Thunderland by Massey Brandon

Author:Massey, Brandon [Massey, Brandon]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dark Corner Publishing
Published: 2010-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

As if a wizard had cast a powerful spell, a thunderstorm had instantly replaced the sunshine and clear skies. Mallets of thunder pounded the earth, lightning bullwhipped the coal black sky, and a gale shrieked across the carnival, rocking Jason’s gondola like a tugboat in a tempest.

Disbelief had frozen Jason as still as his watch digits. Gripping the cold safety bar, he gaped at the miraculously transformed world. Although Shorty and Brains had told him all about this strange place, seeing it himself for the first time had driven his heart into his throat and squeezed sweat from his pores. He found it hard to believe this was actually happening.

Flashes of lightning enlivened the darkness.

Thunder steamrolled across the day.

Thunderland. The name fit so perfectly.

He needed to get out of his seat and away from the Ferris wheel. The metal wheel was the tallest structure in the area. Staying seated was to risk getting fried by a bolt of lightning.

He leaned sideways, peered over the lip of the gondola.

God, he was high up in the air. His stomach curdled.

He considered waiting there until the storm calmed, but that was a dangerous idea. This wasn’t the normal world, in which all storms eventually ceased. Here, the thunder and lightning might rage forever.

He would have to get down. It was the only sensible choice.

It’s like climbing a tree, he thought. He had spent his childhood clambering up and down the big oak in the backyard. He’d become as agile as a monkey ... though he had fallen out of the tree in March, in a thunderstorm like this one.

Don’t think about that.

He thumbed the latch on the safety bar. He pushed the bar away from him. His heart had already been beating fast. Now it continued to beat fast-but it knocked harder, too.

He didn’t dare look down again.

Slowly he pushed off the seat. He grabbed the nearby rim. Twining his legs around the nearest spoke, he slid down slowly ... slowly ... until his feet touched a crossbeam that braced the spokes.

He paused, panting.

Thunder rolled.

Lightning flared, an ultrabright burst that drove needles of pain into his eyes. He blinked, temporarily blinded.

When his eyesight cleared and he resumed his descent, a tide of wind rushed toward him. It shook the Ferris wheel down to its foundations, rattled it savagely, and he feared the wheel might tear loose from its ground supports and roll like a runaway tire across the carnival. He pressed his face against the cold spoke and held fast with his legs and arms, his muscles throbbing with the effort.

The gale abated.

But the other storm elements continued the onslaught. Before he could gather his bearings, another burst of thunder blasted the sky, and lightning licked a charred cloud that seemed to be only a few feet overhead.

In spite of the turbulent weather conditions, he had to get moving. If he waited for a period of calm, he would likely be either electrocuted or flung away by a gust.

He slid off the spoke, to the crossbeam underneath, then moved across that beam to the next spoke.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.