm made her concerned about her house. She hoped the fires did not go anywhere near it.
“We’ll have updates throughout the day as the firestorm rages out of control,” the anchorman said. “And we have the latest on Hurricane Aidan, now churning at eighty-five miles per hour and continuously gaining strength and momentum as it travels west-northwest at ten miles per hour. A hurricane warning has been issued and the storm is expected to make landfall some time the day after tomorrow. The storm surge—”
Irritated, Rose shut off the TV with the remote and drank the rest of her tea.