by Tracy A. Moore

Created on: August 17, 2010

All of a sudden the house got really dark. Just a few minutes ago, the sun was streaming through the windows and now they needed to turn the lamp on. They looked out the window to see that everything had taken on a sickly green hue. “Turn the TV on sweetie”, Angie said to her ten year old daughter. On the screen was a red flashing banner which read that a tornado was possible.

Angie grabbed a few blankets and a flashlight in case they needed to run for the basement. In the meantime, they went out onto the porch to keep an eye on the situation. The clouds continued to grow darker and heavier. Everything was still and silent, even the birds had stopped singing. Though it was only two in the afternoon, the sky grew darker still. Angie grabbed a flashlight and with her ten year old daughter went down the hill to check on her oldest daughter and grandson.

The four of them made it back to the porch just as the rain let loose. It was coming down so hard, it was as though a giant were standing above them with a bucket turned over. Then the winds began howling through the trees which were whipping and bending like plastic toys. All of a sudden, it sounded as though gunshots were going off. They stood open mouthed as hail the size of golf balls rained out of the sky.

All of them were paralyzed by the spectacle of this horrible storm. That quickly changed when Angie's oldest daughter let out a whimper and pointed to the top of the hill. The rest of them raised their eyes in time to see a funnel cloud descend onto the hilltop and rip a tree out of the ground and up into itself. Angie sprang into action, yelling for them to get into the basement.

Her youngest daughter was rooted in place, eyes wide. Angie reached down and picked her up as her oldest daughter picked up her son. They ran to the basement and huddled under the blankets as the storm raged above them. As quickly as it began, it ended. The roaring wind stopped and the four made their way back outside. Amazingly, nothing else had been touched by the tornado. They spent the rest of the day huddled together, thankful that they were unharmed.

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