• Dark ominous cloud came rushing across the deep gray sky as fast as speeding cars. The sky was so heavily covered with darkness; anyone would have assumed it was night. Sirens began to wail, alarming everyone in my small town. I learned the best thing to do was not panic because that only made matters worse. I paced from the kitchen to the dining area, filling a bag full of supplies my mother and I may need just in case we were deprived of resources. No matter how calm I tried to stay, my body still began to tremble.
    It'll be here soon... I whispered to myself, holding a clenched fist to my throbbing chest.
    The wind started picking up as I stepped outside. Looking up, the clouds had gotten even darker.
    "Annie! Where are you?" my mum yelled, running across the fields.
    She looked as if she didn't even know what was coming. Her gorgeous chestnut hair was trashed by the rapid winds. I ran to her, forcing myself to go against the current.
    "Mother! What are you doing?! We need to get to shelter right away! Don't you know what's going on?" I pointed up at the dark sky, lightening emerged all across it, the thunder roared for what seemed like hours. Soon I realized it wasn't thunder booming, it was the ravenous twister that was coming for us.
    "Oh Annie, you go open the cavern! Make yourself safe! I forgot your father's ring inside!" she quickly ran past me, heading towards the manor.
    I squinted; in the distance trees were bending, power lines were being yanked from their poles, bricks and boards from houses and other objects were being engulfed. I rubbed my eyes to make sure this wasn't a dream. It was so close I couldn't see it, my life seemed to be flashing before my eyes; the look on my father's face when he first held me in his arms, the first time I got to ride a horse, the first piece of jewelry I had ever gotten, my first banquet, how deeply I cried when I was at my father's funeral. The large pieces of hail brought me back to life, a sharp piece of ice cut my cheek.
    "Mother, Come back!" I cried in fear.
    She paced out the door, running towards me. Right at that moment, I felt my feet lift off the ground. I looked down at the Earth, then back at my mother; who was also in the air. My fear had gotten the best of me; I started thinking of all the terrible things that could happen during this moment. My vision became cloudy with oncoming tears. The cyclone threw us as if we were rag dolls. My mother tried her best to stay calm but she began to shriek in fear.
    "Annie!" she yelled hoarsely, trying to reach for my hand.
    "Mother!" I screamed back.
    Reaching down I caught a grip of our iron fence, clenching onto it for dear life. I gathered up enough strength to shove my leg in between the two bars, staying on the ground. I tried my hardest to reach for my mother, but it seemed impossible, I cried at my vulnerability, it was all my fault, I couldn’t save her. We were right in the middle of it and my grip was becoming weaker. At that moment, cyclone tore me from the fence and I knew my end was coming. I had to accept it, I still held onto my mother's hand though, not wanting anything to happen to her.
    Her hand slipped from my grip and I screamed in horror.
    The wind was jerking her against trees and bricks from the once beautiful houses that were blocks down from us. It slammed her onto the ground then back up again. "Mother, I don't want to die!" I wailed uncontrollably.
    "Darling, I love -- " at that moment the twister slammed her onto the sharp, iron fence, piercing her stomach. All I could feel was my mother's warm blood splattering against my entire body and face, my whole body going numb. I felt no reason to live any longer; I shut my eyes, hoping to get away from it all, far away. Before I knew it, a wooden plank slammed against my head and then the world before me had gone pitch black.

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    Shawna Park © 2009