[ WP ] Begin and end your story with this sentence : `` And yet , the city remained . ''

And yet, the city remained. With empty homes and vacant businesses, solemn streets and quiet highways. Newspapers tumbled and turned as the trees rustled beneath the grey-blue skies. Insects bore into the earth as the birds took flight. Everyone and everything had retreated from sight. Distant rumblings echoed through the silent city as lamps cast a dim glow on the mottled streets. A steady pitter patter grew louder, faster, until all was consumed by the deafening roar. A city once colored clashingly was whitewashed by the wall of water that fell down upon them. 
 
 The rains poured in from every direction, the fierceness of which was aided by the raging winds. Roofs collapsed under the weight of the water and windswept debris as abandoned vehicles soared down the makeshift rivers like artillery shells. Stores were stripped clean without the hands of thieves and entire homes relocated in the face of the surging storm. As it weathered this terrible event, the townspeople watched on in horror. The news reached them dozens, hundreds, and even thousands of miles away. When the clouds had unloaded their burden, they would lighten and drift away. The waters receded and nothing looked the same. 
 
 Returning home, in many cases without a home to return to, these people stood in awe. Nothing could have prepared them for what they had to face. Many would come simply to stand before the plot on which their houses once stood while others would try to salvage from the wreckage and forge their lives anew. The people were fragmented, heart-broken, their lives suddenly in shambles. And yet, the city remained. 
 
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