The Perfect Storm

The Perfect Storm

Dominic Diaz

04/22/2022

The Perfect Storm

“THE DAY IS COMING! THE DAY IS COMING,” he shouted and warned to the locals about the ocean’s levels rising to the peninsula of the United States. ‘Just another crazy old man,’ they thought. He was well aware of how crazy he sounded to others who, of course, would never believe a shouting old man at the beach while families were trying to enjoy their day.

“Are we done yet, Elijah? Can we go home now?” asked his wife, Alexis, who was very tired after supporting her seemingly deranged husband.

“The sun’s almost down and my feet have blisters on them.”

“Oh, I suppose so,” he responded gloomily. They drove back home from Miami Beach and set their things down. Alexis went straight to the shower to wipe off the sweat and tend to the blisters on her feet. Elijah went straight to the backyard, tirelessly working on the foundation of the house, hammering and blow torching metal sheets, that of submarine-used material, into every part of the underside he could reach.

Alexis came back downstairs and peered through the sliding glass door of the living room, watching her husband work tirelessly, even as the moon came up. She let out a long sigh and glanced at the giant hole behind him where he was working. She opened the door.

“What’s that for?” she asked. Elijah stopped and took off the blow torch mask.

“Honey, I’ve explained this so many times before,” he started. “It’s for the everlasting buoyancy for when the flood hits this part of tow–"
“I’m not talking about the metal sheets. I’m talking about the giant dirt hole in our backyard now,” she asked in a skeptical tone.

“Oh. That. Well, how else are we supposed to get the underside of the house?” he responded.

“Jesus, Elijah, it wasn’t enough that we got our entire first floor tiles redone to metal? Now we have to go under our entire house?”

“Well do you want the house to float or not, Alexis? I mean, this is survival we’re talking about. I don’t want our family to drown when the perfect storm hits us. Think of our children,” he advised.

Alexis walked back inside with her eyes rolling and her head shaking.

She loved Elijah but the lengths he was going through to modify the house for the “perfect storm” almost pushed her to the brink of divorce. However, through all the craziness and delusion, she stuck by his side. Almost two decades later, their son and daughter-in-law, along with their triplet boys, moved in to be with their grandfather on his deathbed. During his final months, he educated his grandchildren on the importance of the rising sea levels, just like he did with his own son. Every fact he had ever witnessed, every book he had ever read, and every source paraphrased from every credible website, he taught it all. But he heeded to his grandkids, “Technology is always advancing. It’ll take years before us, as a bloodline, can finish this house project. Keep learning. Keep discovering. Never underestimate the Perfect Storm.”

He passed away one day after that warning, and the kids took those words with him as if they were his final.

Those words never left them, as all three of them were accepted into SUNY Maritime College to study naval architecture and marine engineering, each earning their master’s degree in those fields. As they studied rigorously to learn more about the advancing world of marine technology, their aging father stayed working on the house. Elijah left a fortune in his will to his only son, with the intent of retiring him and continuing to collect materials to keep renovating and improvising the house. He noted to do the same in leaving a good sum of money for the next generation to keep building.

The year is now 2057 and the sea levels had risen about one and a half inches, slightly more than Elijah had predicted. Michael had been working on the underside of his inherited house. He had just finished installing the last metal sheet piece to the garage portion of the house and his wife, Melissa, had called him up from the hole.

“Michael, dinner’s almost ready! You have to wash up before Aaron, Brian, and Junior join us.”

“On my way, sweetheart. I finally finished these metal sheets.”

“Oh good, I was concerned about you overworking yourself,” she said with a sigh of relief. “You know you can’t be doing all that heavy lifting at your age anymore, right? It’s unnatural.”

“Sometimes, I think you forget we’re not a ‘natural’ family, dear,”

Michael replied with a fading laugh. He kissed his wife and made his way upstairs. The doorbell rang and was unlocked with its voice-activated feature as the first triplet his way into the modified house.

“Hey ma! I’m home!”

“Oh, Brian! I’m so glad you could make it,” she says as she embraces him. “I thought I’d never see you guys again the way all of your schedules are so busy.”

“Well, once again ma, your timing never fails. You actually caught all three of us on an open window for once in the year,” Brian replied. His phone buzzed. “Oh, that’s the triplet chat. They’re turning into the neighborhood.”

Aaron and Junior arrive shortly after. They all hug and embrace each other at the sight, as it has been years since they have all been together. As Melissa finishes the family dinner, the boys prepare the dining table. Michael made his way downstairs, clean enough to embrace his sons and have a much-needed family supper.

“Alright boys, I have some big news,” Michael says in a low, somber tone. “The time has come for you three to move in with us and take over. I’ve finished my part of the house and, quite frankly, I’m getting too old.” The triplets looked at each other with the same concerned, yet excited look.

“Well, we have some news too, dad,” Junior says. “We’re almost done with the finishing touches of a new school that we’ve been building for almost a decade now.”

“Yeah, it’s a maritime school that’ll teach naval architecture and marine engineering, among other maritime subjects,” Aaron continues. “That way we can finally, properly, teach the younger generation of what’s to come.”

“Oh, my goodness, that’s wonderful!” Melissa exclaimed.

Michael was almost in tears when he said, “You boys never fail to make me proud of the children I raised.” He paused for a moment, the whole family did. He wiped his tears with his napkin and started again, “Where’s it located?”

“It’s about a twenty-five-minute drive from here. Remember that huge, abandoned building we saw that was just above twelve feet of sea level? Well, all three of use combined our funds and bought it and have been renovating it,” Brian said. “We figured it was about time there was a maritime school near a city that is bound for rising sea levels.”

The triplets went on to explain what their plan was with the school, as well as with the house. They planned to move in the house and work at the school, all while still modifying their home. Two of them would be at the school, as one would stay home and work on the house. They would alternate and have a rotation for who stayed home and who worked.
So that’s what they did. They moved in shortly after that dinner was held. Years later, Michael was in the same position Elijah was in, this time in a separate closed off room in the house that was later built for moments like these. The room was always locked and never entered by anyone, and nobody gave it a name, but they all knew the purpose of it. This time around, though, the door was wide open.

Michael’s family was with him during his final moments. The triplets had brought their children to gather around his deathbed as well just as they did for Elijah. Aaron brought his daughter and his older son, Brian his twin boys, and Junior his only daughter who was just an infant.

Melissa was by his bedside, holding her husband’s hand with tears running down her face.

Michael spoke, “I’m so proud... of who you all... became. I think it’s safe to say... you’ve exceeded... even my father’s expectations.” He coughed as he continued, “I don’t need to remind you how important this is to our family, and I trust you’ll do your jobs phenomenally in teaching the younger generation of what’s to come.” He looked at his wife, and then at all his grandchildren. “I love you all... take care of them for me, will ya?” his voice faded as his last breath was taken.

And so, the trend carried on. The triplets’ children went on to go to Elijah Howard Maritime Academy and learn the importance of the future’s climate in their city. Of course, they took just as much interest as their parents, if not more, for marine technology and its constant advancements and discoveries. Sea levels continued to rise at a rapid rate and there was much to be done to the house if it were to survive the perfect storm.

The triplets added an electrical motor, strong enough to power the entire house, even off its foundation. Their children added hydro-powered rudders and installed reinforced steel and block, that has a lesser density than water, all around the exterior of the house that can outlast two-hundred mile per hour winds, significantly stronger than a category five hurricane.

Their children installed a drainage system within the house that can either release sea water that may get inside or convert it to drinkable water. They also installed software within household applications that can create essential foods from air molecules for when they’re food supply runs short.

Their children, my mother and my uncle, only needed the final piece to put together and the house, would be one hundred percent ready for any sort of sea levels to rise and any hurricane to pass. She and her brother were responsible for creating a force field strong enough to withstand flying objects that may be hurled at the house from such strong winds.

My mother graduated from the now most prestigious maritime school in the United States, Elijah Howard Maritime Academy. She acquired the same degrees that my bloodline is known for, naval architecture and marine engineering; but she also earned her degree in electrical engineering from another university that has now been destroyed in the lower part of the state. She and her brother worked continuously make the most advanced improvement this house has ever seen: force field technology.

But, as fate would have it, she died from a heart attack and not too long after, my uncle died tragically in a boating accident. I was only seventeen when they had passed. I remember my mother raving during her final days about how she is so close in cracking the code to invent technology strong enough to cover the entire house. She had spent years going through trial and error, figuring out how to make force field technology expand from just simply household items to then human-sized objects, to then a car. She got as close as ninety percent of the house. All that was left was to get that missing ten percent and the house would be ready for anything to come.

It's times like these where I had wished I listened to my ancestors about the “perfect storm.” The house adrift and with the early departure of my mother and uncle, it was up to me to generate that ten percent for the final piece of the force field. Or the final piece of the most indestructible house ever made, I should say.

I didn’t graduate any maritime academy or get any degree in naval architecture or marine engineering. Instead, I decided to take a different route and study electrical engineering like my mother did for a portion of her life. I took no interest in what my family has been doing for generations because I thought it was enough. I figured, ‘What more could I possibly add to this house?’ I’m only twenty-four and am not in any way as smart as my mom or ancestors were. But as far as I’m concerned, the farther we drift into the Atlantic, the more my pregnant fiancée and I will be in danger.

The year is 2247 and the house has given us what we need for survival as we go adrift. There’s eternal power source from hydro-activated technology and our food supply will never run out thanks to oxygen molecules in the air. The problem is I have no control of the house and where it’s going. To add insult to injury, there have been reports of one of the biggest storms to hit South Florida coming from the eastern and southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. The father out to sea we go, the harder that storm is going to hit the house.

It’s only been 39 hours since the house had left its foundation. This is exactly what my great-great-great-great-great grandfather had wanted, though: mobility. He envisioned this house as a ship and as a submarine.

“What about this button here?” asked my fiancée Marissa, pointing at a blue button that hid on the bottom side of our living room windowsill.

“No, no I don’t want to talk any risks in ruining this house.”

“Aren’t we passed the point of not taking risks? What else are we supposed to do? Are we just planning on floating for the rest of our lives?”

She was right. The room was silent until she spoke up and asked me, “Why don’t you know anything about this house? I mean, this is your family’s history.”

“I do know a lot about this house. I just never cared to learn about the meaning behind all of this,” I started. “I was always forced to hear stories and all the improvements made to the house, but I was never engaged.”

“I know you’ll figure this out Nick, it’s in your blood,” she reassured. Then there was a sudden thud that hit the house and slightly tipped us over. I gather myself and help up my wife, making sure she was okay. I look out the window to see the sky as dark as night at 10:28 A.M. The ocean was unstable, and the waves were getting bigger, crashing down stronger. This must’ve been why that force field needs to be finished.
I head downstairs to the basement that was added along the way of advancements. It was where my mother had done her research and where to activate the force field. She had the button ready, but never touched it until the force field reached 100 percent of the house. I open the panel next to the button and check the wiring, after all, I am an electrical engineering major.

I noticed there was a wire missing and remembered it’s the last piece my mother needed to complete this force field technology for the house. She was figuring out what material was needed and died before she could figure it out. I looked over her notes for hints and clues I could find when I noticed something in the corner of my eye. It read “Cu + Ti = 100”. It was circled many times, leading me to believe my mother did, in fact, crack the code.

“Copper and titanium... that’s it!” I exclaimed running back up the stairs. “Honey, grab me some of the copper wiring from the garage, I think I just cracked this code.”

The perfect storm was almost upon us as windy rain hit every part of the exterior of the house. Sounds of millions of droplets hitting the reinforced steel only got louder as the day grew longer. I created a makeshift wire out of leftover titanium pieces from construction and copper strips from the garage and made my way back down to the basement with Marissa.

“The moment of truth...” I said as I slowly enter the wire into each slot on each side. I go to the button that could activate the force field and press it as I see the large computer screen in the basement switch on. It showed a diagram of the house with a loading bar underneath it that gradually rose with the percentage on the bottom of it. Seventy, eighty, ninety. It reached passed ninety-five and slowed down to ninety-nine percent.

“Wait,” I started as I wanted to try something so simple it just might work for the extra one percent. “Close the panel door,” I say to Marissa. She closed it as the loading bar reached 100 percent. The house vibrated and initiated a force field that covered the house from top to bottom. I was overwhelmed and let out a sigh of relief and triumph. Marissa hugged and kissed me in celebration, but I had a feeling we were still in so much danger.

I go upstairs and looked out the window to notice that the house was moving backwards at an alarming speed. I thought to myself, ‘It must be the two hurricanes from the east and south combining.’ We were headed straight into the eye of the storm. Without thinking, I pressed the blue button underneath the windowsill.

The floor was moving from under me as I stepped back and witness our living room transform into a control room to steer and control the movement of the house. I looked at my fiancée in shock as she shot me the same look. She let out a deep breath and reassured me saying, “You got this.”

“I don’t know the first thing about driving a ship, let alone a house!”

“You don’t need to know. It’s in your blood.”

I took a deep breath and kissed her and her belly. The only thing left to do was to protect my family. I step in and grab a hold of the steering wheel, with all the confidence in the world.