ISO 100 | 200mm | f 8.0 | 1/640 sec

They warned me that it wasn’t safe to go; huge swells moving towards shore they said.  As I sped down the highway, the news reporter on the radio announced that evacuation of the north shore had already commenced.  Well, that explained the mile-long train of bumper-to-bumper traffic clogging up the south-bound lane.  I made a mental note to take the back road on my return trip.

Cresting a hill, I spied the office complex in the valley below me.  My heart nearly skipped a beat as I noticed that the water had already breached the walls and begun flooding the lower part of town.  Water, foam, and spray churned and swirled from street-to-street, filling storm gutters and engulfing shops, abandoned cars, street signs, old pay-phones, and anything else unfortunate enough to get in its way.

As I rounded the last bend and slid to a stop, I tried to picture in my mind where I had left my briefcase.  Yesterday had been an unusually busy day, and I had left the office late and exhausted, completely forgetting to grab my briefcase – the one with all of my recent business contracts, contracts that could majorly affect the success of my company.  The life of my business was in that briefcase!

I hopped out of the car and ran down an alleyway towards the back entrance of my office.  Racing with all my might, I barely heard the distant roar of destruction as it swept nearer and nearer.  Before I had time to think, a wall of water surged down the street ahead of me.  Catching the wall at the end of the alley, a giant foaming tidal wave turned down the passageway.  The force of the swirling murky water hurled the now-monstrous swell mercilessly in my direction. 

Stunned, I stood in awe and terror as the wall of water gained ground and rapidly covered the remaining distance.  There was no point in running, the wave would be upon me before I had time to turn around.  In that moment, a thousand thoughts flashed through my head, thoughts of my family, past adventures, regrets I had, and dozens of other things I thought I had forgotten.  All worry for my briefcase had vanished completely, a seemingly insignificant concern in light of present circumstances.  In that moment it became clear that all other cares and concerns were as nothing compared to the reality of that present terror.  What I wouldn’t give to be safely at home under the safety of my own roof in the comfort of my own bed.  All the contracts in the world could never be worth this kind of sacrifice…