The Big Flood

By Linda Morone

After many decades the city of Columbus, Ohio is once again in grave danger of a disastrous flood. A brave teenager, Susan Whitcomb and her family are at the heart of this tale. Susan has a haunting recurring dream and must decipher the meaning of it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Linda Morone
• Release date: Aug 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311547248

Linda Morone

Linda Morone resides in Lake Dallas, Texas. The author is also a visual artist and creates paintings and photography as well as authoring books.

Book preview

The Big Flood

Copyright 2015 Linda Morone

Published by Linda Morone at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter One

Susan Whitcomb and her brother Alan had been playing in the warm rain until the storm became menacing. The crashing thunder and electric light show had turned their joy into fear. They ran for the safety of the porch, creating their own thunder as they took the steps two at a time.

Susan watched from the porch high above the street as the swirling water rushed toward the sewers. It was Friday.

The school day had been fine until Toni pushed Susan against her locker and ripped the dangling earring that she wore from her right ear. Susan’s ear bled a little fortunately the earring came out before it reached the bottom of her ear lobe. Toni had a reputation of being a bully and a couple of other girls were always with her. Susan didn’t know why those girls targeted her but their taunting had just gotten worse. The earrings had been her mother’s, now only one was left. Susan knew that she needed to talk to her family about it.

Kids, come in and get ready for supper!, Polly yelled.

After they gave thanks, Susan savored a bite of Polly’s fantastic cooking.

Grandma, can I take dad’s supper to him? Susan asked.

You can dear. Maybe he’ll eat something now.

Susan made a tray of food while Alan cleared the table. It was his turn to help with the dishes. The children did their share of chores around the house and earned their keep as Polly put it. Allowances were given for extra work. Susan, now thirteen, had opened a savings account. At age nine Alan usually spent his allowance on candy which he shared with his sister. Susan stood tall at five feet seven inches and had chestnut brown hair like her mother, even her hazel eyes were a reflection of Helen.

Susan thought of her mother, Helen, as she climbed the winding staircase. It had been five years since her mother had died in an automobile accident. Susan still missed her but Alan didn’t remember her very well. Their dad had not remarried but he had a very nice girlfriend, Gayle. She introduced the trio to rock climbing and other adventures. They always had a good time with her and she never tried to be their mother. Gayle was an awesome friend and Susan really liked her. She was a buyer for a large international company and traveled frequently, Gayle was in New York until the next weekend.

The smooth polished blonde wood banister was very wide and ornate at the foot of the stairs and as Susan traversed toward the first landing it narrowed like the neck of a base violin. The smell of lemon oil filled the air. The scent reminded her of something else familiar but she couldn’t quite grasp it. As Susan stepped into the upstairs hallway she felt a little apprehensive about her father. During the war he was in the jungle and had contracted Malaria. Susan was told that on rare occasions he experienced a relapse. This was the first time she had ever seen it. Susan tapped on the closed door.

Dad, it’s me and I hope you’re hungry. Grandma made some really good Minestrone, she made other stuff too but I didn’t think you would want it.

There was one other thing on the tray, Strawberry Gelato and Susan handed this to her dad first. He smiled and accepted the cold confection but set it back on the tray after a few