DALLAS — Time is a funny thing because some nights feel like they just happened. Even when the night in question was one month ago.
"I started seeing images and I was like, 'Oh wow, this is really bad,'" said Carlos Guajardo. On Oct. 20, a total of 10 tornados left their mark across North Texas after dark.
The tornado that tore through Dallas at the intersection of Preston Road and Royal Lane destroyed Interabang Books and left him without a place to work.
"I think I was just in shock," he said. "I was just thinking of the neighborhood and everyone I knew."
Luckily, this bookstore has a force behind it almost as powerful as Mother Nature: store owner Nancy Perot.
"Monday morning after the storm, I started looking for space," she said. "It takes more than a tornado to close the doors."
She knew she had employees who loved their jobs, and customers who cared that the store survived. So Perot secured a new storefront at Lovers Lane and the Tollway, and picked an important date to welcome customers one month to the day after the storm.
"It really was purposeful, we really thought today we really need to open the doors," she said.
It was a challenge, but a thrill to her employees and customers.
"I would have never guessed a month later we were going to be opening up," said Guajardo.
No writer likes to be rushed, but in four weeks Interabang Books finished its latest chapter. Back in business, in no time at all.