Twenty Minutes

20 Minutes [Intro] [Quiet forecast office. Soft radio static. Weather monitors humming.] [Verse 1] The morning starts like any other. Coffee cooling by the screen. Tiny changes. Quiet questions. Something stirs where none have been. Maps are shifting. Lines are bending. Science listens for the truth. One calm voice breaks through the silence... "We need another set of eyes." [Radio chatter] "...Copy..." "...Standing by..." "...Moving..." [Pre-Chorus] One more call. One more road. The network wakes Without a word. [Chorus] Twenty minutes. Pass it on. One more voice To carry on. From the screens... To open highways. From the highways... Town by town. Every answer Finds another. Every hand Holds the line. Twenty minutes. Every minute... Matters now. [Verse 2] Headlights scatter Across the counties. Every truck Knows where to turn. One sees lowering. One sees turning. One confirms What screens have learned. [Radio chatter] "...Still watching..." "...Rotation..." "...Confirmed..." "...Pass it on..." Piece by piece The picture sharpens. The warning Finds its voice. [Pre-Chorus] One more relay. One more heartbeat. Everybody Knows their place. [Bridge] Power flickers. Screens go dark. The chain grows thinner... But never breaks. [Emergency radio chatter] "...Lost the feed..." "...Switch to backup..." "...Copy..." "...Keep it moving..." Sirens fall silent. Truck lights answer. Deputies roll. Fire crews move. Neighbors knock. One voice becomes another. One warning becomes many. Until every street Has heard. [Final Chorus] Twenty minutes. Pass it on. Road to road. Home to home. Every warning. Every heartbeat. Every mile. Every soul. If one voice Falls to silence... Another answers. Holding the line. Twenty minutes. Sometimes... It's enough. [Outro] [The music becomes sparse and intimate. Gentle acoustic guitar. Quiet, reverent reflection.] One older hand Finds one smaller hand. "I've got you." The shelter door closes. One quiet breath. Far beyond the walls... The wind arrives. [End],