The Disruption

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An occasional waft of rotting material drifted through the wooden fence slats, impinging upon his nostrils. “The neighbors and their damn compost pile” he thought as he raked the fallen leaves into a nice neat pile. The front yard was for show but the back yard was his place to really refine the lawn, perfect the landscaping, and continue to work on his pergola which was nearly complete.

He liked the house and made the best of the yards despite the fact they sat directly under the flight path of the airport two miles away. The front walk had embedded night lighting, the trees were perfectly accented, and the plants expertly manicured. It did not look cheap and it wasn’t. He had paid handsomely for the landscaping installation, nearly breaking them.

“But if I can just get the yard dialed in then we can flip this place for double, easy.” He had told Pearl as they stood in the front yard debating the purchase. Five years later he felt he had things just about ready for them to put the house on the market.

The leaves fit into two large black contractors garbage bags, light enough to carry he hefted them onto his shoulders and walked them through the garage. Arriving at the curb the bags thudded lightly onto the asphalt and concrete. The light roar of the plane careened into the neighborhood as it made it’s way towards the airport, the sound bounced off the closed garage doors and seemed to build in intensity.

“What the hell’s that?” His eyes towards the sky the words tumbled from his mouth. “That doesn’t sound right.”

The roar of the plane hit a crescendo just as it came into view over the trees, with the engines screaming and the plane seeming to hang in the air unnaturally, the landing gear cover panels opened. Time took on the feel of syrup, and he watched the landing gear begin to extend, the hydraulics pressing the wheel struts to the perpendicular position.

^Source

There was no audible sound above the roar of the engines, but the sudden appearance of the plane wheel plummeting towards him did not register as a real event. Self preservation kicked in and his legs began to propel him towards the cover of the trees. The plane passing past the house, the sound began to diminish and the momentary sound of the wheel spinning through the air took the lead.

The impact of the wheel was louder than he thought it should have been, but he was not in a position to properly judge as he was head first into a perfectly manicured plant. Taking far longer than necessary became extricated, and shaking his head loose of debris he looked at his house. The smell of fresh dug dirt filled the air as he stood and began to walk towards the garage.

The sight staggered him, his knees weakened and his head swimming he leaned against the door frame. The pergola was gone, the yard was gone. In place of a yard sat a giant airplane tire half buried in the crater made by the impact. He slowly stood, hand on the wall and trudged along the wall towards the sliding glass door using the wall as support. His sight alighted on the frame of the door, but there was no glass in either frame, the kitchen window was blown in, and the guest room window exploded.

The sudden crushing realization that he was not going to sell the house anytime soon flooded his brain and his legs gave out causing him to fall to his knees. The wracking, wrenching, from the core wails that emanated echoed through the neighborhood, bouncing off the closed garage doors of the neighbor houses.

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This story was written for the Creative Writing Challenge being put on by @steemfluencer. Task #3 is :

It was taken 2 days ago with my old smart phone.
What you see is an image of a plane approaching the airport. The plane is the light circled in red.
Your task is writing a short story related with that plane.
I will assume that you don't need any hints, because you are creative enough to think in and out of the box.
Think of your story as a part of a bigger one, even as big as a novel if you'd like.

Check out my blog @flemingfarm

OR

You can read my blog series here:

Being a Father and a Farmer can be a struggle	Gardener Gripe - "#gardenergripe"
Time	#1.0 - Back Pain
Expectations	#2.0 - Weeds
Patience	#3.0 - Pests - Gophers

For more information about our farm:
Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce

All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.

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