As you may or may not know, Atlanta was ravaged last night as a winter storm tore through the metro area, devouring all in its path. A storm of this size and sheer destructive force has not been seen in weeks if not hours, and families still huddle together for warmth even though the power never went out.

My Brother Spent the night at my pad after his gig last night, partly because he didn’t want to press his luck on the treacherous roads, and partly because he knows I have panic attacks when the wind blows. By 2 a.m., the deafening tik-t-t-tikki-tik of sleet slamming into the windows was more than we could take. Panicking, we hastily constructed a shelter out of couch cushions and a blanket and settled in. We were prepared to lose our lives this night. At one point, both of us in tears, I realized that we had no supply of fresh water, and I would have to journey out of the safety of our fort and cross the living room in search of the bottled water in the refrigerator. Taking only a cracker, a raisin, and three marshmallows from a box of “Lucky Charms” (not the best recipe for s’mores, but when you are about to die, you do what you have to), I tied our shoelaces together and made a leash for Queasy the cat. I knew she could see better in the dark, and would lead me to the refrigerator or the light switch. As I passed the recliner, I stubbed my toe and fell flat. I was going to have to cut the cat open and crawl inside of her for warmth. Luckily, my brother reached out of our fort and grabbed my ankle, dragging me back to safety. I owe him my life. That night, the temperature dropped as low as 68 degrees in our fort. We only had each other as the snow and ice piled up outside.

This morning, as light filtered through the angry layer of clouds, we opened the blinds to a scene more horrible than we could have imagined. Absolute chaos had reigned during the night, and the evidence was everywhere. The following pictures should not be viewed by anyone under the age of 18, women who are pregnant or nursing a child, or those with a heart condition. You have been warned.

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Here you can see the sheer violence of the storm as it cut a swath of death through the parking lot. You’ll notice that although there is no snow where the cars actually park, there is some on the banister and ON THE TREE LIMBS. Any one of those tree limbs could explode at any moment due to the sheer weight of the snow, killing everyone within ten thousand miles.

In a moment of uncharacteristic machismo, I opened the door to the balcony so I could measure the depth to better gauge my need for boots, or possibly a dog sled. We were astounded at the volume of snow that was weighing on my fragile iron railing.

Yes, that is right around ¼” of hell and death. For those of you using the metric system, it’s nine trillion light years.

Of course, I had to destroy that ruler to avoid the risk of becoming contaminated.

All of this had my brother and I reeling. We wondered if our family was okay, but didn’t bother calling, because we knew that all communication in the state was probably out. We figured that if we could brave the driving fog and 34 degree temperatures long enough to get to our cars, we would at least have a lifeline. What we saw then was the most horrific sight either of us had ever witnessed. During the night, the screaming wind had torn a mighty oak from its roots, and it just missed crushing both of our cars.

We both counted our blessings that our cars weren’t split in half by the falling tree, but I didn’t know how I was going to see out of my windshield. Oh, to have ventured this far against mother nature, only to fall to hypothermia just feet from our cars. I told my brother that I was going to have to eat him, since I am the oldest son and I must carry on the family name. I promised to name my firstborn after him, and went to find a rock with which to bludgeon him to death. As I searched, the delirium of a falling core temperature taking its toll on my senses, I heard a car start up behind me. I thought surely this was a near death hallucination, but I was overjoyed. Once again, my brother had saved us both. He had actually gotten into his car and turned on the windshield wipers to remove most of the snow. What remained melted away hideously as the car got warmer.

It was a ten-hour test of wills and physical strength, but we got through it by relying on one another. Neither of us will soon forget that night. We were pushed to the limits- right to the very edge. Faced with insurmountable odds, we had to look inside ourselves for the strength to carry on. We made it.

After we recover, we plan on writing a script for a made for T.V. movie. Keep your eyes peeled.

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