It had been about a week since the storm had died down.  The forest was peaceful again.  It would be impossible to see that the hurricane had hit if you could not see all of the trees that had fallen and the debris scattered everywhere.  It looked more like some monster had come and begun to wreak havoc in the woods than the work of a mere storm.  

I decided that I would take advantage of the forest in its newfound state of serenity, and I went outside for a walk.  Presently, I noticed that my wandering had brought me back to the town from which I had fled.

Curious about what had happened to the town, I cautiously wandered through the streets to the familiar place that I had once called home. There were two walls standing and the rest had been reduced to rubble.  The old Live Oak tree which provided the shade that I used to nap in on the swelteringly hot days of summer had fallen, stretching over the street and well beyond.

Pieces of the backyard fence that enclosed the space where I would play were strewn around the surrounding yards and one my neighbor's roof.  The old tire swing was nowhere to be seen. The place that I once called home wouldn't be a home to anything except for rats and other rodents now.

I shrank back from the horrible sight, and then I ran.  I ran back through the once familiar neighborhood.  I ran through the town streets.  I ran back to the forest and all the way to the cabin.