Night of the Tornado

It was a cold, windy summer night. In the city, the wind is worse so it was loud and scary. The windows were rattling, walls creaking, and shutters banging against the house. They were sure wild animals didn’t come around the city, but as much howling as they heard; they were scared it was a pack of wolves or coyotes.

We all know storms can come with a lot of wind, but what we don’t always realize is how scary the sounds that come with it can be. To these kids, it was just as scary as someone getting shot down the block. They were never in a storm like this before so they didn’t know what to do but they knew they had to do something.

Their parents weren’t home to help so they decided to turn on the TV to a news channel and find out what was happening. They saw the screen flash “breaking news!” and turned the volume up. The newsperson said there were reports of tornados touching down in and around the city, their city! They were terrified now. What do they do? Are they going to die? Where are their parents and are they ok? All of those questions and more, all with no answers.

On the TV, they were saying to seek shelter in an underground building like a “bunker” or wine cellar if possible. So the kids grabbed the cordless phone, their cell phones, a radio and three sets of batteries. They went to the basement and found a place where they could hide. They tried calling their parents but got no answer. They went upstairs with a cooler and emptied all of the ice cubes into it. Then they started filling it with food and drinks. When it was full, they grabbed some silverware, the bread, chips, of course, and the can opener. They made themselves a comfort zone down there and continued to call their parents.

After an hour of calling, they finally got an answer. Their mom. They were very relieved to hear her voice. She asked them if they were ok and told them to be strong. She told them that the police wouldn’t let them back in the city even though their kids were home alone. She had the kids tell her where they were and what they had, and was very proud of them for doing such a great job at handling the situation.