The Storm by Kevin L Murdock

words.
                  “Upstairs,” came the soft reply.
                  The kids weren’t around, so I didn’t want to yell again. It was probably story time or they were napping. “Okay,” I mutedly answered. The bag plopped on the ground a bit louder than I intended, and I immediately turned into the kitchen. Quickly I filled a large glass with nice cold water and drank it fast. “Ahhhhh.” I let my breath out in a way that I usually do only after sex. My arms burned as I stretched them back and forth, up and down, all around to try and get the kinks out. I gulped a second glass and was finally catching my breath when Stacy spoke again from the top of the steps.
                  “I’m waiting!” she said with a sense of urgency but total lack of emergency.
                  A big smile filled my face. I knew what she was up to. “Coming!”
                  It was a bit dark at the top of the stairs, but the glow of candles emanating from our bedroom was jumping out at me. This was exactly what I hoped it was. “What have you been up to while I’ve been out getting supplies?”
                  “You’ll see in a second,” she said with a tone of distinct naughtiness.
                  As I entered the bedroom, she was strategically placed on the center of the bed, with candles on both adjoining chest of drawers. “Damn, baby, you are looking good,” was all I could think to say as I ogled and stared at my lovely wife. She was usually a quiet and reserved “good wife,” although sometimes she liked to play dirty. She lay there in a tight-fitting miniskirt with stockings and four-inch-heeled pumps. Her top was equally revealing as her eyes stared straight at mine then worked their way down.
                  “Come spend some time with your naughty wifey, baby!” she said with a tone that was sure to provoke my most base instincts.
                  I ran the few steps and almost tackled her on the bed, kissing and holding her. Twenty minutes later, I was contentedly lying in her arms, starting to dose off. “Love you, babe.”
                  “I love you too,” she said while running her fingers through my hair.
                  My last thought before sleep returned to parental duty and the kids. “Kids napping?”
                  “No, they are with Puba.” She started to chuckle. “I bribed her with a couple of cans of lentil soup to watch them for the afternoon.” Stacy was almost proud of herself, as a normal babysitter could be costly.
                  “Okay.” I drowsily replied as sleep started to take hold of me. My brain at some level realized that something was wrong with what she just said, but it surrendered to the drowsiness that rapidly sent me into a deep slumber.
    **************************
                  It was afternoon now as a few hours had passed. Reality came back slowly as my brain was struggling to wake up. Dreams of Stacy in a miniskirt mixed with images of canned soup went from bliss to something less comforting. Somewhere, the memory of those commercials raising money for starving kids in Africa popped into my mind, only it was an ad for my kids. They were standing over a hole in the ground, skinny with ribs showing whilst flies buzzed around their heads. They look at me and beg for food, but I say nothing. Only tears answer their plea. A cold sweat formed on my forehead and my lips began to utter something only a mouse could hear. Suddenly I snapped up in bed, fully terrified into an alert state of readiness.
                  Stacy was changing her clothes at the foot of the bed and was sliding back into something she could wear outside, boring jeans with a sweater. My sudden spring action movement from a sound sleep startled her. “Hey!” she said as she reacted to my sitting up. “I was