by Bobbie Sandlin

Created on: August 14, 2009

Rachel peered out the screen door. The wiry three year old, with her deep hazel eyes, spied the handle. She discovered she could reach earlier in the day, much to her Mother's horror. Her curly brunette, shoulder length hair bouncing as she watched the flashes of lightening.

Nan was eyeing her strong willed, fearless tot. "Rach!" She smiled as she watched her daughter's shoulders tense up, Rachel keeping her back to her the entire time. "Don't even think about it!" Taking her eyes back to her mixing bowl, she continued to mix the recipe for tonight's Brownie Delight.

Rachel was in another world. Blue and purple streaks of bright light, veined across the ink blue sky. Night had just fallen, no sign of the sun which tucked itself neatly behind the horizon an hour before this quintessential Kansas thunder boomer moved in.

'KAPAAKK'! The ground shook and windows rattled in a thunderous quake.

Rachel's eyes grew huge as her eyebrows crunched into a frown. The lightening bolt hit their freshly plowed farm field. She was oblivious to the clanking and racket behind her until she heard her Mother.

"Dang it!" Rachel looked back to see Nan, half the brownie batter on her shirt, the other half and the bowl on the floor. Maxine, the family calico cat, took that as her cue to saunter up and start lapping her raw desert.

Rachel giggled. "Mommy, you're wearing 'holate'!" She pointed at her Mother's stylish new dark chocolate stain on her white tank top.

Nan opened her mouth to give her daughter a witty comeback, when she caught the sound...in the distance, the storm siren.

"We gotta move it, Rachel!" Nan turned the oven off, grabbed the crocheted afghan that was draped across the chair, and then scooped up her daughter by her waist.

With the slam of the screen door, Nan ran for it with Rachel hanging on to her Mommy's arm for dear life as Nan tightly held her. Cold rain pelted Nan's skin, she felt bits of pea sized hail smacking and smarting her skin as she ran the 30 yards to the old cellar.

"Tomatoes, Mommy?" Rachel clung, flinching at the cold rain as Nan heaved the cellar door open.

"I hope no tornadoes, Rach!" She held the door open as she pick Rachel up by one arm, lifting her in, Nan fallowing closely after. The heavy wood door slammed in an unforgiving and ominous thud as Nan turned on the lantern to light the small space.

Nan sat down on the hard cement, getting her breath back while shaking off the water droplets of her soaked arms. She noticed Rachel and couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey Rach!" Nan sang out.

Rachel stopped looking at her chalk drawings on the wall from previous storm camp outs and looked back at Nan. Her Mother was pointing, giggling wildly at this point, causing Rachel to smile.

"Guess who's wearing 'holate'?"

Rachel immediately looked down at the front of her shirt. Nothing there. "Where?" Rachel, frowning was perplexed.

Against the roll and clap of thunder, Nan about peed herself laughing, watching her daughter spin circles trying to find that chocolate splotch on the back of her shirt.

At least tomorrow was laundry day, assuming the house survived.

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