Anticipation Day

April 14, 2001

Patrick was blinded by sudden brightness. It was much brighter than the facility he had just been in—so intense that he had to raise an arm to shield his eyes.

Was he standing? He could feel his feet, which felt solid beneath him, so he was indeed standing.

Birds. He heard birds and cars and thought he heard a man talking, but his ears felt clogged as if stuffed with five Q-tips. His mouth was dry, and his armpits felt sweaty.

Patrick reached up and touched his face—mouth, nose, and eyes—all were there. Above them, he felt the brim of a hat and what appeared to be sunglasses. He took the hat off and put the sunglasses over his eyes. Much better.

There were maybe a dozen or so figures he could make out that were standing around two bright white vans. Looking down, he saw the outline of his feet, confirming he was in fact standing on dirt. Looking up, he saw a bright blue sky mixed in with scattered high-level cirrus clouds. Judging by the sun’s angle to his left, it appeared to be early-to-mid morning.

Patrick felt his hair, which was way longer than he normally had, which was weird. He took a deep breath, inhaling a mixture of fuel and dust. Not a great combination, but it woke him up.

As he worked to unclog his ears, he finally heard two engines running, a man talking, and cars driving off to his left. He seemed to be in a dirt area next to a two-lane road, standing alongside two vans and a group of people—likely the tour guests for the tornado-chasing excursion he was about to join.

After a couple of minutes, his senses seemed to be fully functioning.

“Wow, this is fucking weird,” was his first thought. While he couldn’t see his face, he examined his arms and fingers. They looked different. Fewer freckles, less hair, but darker than normal. He wiggled his fingers, looked down at his shoes, and moved them around. Everything seemed to be functioning fine.

He strolled over to one of the van windows and took off his sunglasses to see his reflection: a young man with longer hair slicked back and some facial hair that looked like it hadn’t been shaved in about 48 hours. He appeared tan, although it was hard to tell in the reflection from the van window. Based on the van’s height, he seemed to be about 6 feet tall, plus or minus an inch. Not a bad-looking dude.

“Sir, are you okay over there?” A man called out from behind him.

Patrick cleared his throat. “Yes, sorry. I’m fine. Thank you.” His voice sounded weird; lighter and cleaner than usual.

“Okay, why don’t you come back over here with the rest of the group while I go over some basic information?” The man replied in an accent that made it clear he was from the deep south somewhere. Patrick walked back over to the group, which now appeared to be around 15 to 20 people.

“So, as I was saying, my name is Dale, and I’m originally from Alabama. I majored in meteorology and climate studies at the University of Alabama, and after working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 15 years, my family and I moved out to the Fort Collins area, and I got a job with Colorado State University studying tornado formation. After six years of field research, my colleague Mitch and I decided to start this tour company 11 years ago, allowing us to continue researching tornadoes while having fun with folks like you interested in seeing tornadoes up close.

Mitch started his own company last year, but I’m lucky to be joined by my fellow research associates, Katy and Billy, who are here with us for the next ten days or so. I’ll let them introduce themselves in a second. Katy has done this for a few years now, and Billy is joining us for the first time right out of graduate school at the University of Colorado.

I’m delighted that you folks put your trust in me and my team to guide you through this journey as safely and happily as possible. I know there are many ways you can spend your vacation and a lot of companies to choose from, so I appreciate you taking the time to join us here.

Before we go over the rules and details of our journey, let’s introduce ourselves so we can associate names with faces. Let’s start with Katy and Billy. Guys, please introduce yourselves.”

Dale looked to his left at a young man and woman who appeared to be in their mid-20s.

“Hi everyone,” the woman kicked off. “My name is Katy Smith, and, as Dale mentioned, I’m one of the research assistants joining you. I’ll be driving Van #1 and promise to do my best not to drive you directly into a tornado.” That got a few chuckles from the crowd. “I’m originally from New Jersey but have loved weather, thunderstorms, and tornadoes since I was very young. I’m thrilled to join Dale and Billy on these trips, and I’m eager to learn as much as I can each time we go out.

The data we gather on these trips will help scientists and our fellow researchers to understand tornado formation, duration, and strength so they can predict them more accurately in the future. Anyway, that’s my short speech. I look forward to getting to know you all and hopefully seeing some awesome tornadoes together.”

The guests responded with light applause. Patrick joined in, clapping to ensure his hands were working properly. He was still getting used to this. His mind was still tripping a bit. If it was still his mind.