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The Great Flood

About 5 years ago, the largest island in Catriona Isles, Calico, fell victim to a devastating tsunami. The great wave rushed into the seaside village, Calico City and decimated it. Many homes were destroyed, but far worse, many lives were lost. So many families had family members taken by the wave. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, no one was immune to the destruction of nature's fury.

During this time, among the Sweet Shoppe cast, Mint, Sugar, Tange, Candy and Plum all escaped the torment of the sea with their families whole and intact. Brandy, as well, was safe with her mother and father. As an only child, her family would have been devastated by the loss of any member of the household, but, fortune smiled upon them all, taking only their homes and worldly possessions. But, thought they lost mementos and homes, no loved ones were swallowed by the ocean, so the families were thankful for the blessing that the Great Spirit showered upon them.

...however, Sweetheart, the intrepid owner of Sweet Shoppe and Boomer, the young, powerful, Red Hawk tom, were not nearly so fortunate.

Whenever there was a threat of a tsunami or other deadly sea event, there was always a lookout that signaled the townsfolk of the imminent danger. However, when the Great Flood was on its way to the Isles of Catriona, the lookout had been overwhelmed with exhaustion and had fallen asleep. With the lookout unconscious, there was no one watching the sea, not even the fishermen, due to the midday respite. All of the villagers had all went to rest. The city was completely unprepared for the wave's arrival and would have completely fallen to the mercy of the onslaught, if not for the youngest Prince of Calico, Palm.

The young prince noticed the receding sea water, but did not recall hearing the tsunami alarm sound. Once he realized the imminent danger had been ignored, a rider was urgently dispatched from the palace. The messenger raced down to the city, climbed the tower and sounded the alarm in lieu of the observant that had fallen asleep. Thanks to the prince's quick thinking, the Great Flood, although profoundly tragic, would have been even more disastrous.

Prior to the calamity, on the day of the flood, Sweetheart was at home babysitting her infant sisters, Flora and Amber. Her father was in the hospital due to one of his chronic illnesses flaring up, so her mother, Diana, her sister, Holly and her brother, Dusky went to check upon him. After their visit, her mother and assorted siblings went out shopping and then decided to enjoy the midday respite at one of the restaurants in town.

Meanwhile, in a house nearby, Keemeeome, Boomer's mother, was putting Malki, his year old baby brother, down for his nap. Boomer was washing dishes while his younger sister, Ayasha, dried them. Boomer's father, Takoda, was lying on the living room floor with his sister, Dyami and twin brothers, Pace and Sage. Having just eaten their afternoon meal, the cats were full and ready to enjoy the midday respite napping peacefully in the cozy confines of their home.

A gentle breeze whispered throughout the city, carried by the winds that danced across the salty waters of the sea. The day was sunny, pleasant and peaceful. The villagers had not a care in the world on such a beautiful day. Little did they know, the quiet sea was not feeling quite so pleasant. ...not so pleasant and not so gentle.

*DONG - GONG - DONG - GONG*

The sound of the flood bell rang out loud and clear, touching the ears of all the residents of the City of Calico. A tsunami was on its way, which meant that the townsfolk needed to head to the flood towers where they would be elevated high enough to be out of the range of the ocean's rampage.

When the bell toll, the locals know that they have roughly five minutes to drop what they are doing and run to safety. By the time the actual tsunami would hit, the citizens would have reached safety, because the wave is noticed by the watchman while it is still out at sea. It can take as much fifteen minutes from the time the bell first rings to the moment when the wave hits the shore. That was how the procedure worked. Unfortunately, on this day, the alarm was ten minutes too late.

The sound of the alarm woke the sleeping members of Boomer's family from their respective states of slumber. Takoda was up immediately, rousing his children from the lingering effects of sleeping on a full belly. Awake and on their feet, he led them toward the door.

"I have to get Malki!" Keemeome said. "Take the kids. I will be right behind you."

"I'll stay with Mama." Boomer said to his father.

"Right." he answered. "I'll leave it to you, then. Be quick. We will be in the usual shelter spot."

Boomer nodded his head, then hurried to the nursery where his youngest brother slept. His mother was already at the kitten's crib, reaching in to retrieve her sleeping babe. She had just pulled the babe out and into the safety of her embrace when she heard her mate shout.

"BOOMER! KEEMEOME! RUN!" he cried.

Boomer and Keemeome heard the urgent warning and knew that they needed to flee. Boomer took his mother's hand and started running toward the exit. He had yet to reach the door before he heard the loud rumble of the wave surging through the town. They ran out into the open and were horrified at the sight they saw. The great wave was almost upon them. From where they were, the shelter was too far away for them to reach it in time. It was impossible to swim against the current, so trying to get to it would surely seal their deaths. Their best option was to run in the direction of the wave's course and try to find some sort...any sort of place to take refuge.

Boomer raced forward, pulling his mother along with him. He had to protect her and his tiny brother, but since she was holding the child with one arm, the kitten was not at all secure. His brother would be swept away for sure. Yet, unfortunately, he knew that their chances of finding something to be their salvation before the wave collided with them was remote.

How he wished that he was wrong.

*****

The loud gong of the bell interrupted Sweetheart from her nap. She knew what that sound meant and she knew that she didn't have that much time. Quickly, she sprang to her feet and hurried to the nursery where her sisters slept, oblivious to the danger that they were in and the conundrum they caused.

Two kittens were going to be difficult to transport on her own, yet, if she could harness one to her back, she could easily carry the other. With that resolution in mind she hastily situated one of the twins in a sling harness and pulled them onto her back. She tied a knot, securing the harness in place and situated her sister so that she could ride more comfortably. With that done, she turned to her other sister and bundled her up, then nestled the infant safely in her arms.

"Alright you two, let's get out of here." she said, then with her siblings in tow, headed straight for the door. She had barely made it out of the house before the sound of something ominous rumbled in her ears. "What is tha--" she started to say, but fell silent when she realized what it was that was making the loud roaring sound. Her heart froze at the sight and terror claimed her, violently. "...no...Great Spirit...no...!" she whispered, before turning on her heel and running as fast as her legs would carry her.

No longer an imminent threat, the great wave had finally reached the shore and angrily sped through the city, swallowing anyone that was unfortunate enough to cross its path. Water raced through the town at a frightening speed. Even the ostriches that the people rode, despite their incredible speed, would not be able to outrun the water beast, the behemoth that snarled and roared and rampaged through everything in its wake.

No one was safe. Not animal, not home, not land and worst of all...not people. Anyone that had yet to reach a shelter was as good as dead. There was nothing to be done to defeat the might and fury of the great sea. In a perverted sense of irony, the ocean that had given the people so much, was now demanding a repayment of its generosity.

...in blood.

"Something that floats! Something that floats!" Sweetheart repeated to herself as ran.

She knew that it would be unlikely that she could find a place to shelter before being pummeled by the wave. It was already at her back. The only way they were going to survive was if she could find something to hang on to, to keep the sisters' heads above water. To her horror, as she scanned the area, she could find nothing of buoyancy. Calico City was impeccably clean, so there was no litter strewn about. There was nothing out of place.

"A tree!" she thought, the idea jumping into her mind.

The trees that decorated the town were palm trees. They were sturdy enough that they could bend and fold without snapping. The winds could beat upon them as furiously as they desired, but the gusts and bellows could never uproot them. If she could not find something to stay afloat, then finding something to serve as an anchor was her best bet and a palm tree would make an excellent anchor. That was her final thought...before the wave caught up to its prey and bared its deadly teeth.

The great wave swallowed Sweetheart and her sisters with remarkable speed. Her mind did not even have enough time to process what had happened. One moment she was running on her feet, the next, her feet were above her as she tumbled beneath the ocean's waves.

By some miracle of chance, Sweetheart was able to climb to the surface and breach through it. She hacked and coughed and gasped for the air blessedly around her. Her sisters cried and wailed their displeasure of being at the mercy of the sea. Yet, even so, it was a delightful sound for Sweetheart to hear. If her sisters were crying, she knew at least, that they were alive and with all her might, she would do everything she could to keep them so.

Somehow, Sweetheart found herself speeding down Main Street, but, though she could see the palm trees flying by her, she could not reach any of them. Unlike Boomer who towered above the other villagers, Sweetheart was not so altitude gifted. Over and over, she was pulled under, but miraculously, over and over, she was able to reach the surface. Even more miraculously, she continued to hear the cries of her sisters.

"Keep crying, you two!" she said. "Just keep letting me know that you're still with me! Oh!" she gasped, as she saw the direction the water was taking her lead straight to...

"The hospital!" she thought, with hope. "The hospital walls were able to withstand flood waters and near the entryway, there diverting columns that lead water through the building and out the other end. There were also bollards to catch debris and people, if they were lucky enough to be funneled to it.

"...I have to..." she swore. ...though, just like her Red Hawk lover who was fighting his own torrential battle, before she could reach safety, she was going to have to endure the pain of collision.

*****

"Mama! Hold Malki with both hands!" Boomer said, as he pulled his mother against him, wrapped an arm around her waist and the other around her and Malki while she held the kitten tightly with both arms as he had instructed. Boomer continued to run with them for a handful of steps before the wave swept him off his feet and pulled them all under. The current was beyond anything Boomer had ever experienced. He had no idea how fast they were going, but it was fast enough and strong enough to force him to hold his mother with all of his might.

They had been submerged for nearly half a minute and desperately needed to surface. While he and his mother could hold their breaths just over a minute, Malki could not. As it was, the kitten didn't even know how to hold his breath. He was going to drown if Boomer could not get them above water soon. If not, then the kitten his mother embraced so tightly would be nothing more than a corpse.

The current dragged the trio of a mother and her two sons across the center of town. Though the wave was powerful, it was fairly shallow, at least to a Red Hawk male. At just 18 years of age, Boomer already stood taller than many of the men in the city, save for his father. If he could just find his feet...

"AH!" Boomer gasped, as he broke the surface of the water. He heard his mother gasp and sputter as he held her above the rapids. The voice he did not hear, was that of his brother. "He's alive." he said to himself. "He has to be." he thought, as he tried to figure out where they had drifted to.

He noticed several landmarks that told him where he was. They were headed straight toward the livery. "The stables...the stables are elevated." he realized. "If I can steer us toward them, I can get us out of the water. I just need to...try...to reach them..." he decided.

Of course, he also knew that at the speed they were traveling, the only way to stop them from flying passed their only source of rescue, was to slam into one of the stilted pillars. Still, if there was no other way to save his mother and his brother, then he would have to do whatever he needed to do to meet that end.

The stables were in sight and approaching fast. His mother and baby brother needed him and his father was counting on him. He could not fail them all. He could not squander the incredible trust that they had placed in him. He would see his family to safety, no matter what. Even if he did not make it out of this alive, Boomer swore to make sure that his mother and his brother did. He had to...

"There!" he thought to himself, as he spied a pillar ahead of him, directly in his path. "That's the one, I can't miss. This is our only chance. Mama. Malki. I promise that I will protect you both."

His vow of protection was the final thought that ran through his mind as he measured the remaining distance between them and the wooden beam. When he was close enough and was certain they would not go off course, the young tom pivoted and turned so that his family, safely in his arms, were at his front and his back was facing the pillar. He took a deep breath and steeled himself for imminent impact and with the full force of the wave, the brave young lad crashed into the wooden stilt.

Boomer opened his mouth as though to scream in pain, but instead of a painful cry, there was a painful wheeze and mouthful of blood spewed out of him. Very nearly every part of him hurt and the few parts of him that did not hurt had gone numb. Breathing had become a laborious endeavor. Oxygen was not getting into him at a steady flow and the Red Hawk was starting to lose consciousness.

Keemeome was shouting something to him, but he knew not what. He could not tell if he was still holding onto her, but he prayed that he was. He continued to hear the sound of his mother's voice, but he could not make out the words. As his consciousness steadily declined, his sight began to fail him. He tried to sort out his surroundings, but could not even tell what was right before his eyes. He tried to see if he was still holding his mother and was still serving as her anchor, but he had lost feeling in his arms. He tried with all his waning strength to maintain consciousness, but as steadily as his sight fled him, so to did his ability to stay awake.