After the Storm

As Saturday morning drifted into Saturday afternoon, Bradley Kane found himself fading in and out of consciousness with the warm breeze blowing in through the open window. He hadn't meant to take a nap, but the week had been long and his body was obviously just trying to recuperate. With what the last couple of weeks had been, he knew he probably wasn't the only one.

Still, the noise of his two giggling little girls--and his two giggling Big Girls--kept him from completely falling asleep, so after a few failed attempts of taking his nap, he reached towards the coffee table and brought yesterday's newspaper to his knee.

He really couldn't help it. Even though to him it was all old news, he found something oddly humorous about the amount of times the name 'Kane' appeared on the front page. Alesha had joked that he should just circle them all, but it wasn't until then that he realized how slightly morbid a fascination he was having with this paper.

In reality, it was far from funny to see what his family had become. Until lately, he never had realized just how prominent the 'Kanes' were in Twinbrook. He always thought he was just part of another family--but that was far from the case.

However, if they had been something before, this paper seemed to embody one simple fact: the 'empire' the Kanes had built had fallen.

♪ "Buh-raaaaaddd~!" ♫

"Mm."

"Brad! Put that silly paper down, already!"

"Huh? What--why?"

"Sweetheart--we're ready! It's time!"

---

~ click here for music ~

And after the storm,
I run and run as the rains come
And I look up, I look up,
on my knees and out of luck,
I look up.

Night has always pushed up day
You must know life to see decay
But I won't rot, I won't rot
Not this mind and not this heart,
I won't rot.

 And I took you by the hand
And we stood tall,
And remembered our own land,
What we lived for.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

And now I cling to what I knew
I saw exactly what was true
But oh no more.
That's why I hold,
That's why I hold with all I have.
That's why I hold.

I will die alone and be left there.
Well I guess I'll just go home,
Oh God knows where.
Because death is just so full and mine so small.
Well I'm scared of what's behind and what's before.

And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there,
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.