Prologue: Beginnings of a Storm

Channel 6 Weather News - September 20, 1981

The anchorwoman took her seat at a large desk in front of the dozens of cameras that were arrayed around the studio. This would be her first time doing a major weather report, and although it would be a quick one, she felt a little nervous waiting for it to begin. She wished that she could have a mirror to look into; her makeup artist had to hurry to get her ready, and she wanted to make sure- again- that she looked alright. Instead she looked down at her notes one last time, trying to calm herself down a bit. 

 

Then suddenly the cameraman started counting off. “Five, four, three, two-”

 

“Hello everyone and good evening. We are terribly sorry for any inconveniences this weather report may cause, and we assure you that it is very important.

 

“We have been tracking a cold front that looks as though it could be the beginning of an early and therefore longer winter. In less than two weeks, it will start hitting North America and much of Northern Europe in multiple storms that could last up to possibly four weeks. This is not entirely confirmed, but we are still observing this front, and we will not stop until it has completely passed. We will air more reports on this front every week until that has happened. Tom Andrews will continue with the latest positions sent in from our satellites. Tom?”

 

“Thank you Anna. If you look over here you can see...”

200 km North of Moscow - October 4, 1981

The heavy falling snow that had come earlier today had cleared up enough for someone with good eyesight to see out twenty to thirty meters without straining to see farther. That came to the relief of Aleksey Pavlov, who has been driving down this long and narrow highway almost all day now. Cursing all the way for having to take the trip, Pavlov almost started praising the sudden change in weather which allowed him to drive a little faster now. He couldn't go too fast or else lose control of the truck on ice, so he still had to go slower than what he would have preferred. He hoped that a little more speed would help get him to Moscow quicker, because the orders they gave him were very clear. Bring the shipment to Moscow as quickly as possible, no matter what the weather may be.

 

But Pavlov is not the only truck on this trip. In fact, he has been driving the lead truck of a whole convoy carrying crops and other goods that needed to get to Moscow by the end of the day, and they just passed the halfway point a few hours ago. They had another hour before midnight, and by then they should be on the outskirts Moscow. That is if everything stays on track, Aleksey reminded himself as he started turning the truck around a bend in the road. He was almost clear when-

 

Suddenly the truck slammed into a fallen tree laying across the road. Having absolutely no time to reat and going over 96 km/h, the momentum of the truck was great enough to completely tip it over on its side and skid down the road spewing out gasoline and all of its cargo. The truck directly behind him was also going over 96 km/h and therefore had no time to steer clear and rammed right into the underside of the first truck, sparking spilled gasoline on the cold ice beneath it. What resulted was a massive fireball which fed off of the tons of gasoline being spilled out of the two trucks, then grew even bigger as the third truck started swerving clear, but tipped over because of the ice.

 

The three trucks together created a such a fireball that nothing could get by it without feeling the intense heat. The rest of the convoy had managed to slam on their brakes and call in to their stations, which then relayed the message to Moscow. From there it would be sent out via news broadcast first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, the only thing the drivers could do was watch the flames flicker high into the delicately moonlit sky.

Author's Note

Advice and opinions wanted!

Reviews

[Anna]

Hello, so, maybe I missed it but I don't know what the premise for the whole story is. I think that for a first chapter this is good, but if you write this well I am sure you can make it that much better. You do a lot of telling, and some showing and when you do it is good. For example, the news woman is anxious and worried about her makeup, is she sweating, is she wringing her hands, tapping her fingers while she waits, does she look into the wrong camera? these kinds of details make the difference when reading the story. The part about the convoy is a little verbose. Make sure you know about the specifics since you are writing about the country you are writing about. It is the land of the midnight sun and be specific, i also believe they refer to gasoline as petrol. The speed of the trucks is not important because when driving on icy roads, 5mph can be too fast so it isn't relevant, your character lost control on the ice and it doesn't matter to the reader how fast, he slammed into a tree hard enough to make it flip on its side. when writing prose you should spell out the numbers. Overall I think it is a good start i havent read the second chapter but take it as you will, good luck.

[☯]

Very nice descriptive language you used here. Fantastic job! :)

[Aleyah]

Your style is very...well, it kind of almsot captivates me, without sounding too dramatic! haha, um, since you're writing about something so serious, there seems to be a certain serious air missing to it. BUT! Everything else is nearly flawless. It gets a little wordy occasionally, but I do that as well, its okay. I'm going to read the first chapter now! :D Good job, and keep going!

[RidingTheWind]

I love that you've ended on something that isn't entirely a cliffhanger because the event has already happened, but still makes me want to carry on reading to find out what happens next.

I hope you write more chapters to this :)

[bird.]

I haven't read all of it just yet, but from what I have, you do have a talent. Stick with it.