I woke up this morning with more news of the typhoon about to hit my little island. Overnight, the group chats that I were in blew up with information on what the status of the typhoon would be. Typhoon Mangkhut would be a big one.

Category IV, with winds of 74 miles per hour as early as Tuesday and potentially higher later on? Yeah, this is gonna make life boring for a few weeks.

"Nick, get in the shower!" I heard from my room, my mom making her presence and awoken state obvious. I stretched out, feeling all the muscles in my body burn with a pleasant sensation. You know that twitching thing your leg does when you stretch super far? That feels great.

Another call of my name signaled for me to actually get out of the mess of sheets that I call my bed. Grabbing my towel, I made my way to the shower. My dog, though, sat in front of me in the hallway.

"Move," I said in my sleepy stupor, already wanting to go back to sleep. "Move, Cookie," I repeated, her ears flopping in response to my voice. She stood up and walked past me, letting me reach down just enough to scratch her behind her ears. She still looked up at me, brown eyes scanning me and my towel.

I released eye contact with the brown dog and finished my 10 foot journey to the shower. I stood outside the shower curtain while I waited for the water to warm up just a little.

My family stopped using hot water 2 years ago, since colder water helps us wake up faster. Some people think of crazy or profound things while they clean themselves. I think about how I wished the water was warm.

Walking back to my room to dry off and change, I noticed that Cookie hadn't moved from the spot she was at before I got in the shower. Her eyes still watched me as I slowly walked past her yet again, cautious not to slip. I unplugged my phone for the day and skimmed through group chat after group chat, learning more about the typhoon before coming upon one of my close friends wishing me a happy birthday. The next messages after that were of a similar vein; happy birthday messages from more people. All of them friends.

I thanked all of them for remembering. I doubt it would be the end of that today. I hoped.

A low pounding echoed into my room from the other bathroom, my mom yelling at my dad to hurry up in the shower. I grabbed a casual set of clothes out of my dresser and got ready to leave, wondering to myself if I should bring my 3DS to work. Deciding against it, I stored my "lucky" comb and phone into my pocket and waited for my dad to get ready. The early morning sun was muffled by the light gray clouds that hung in the sky, a prelude to the impending storm coming.

"Happy birthday, Nick," my mom wished to me. I outgrew her 4 years ago, but she would claim that she was shrinking instead. I didn't inherit her curly hair, but you could tell I'm Filipino like she was by the way I did things.

"Thanks mom," I responded, managing to put on a light smile despite feeling exhausted from just waking up. Shortly after that my dad practically ran into the laundry room to get his work clothes out and put his shoes on the fastest I'd ever seen him.

"17 years old," he drew out, patting me on the back with a large hand. "Happy birthday, buster." My dad was a large man, with a clean shaven face and round belly. Ever since he quit the Air Force, he had gained weight. That's what my mom would say, anyway. I wasn't born when he was still in the military.

"Thanks, dad." Yawning, I stood up and made my way to the door so I could get in the car. Today we were taking the minivan without air-conditioning since my brothers weren't going to open the southern branch of our family business.

My family owns a bakery. Exciting, I know. Getting up at 5:30 every other morning to run deliveries with my eldest brother is becoming a challenge to me. Waking up at 7:30 to open the other branch with my mom and dad is honestly boring, if not easier. However, I would not trade anything for this. Working at a bakery has a slow pace, and delivering in the morning gets me home early to do things I like, like play some Destiny 2 or XCOM. Working slow shifts at the other branch gives me time to do more creative things, like my homework and not fail Senior year. That and procrastinate on continuing on my other fic.

Today in particular was different from other days though. With a powerful typhoon on approach, more customers came in to buy some bread. The droll satisfaction of seeing a customer finally leave is something that might concern some people, but is nonetheless fulfilling. Aside from being busier than normal, the day passed with little incident.

On my way home, I took a nap in the car. During that nap I dreamed of colors, of sounds. My mom had woken me up shortly before we pulled into the driveway to our house, urging me to hurry up and get inside before the rain got heavier.

The winds were picking up. The clouds let down small sprinkles of water. Things would be getting much worse, and soon. I grabbed the American flag from its post in front of my house, rolled it up and brought it in. Cookie was waiting next to the couch in the living room, near where the front door was. I met her eyes again and waited for my dad.

My dad finally found the vice grips needed to unscrew the bolts to our window shutters. Years of disuse made them resistant to motion, but some force would make them give way. He handed me the vices and told me to close the shutters. Should have been easy enough.

I threw on my rain jacket and went outside again. Just about 10 minutes and the rain was pouring. The powerful winds pushed against me. Out into the yard, I heard a tree branch snap from its precarious balance. I needed to hurry if I didn't want to get sick. Stepping into the yard rewarded me with a splash and wet socks. The gales were cold, sending rain sideways straight into my face.

The white shutters in front of the windows rattled in the storm. Moving around the house, I methodically closed and locked each one. I came to my room's side of the house with the last 2 shutters when the wind picked up exponentially.

The white noise of howling gusts and unsettlingly cold feeling of being drenched made itself even more known to me now. I had to push against the side of the house with winds these strong. I almost lost my balance a few times. Amidst the cacophony of water hitting pavement, I could hear another set of shutters being closed by the nextdoor neighbors, if only barely.

I quickly closed off the 2nd to last shutter and jogged over to the next, not wanting to be in the rain any longer.

Through the window, I saw Cookie looking out past me. I was expecting her to just stare at me close the shutter. This time, though, she started barking. Peering over my shoulder showed me nothing. With the rain falling so hard, and the clouds being so dark and thick I could hardly open my eyes, let alone see more than a few feet in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw another one of the trees next to my house swaying towards the house.

In an instant, a blinding bolt of lightning and deafening thunder clap overwhelmed my senses. A high-pitched ringing remained in my ears and my vision had small white spots swimming around. A sharp pang of agony shot down through my body.

My vision cleared and I looked down at the side of my chest to see a long fragment of sharp hardwood lodged in my side, just underneath my armpit. Adrenaline rushed into my bloodstream.

That's all I can remember.