Hurricane Anthony was on his way. It was all the news would talk about. It was a powerful storm, especially for so early in the hurricane season. Even at school, the announcements took a break from talking about the upcoming prom to warn students about the impending hurricane. When the bell rang for  their last class, Jane and Helen went outside and stood looking at the sky.

The wind was already picking up, and the clouds were dark to the south. It was the exact right kind of dark, too. Suitably threatening. The sky was ominous and violent. Disaster was coming. Finally!

“This is going to be amazing,” Helen said. Her voice sounded far away in the wind. 

They went to Jane’s house first, and then Helen’s. They got their bike helmets, and waterproof clothes. And then they went downtown, near the waterfront, where the hurricane was going to land.

In a lot of ways, being out in a hurricane is like being in a space ship. Gravity doesn’t apply in the same way anymore. Helen could lean forward at an impossible angle, and the wind held her up. She put her arms out to the side, laughing into the wind. Beside her, Jane tried to match her angle, but the wind kept staggering her backward. 

So she jumped straight up, and the wind carried her back a few feet. Both of them let out a shriek, and Helen jumped up into the air, too. It carried her a few feet before gravity won out again. 

“Oh my god,” Helen yelled. “Oh my god this is amazing.”

The could see people lined up on the waterfront boardwalks, with the waves crashing against the wood around them, surf splashing high into the air. But Jane and Helen had lived here all their lives. Laughing and jumping in the wind was one thing, but the ocean was no joke. It killed people. 

So they stayed up between the buildings, laughing and jumping, and holding onto each other’s arms. A security guard came running out of one of the office buildings to scream at them, his arm held up against the wind and rain.

“Are you stupid?” he yelled. “Get inside!”

“Fuck you!” Jane yelled at him, “These are our salad days!”