I had been out and just as I walked in the door there was a newscast on tv. The 2 newscasters were saying that the police were dealing with a suspected atomic bomb on a ship in the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. It caught my attention because first of all it was a nuclear bomb (this was 1983) and second I had a friend at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina.
I was calculating how far Columbia was from Charleston and wondering if a nuclear blast would affect her. All of a sudden there was a blinding flash of light with an explosion and my televison screen went black.
I panicked!
I jumped on the phone to Sami even though I knew in my heart that more than likely there was nothing I could do to help her but I had to try. Much to my relief she answered on the second ring. I was so grateful that the phone lines weren't blown out and I started telling her to jump in her car and drive west. I told her there was a concussion from a nuclear blast heading her way from Charleston and she needed to get out of town.
Of course she was quite distressed and she was trying to comprehend what I was telling her. I hurriedly described what I had seen on tv and then I started to tell her about the ambulances and police responding that I could see on the tv.
Then it dawned on me. If that was a real explosion then I wouldn't be able to see the emergency responders. In my hurry to call her I had not even noticed that the tv was back on. When I dialed her number it was still blacked out.
I was so embarrassed. At least she understand that I loved her and I had tried to save her even though there was no actual damage.
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