It was 2 AM, and Ollie awoke to the crashing of his empty whiskey bottle as the wind carried him and what was left of his tent towards the eye of the tornado.
“Oh shit!” he screamed, struggling to get up in the midst of the strongest wind he had ever felt. He ran fast, faster than he thought he was capable, until he reached the front door of the apartment. He rushed through the doors and limped toward the opposite corner of the lobby, trying to avoid the monstrosity he had almost just encountered. Ollie didn’t get scared very often, but this was definitely enough to make him fear for his life. He left everything behind: his home, his blankets and pillows he had collected from the junkyard, and his best friend, Rufus. He couldn’t believe he made it out, but he almost wished he hadn’t. Sitting in the corner of the lobby with his head between his knees, he tried to process what had just happened, and finally, after hours of listening to the storm and thinking to himself, he drifted off into a deep sleep.
“Ollie! Are you okay? Ollie, wake up buddy!” Ollie opened his eyes to see George hovering over him, and he realized the nightmare he thought he had was his reality.
“I’m up.” he sluggishly replied. “I’m horrible, George. My house gone, Rufus gone, everything’s gone.”
“Ollie I promise you you’ll figure something out. Rufus couldn’t have gone too far! He has to be around here somewhere, right?”
“I guess so, but I still don’t got no home anymore.”
“Listen Ollie, I’ll have to figure everything out first and you can’t tell anyone, but I can get you a space up on the 13th floor. It’s a little spooky up there since no one ever goes up there, but it’ll be nice.”
Ollie’s heart filled with happiness. “My own apartment! No freakin’ way!” he said.
“Well, I don’t know about all of that, but it’s definitely better than your dumpster tent,” George laughed, and Ollie joined him.
Ollie couldn’t believe he would get to call himself a real resident in a real apartment building. The day had gone from his worst nightmare to the best day he had had in a long time.
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