The aftermath

7...6...5...4...3...2...1 This was my countdown until super storm hurricane sandy hit New Jersey a week before its arrival. Day after day i helped my family prepare for this foreshadowed disaster with what i can call a sense of urgency. I thought that the storm would be as harmless ass Irene which was the same opinion that my brother had but my mom kept insisting " This storm is going to be way worst than Irene just wait and see." Of course me and my brother had no intentions to take heed to what she was saying, but we still continued to haul in supplies my mom had gotten use to, in her words, survive the storm. Our supplies included a generator, 10 gallons of gas, 4 cases of water, a 3 week supply of food, and and junk food to keep me and my brother busy.

The days went by as quickly as i could count and before i knew it the it was the day of the storm. I was in the middle of playing my game when suddenly the power went out and my mom was rushing to light candles she placed around the house. I was still not worried about anything yet and just started to think of things to do while the power was out. Me and my brother decided to go outside with our friends and see what was going on in the neighborhood. To our surprise from as far as our eyes could see there was noting to see. It was pitch black outside and we thought this was the perfect time to go and do some reconnaissance and military task things with our paintball guns and night vision goggles. With the wind blowing so hard that we were being thrown left and right we decided to try and find our way back home in the bitch blackness we called Plainfield. One after another, transformers that were exploding lite up the sky blue for just a second and then it was dark again. When we got back inside the only problem we had was trying not to go to sleep which proved to be an impossible task to accomplish.

The next few days went by with no problem, my mom had started up the generator and life was normal except for no Internet or phone service. After my moms boyfriend had fried my brother's laptop on day two I decided to go over my grandmothers house to stay as normal as possible. Apparently me and my cousin had the same idea since when i got there she was watching TV and eating ampanatas. Me and my cousin stayed glued to the TV for the next 4 or 5 day and hadn't gone outside or even looked out the window. "Have you even herd from your mom in the past few days" my cousin asked one day, "She might be having problems or even injured". "Yeah, maybe I should call and see how everyone is doing over there" i replied, "But i know it cant be that bad because they have movies, lights, each other, and food." Me and my cousin began to get dressed into day clothes and asked our grandfather to take us to my house.

The entire way home we were all silent, none of us had paid attention to anything outside and fear began to fill my heart. Power lines were down everywhere, trees blocked most streets, houses destroyed, cars totalled and i had no idea what to expect when i got home. At this point i was terrified for my family and tried to rush my grandfather to get me home as soon as possible. Instead of the usual 10 minute drive home, it took and excruciating 30 minutes, 20 extra minutes of mind boggling suspense. I tried to call my mom 5 times during those twenty minutes but the phones still had no signal. So many different scenarios went through my head that i just had to close my eyes and just sit in the car holding my breath.

When we finally pulled up and i heard my brother and his friends screaming at each other i was so relieved. As i went inside everyone started telling me how the power wont be on for a week, their food had gone bad, and how they were bored at home. I immediately made my way into my moms room to find her sleeping through everyones screaming. In the end i learned that mom really does always know best and that its better to be safe than sorry.