4 out of 5 Stars for "The Calm," a short story by William Butler

This is a well-written, emotional, compelling, and disturbing short story. With just a few paragraphs, it invokes fear, anxiety, anger, love, hate, and resolution as a small family interacts with each other for a single evening. The weather outside the home correlates with the storm gathering inside the home as, like the storm, rage is anticipated, tolerance is difficult and the ending is tragic. Unlike the nature of the storm, human nature of revenge, sacrifice, and salvation remain in the aftermath.