Excerpt from 'A Beast of a Storm'.

A Beast of a Storm

Canvey Island. 31 January 1953.

‘Steady on girl!’ John said, as Shirley jolted forward after a strong gust of wind had nearly lifted her off the pavement. He put his arm around her protectively. It was a bracing Saturday evening, a full moon highlighted the frosty, glistening pavements. John was escorting Shirley back home after one of their monthly evenings of games and entertainment hosted by his mum and dad.  At the end of the evening it was the tradition for Dad to play the piano while they all enjoyed a sing-song.

They soon arrived at her prefabricated bungalow.

‘What a night!’ John exclaimed. ‘I think there might be a bad storm!’

‘I think you’re right John, I can’t wait to get in the warm!’

She quickly kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for a great night. John smiled and returned her kiss.

On the way home John wrapped his coat tightly around him as he struggled to walk against the wind. Shivering, he let himself in and raced upstairs to get himself warm under the bedcovers.

A thunderous banging on the front door woke the whole house up the next morning and John could clearly hear a siren going off in the distance. He leapt down the stairs, two steps at a time, and opened the porch door pulling the front door closed behind him because of the high winds. Councillor Ron Watts was standing there looking extremely serious. Whilst he was clinging onto the door frame to keep upright his comb-over was blown to stand up on end on his head, revealing his shiny, balding pate. John caught his balance while a gust of air smelling of sewage and sea salt blasted him in the face.

‘The sea wall has broken,’ the councillor shouted. ‘The water is around eight foot high down there! We need men to help us rescue people who are still in their houses. Can you and your brothers help man some boats?’ 

‘Yes! I’ll get Syd and Jack!’ Syd yelled back. 

To read the rest of the story, you can buy IT HAPPENED IN ESSEX 2 here for just £6.49 paperback or Kindle Edition £0.00 Kindle Unlimited or £1.99 to buy. There are also 13 other stories related to Essex, either set at a time in its history or set at a historic place in Essex written by other members of the Basildon Writers' Group. Part two of the book has a drabble written by each of the 14 writers. The wonderful thing about this book is that all proceeds are being given to BHR87.7, which is now known as Bhr107.3 as it has migrated to another frequency.

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