[15: he never let go of his grudge against...]

The thundering noise stopped as suddenly as it had started, leaving broken glass and hailstones in the sink and scattered across the counter and water dripping everywhere. She heard the pinging noise of the heavy raindrops on the dumpsters below, no longer muffled by the sealed window.

She started to mop up the mess, though she had to grab more bath towels since the roll of paper towels that had stood by the sink was a soggy lump. She fished the dishes out of the sink and pulled the plug. 

The drains bubbled back at her furiously, air coming up and making the sink look like a bowl full of boiling hailstones. She backed up, then just as surprising as the bubbling up, the sink sucked it back down, a huge draining noise, entirely not right for pipes that size. She heard the toilet flush, then a sucking sound from the bathroom, too.

The power flicked, though the usual surprising hum of the refrigerator coming back to life was drowned out by the sucking noise.

That’s when she saw sky.

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The forgotten phone clutched loosely in her hand rang. She answered it, then realized she had to press a button and did. She didn’t recognize the number.

“Honey? You there? You okay?”

It was her mother’s voice on the line. It sounded like ... maybe a restaurant? Lots of people in the background and very noisy. A shrill noise in the background for a moment and the rest of the noise backed down, then roared back to life.

“Yeah. I. Uh. Fine.”

“Honey? You there? Are you okay?”

She shook her head, staring out across the trash-littered alley at the wreckage.

“Um. Fine? Yeah. I’m fine.”

“It’s on the news here! Where are you? You at the apartment?”

“Apartment. Yeah.” She was still dazed, and she touched her wet hair with her free hand while she talked. Something trickled down her face, it felt sticky. 

She looked at her hand.