Random Drabbles

Caldera

                    Time Until Eruption:
                            13:35:10

                   The summer breeze brushed past his flannel as he walked down the trail. His sunglasses rested on his hairline, successfully deeming him with an intimidating aura. His black boots clacked against the trail eroded from thousands of feet. The sounds of nature echoed around him. Birds chirped. Leaves rustled. He took time to embrace the scent of furnished shrubbery. It was almost like a natural perfume the forest created for him and him alone, the fragrance of engelmann spruce. He pondered the thought of basking in the scent of nature. The thought enraptured him and dragged him into the abyss of wonder and freedom. He opened his eyes to enjoy the absolutely prepossessing scene before him. All in all, it was a serene setting.
                     His mind brought back the thought he wants to forget for the time being, but alas, he needs to return rather he wants to or not. A sigh escaped his lips as he pushed his glasses back to his eyes, tinting his vision once again with an auburn brown. He brought up his heavyset boot with ease, even though it gave his leg a dull ache. Each step resulted in another clench of his jaw covered in a 5 o'clock shadow. He journeyed back slowly, inhaling the view once more. The atmosphere was quiet enough to hear the ticking of his wrist watch. His trek home was a quiet one. The only sounds that reached him were during any occurrences when he scratched his scruffy chin. He cracked his back to ready himself for the journey ahead.

                   As he walked back to the cabin, he smelt something smoky; something ashy even. He looked around for any signs of fire, but he couldn't get a clear view of the sky; his vision was blocked by thick oak and spruce trees. He started to lightly jog to a clearing ahead, it being the best route due to close proximity. His feet carried him faster than he would have expected. He immediately looked at the sky for any signs of smoke. A sigh escaped his lips as he saw none, which is probably why he gasped when he spotted smoke in the direction south of him. The sight seemed to be about 5 miles away, right where the mountain stood. He stood there, paralyzed. His feet started to move, and before he knew it, he was being led to a familiar location.

                  Time Until Eruption:
                        11:51:06

            Kris stared at the small house before him with a treasuring glint in his violet eyes. A smile rested upon his grimy face. He took in every detail of the house; though, he'd been here few times before the current day. He'd been staying here with his adoptive brother for 2 weeks tops. He trailed off for a few moments; he thought about of what to do when he entered the small house. Would he cook dinner? Take a nap? Before he could think of more possibilities, he noticed a newspaper at the front of the door. He picked it up with the smoke still in mind, pushing the thought away for the time being. His eyes skimmed over the article, but they began to slow down as he saw what the topic was of. It was of volcanic activity in the past few days.

                       "The beautiful park of Yellowstone, located in the US, attracts thousands of people a year. Little do most of them know of the secret that hides in the forest: The Yellowstone Caldera. This supervolcano was created when a hotspot formed under earth's mantle thousands of years ago. Magma flowed to the surface, creating the volcano that rests there today..." Kris's eyes glided down to the next article named The End Is Nigh. Kris rose an eyebrow as he started reading. "According to recent studies on Yellowstone, it will erupt in approximately 5 days. "Pack your bags and move as soon as possible!"- Yellowstone Park Deputy's Office." His eyes trailed to the date on the paper. His eyes widened as he saw the paper was delivered 5 days ago. He blinked a couple times, digesting the information that was just fed to him. He walked into the house, his mind numb and his feet icy.

                    He walked like a zombie to the couch, sitting down next to his brother. His brother glanced at him, then at the newspaper in his grasp. He opened his mouth and spoke with satire in his voice.

                      "You're turning into Jay." He referred to his oldest brother; the one who does nothing but laze around with a book or newspaper. Kris scowled and looked in the direction of his brother in mid Oreo-bite. He couldn't believe those were considered vegan, but he brushed that off to deal with the more important matters at the moment. He handed the newspaper to Landen, his brother, and muttered a quick 'look at this'. Landen grabbed the paper out of Kris's hand and turned it over. He rose an eyebrow- which Kris wished he could do -in question, looking at Kris wearily. He looked into his brother's eyes with amusement.
          "You want me to label parts of a volcano?" he mused. Kris looked at the paper and saw that Landen flipped to the wrong side of the paper. Kris started to speak but was interrupted by his brother.
                "Okay Kris, I'll do the puzzle just for you!" He jested, dragging out the 'u' in 'just'. Kris let out an exasperated sigh, pleading to Landen with his eyes, but was ignored by his childish brother. Kris stared straight ahead,. Bored and worried. His eyelids started to droop more and more, until he eventually fell asleep. Landen glanced over at his brother and smiled. He decided it was best if he fell asleep too.

                   Time Until Eruption:
                              00:00:51

             Jay hopped up in his seat when he felt the ground shake. He stopped for a moment, but decided to just shrug it off. He couldn't get distracted now; his brothers were only 7 miles away! Their house was right next to that mountain that's always on the news, anyways...