01.20.09 - 10:54 am

cut to wilsonville highschool. a crowd of people from my graduating class walking up the bleachers facing the football field. only instead of bleachers it was now just a steep grassy hill. the skies were blue. cloudless and brilliantly sunny.

a magnificently loud noise drew our eyes skyward to see a low flying jet traveling at an unimaginable speed south to north just above the horizon. the jet had a long narrow body, with triangular wings flush with the back of the plane. bright red white and blue markings painted across its frame. the speed was as incredible as the noise it produced. and then it was gone. so fast.

it wasnt long before the jet screamed across the sky again, this time north to south then disappearing into a hush.

it would head north again a few moments later, as if showing off just how quickly it could blast across our field of vision before disappearing. with a deafening roar.

the next time it appeared again, it moved slowly. it was spiraling precariously. the roar it produced continued to force people to cover their ears. but its trajectory brought it spiraling closer and closer to the ground, a dozen or so miles beyond the bricks of our highschool. it was immediately apparent something was wrong and it was going to crash. and when it dipped below the horizon, it was quiet.

and then came the massive cloud. brimming in white light and intricate gray clouds, it continued to unfold upward. every half second it expanded, my stomach sank with the realization the planes cargo must have been an ever increasingly large explosive device. when the cloud turned orange and reached several hundred feet upward, panic overwhelmed me. i just witnessed a nuclear explosion, and it didnt seem to phase anyone around me. i immediately looked for places to hide. i started to scream but my voiced was a silent whisper over the blast wave that shook the ground and hurled trees and bricks past everyone. i moved in slow motion. the sky turned orange just below the horizon, and i knew flames were next. it only took the briefest of moments to decide to stand and stay put, and watch as the fire rushed towards everyone and consumed.

i spent one of the three hours driving home from coos bay planning my survival shelter. figuring out air filtration. water filtration. bunk beds. a gas mask for myself, ashton and one other person. canned food. prepackaged military meals. books. LED lamps. ham radios. batteries. depths. dimensions. time.

paranoia. its exciting.