"Ding-dong!" the doorbell rang as we were having lunch. "I’ll get it!" cried eleven-year-old Andrew, jumping up from the table. "Check to see who it is before you open the door," said Mom.
Andrew looked and turned back to us. "It’s the mailman and he’s holding a big box!." "Oh good, maybe it is your new books," said Mom. Andrew opened the door and was handed the box. "Wow, it’s really heavy!," he gasped. He put the box in the living room and got the scissors to cut it open. All the other children crowded around for a look. "Wow, lots of books!" "Little House, my favorite!" cried the younger ones.
Before we go any further, I should introduce myself I suppose! My name is Rebecca and I’m 19 years old. I am the second oldest of 9 children. Too many kids, you say? Well, it seems that way, but I think it’s a lot of fun! (Except of course, when we all get the flu at once, but fortunately that has only happened twice!)
I have an older brother named Mark. He is 21 years old and works at a machine shop with Dad.
The rest of the crew is as follows: Susanna, age 16, James, age 14, Andrew, age 11, Rachael, age 9, Paul, age 6, Matthew, age 3, and last but not least, Baby Grace, age 5 months. We also have Dad (John) and Mom (Kathy)
We live in a 4-bedroom house with a basement and a big back yard. We have a dog named Travis, 2 rabbits named Daisy and Violet, and 2 gerbils named Zip and Zap. :-)
Getting back to the beginning, the kids got all the books out of the box while I cleared the table from lunch. I looked over at the bread board, hoping there would be a piece left, but nope, everyone else had already gobbled it down! I looked out the window as I loaded the dishwasher. Just a few puffy clouds, I noted, remembering that the weather radio had forecast severe storms by this evening.
Mom feeds baby Grace and carries her up to her bed for a nap. I wipe the table down and get James, Andrew and Rachael settled with their schoolbooks. (All of us kids have been or will be homeschooled.) Susanna starts her work herself. I finish in the kitchen and Mom comes down to help Paul with his phonics lesson. Mom asks me to put Matthew down for a nap, so I call for him, but don’t get an answer. (He doesn’t like naps!) I go in the library and find him in the corner, "reading" one of his little farm animal books. "Come on sweetie, it’s naptime!," I say. "No, I don’t wanna take a nap!," he cries! "I know you don’t, but Mama says it’s time," I reply. He reluctantly holds his arms up for me to pick him up, knowing what Mama would do if he kept fussing. I pick him up and snuggle him in my arms. He is almost too heavy for me to carry, but I don’t mind a bit.
We walk through the living room on the way up to his bed and he calls out "goodnight" to everyone and they respond. I carry him to his bed and lay him down. He is already falling asleep, so I kiss him and go to the window to close the blinds against the sun. I notice a few more clouds in the sky and decide to turn on the weather radio. No watches anywhere around here yet. We live in Central Kansas, (Which is the middle of tornado alley or belt, or whatever you want to call it :-) ) so anytime the weather men say anything about severe weather, we pay attention!
I go into the library and turn the computer on. I check on James, Andrew and Rachael to make sure they are doing all right with their work, and then I get online to get my e-mail. I check the radar picture as well, while I am on. "Whew!," I whistle. "Mom, come in and see these storms!" A thick line of green, yellow, red and brown stretches from Nebraska, down to western Texas!
Mom comes in and looks. A worried look crosses her face and no wonder! My Dad and brother, Mark had to drive to western Kansas to deliver a machinery part for a customer. The line of storms was only about 40 miles from the town Dad and Mark had gone to! I checked for state-wide severe weather watches and found that a tornado watch was issued for the entire western half of Kansas.
Mom still looked worried, but at that moment, Paul called for help with his phonics and she turned to go. "I’ll call Dad and Mark on the cell-phone and tell them to come home as quick as possible," said Mom.
I checked a couple other things online and then got off. I start the bread machine so we will have some bread to go with dinner. Susanna finishes her work and goes to the computer to get her e-mail. Meanwhile, Andrew and Rachael finish their work and run outside to play in the backyard. I stick my head out the door and remind them to check the rabbits to make sure they have plenty of food and water.
James lingers over a tough math problem but soon solves it and goes into the library to wait for Susanna to finish on the computer so he can get his e-mail. Baby Grace starts crying in the bedroom and I run in to get her. She stops as soon as she sees me and gives me one of those cute baby smiles. I carry her down for Mom to feed her. While Mom is feeding the baby, I gather the dirty laundry from around the house and lug it down to the basement. (Around here with 11 people, you can never find any leftover bread, but there are always plenty of dirty clothes!) While I’m downstairs, I hear the "outsiders" coming in, complaining about the heat. I get the washer started and come back upstairs. Susanna is done with the computer and gets her cross-stitch project out and starts sewing. Andrew, Rachael and Paul are sitting at the table drinking juice. Mom says she needs to go to the store and asks if I will take care of the baby. I agree and put the baby in her sling so I can hold her and do other things at the same time. Matthew wakes up and sleepily walks to the top of the stairs. "Hi sweetie, did you have a good nap?," I ask. He nods and smiles as he comes down the stairs. I get him some juice and begin putting the dishes away. Baby Grace gets wiggly so I hand her off to James, who takes her in to the computer room with him.
I look out the window as I put the plates away, Still just puffy white clouds in the east. I get the dishes put away and go outside. In the west, an ominous line of mountainous white thunderheads sit, slowly getting taller and taller. I go back in, feeling worried because the storms were getting closer and Dad and Mark were not home yet!
I go back in and hear Mom drive up, and I tell James and Andrew to go help with the groceries. I take the baby and Matthew out to the swing in the front that hangs in our giant pecan tree. Mom joins me for a bit, but it is so hot and humid that we are more than ready to go in after a few minutes.
I make sure the groceries are being taken care of, and then I get online. The radar picture is even more intimidating now! The radio reports that a tornado has been sighted just west of the town where Dad and Mark were at! I feel like crying, and hope that they are listening to the radio. At that moment, I hear the car drive up. It’s Dad and Mark! I hug them both and exclaim about the storms. Daddy said that they saw the storm that made the tornado, and heard about it on the radio, so they packed up and raced back home! Mom and the kids come to greet them, and Mom asks me to start dinner so she can feed the baby and check her e-mail.
I start the spaghetti while Paul sets the table. The sky is now darker, due to a layer of thick clouds. I get the meal together and we all sit down. Dad prays for our safety and the safety of others we know, in the imminent storms, and thanks God for our food. When the prayer is done, I realize I forgot the bread, and jump up to get it. I slice it up, this time, putting a slice on my own plate to be sure I get some! :-) Dad asks me about the weather. "Well," I reply, "the radar looks pretty bad out west, but we don’t have any watches here yet, that I know of." All the kids are chattering about the day, and the new books, so I sit back and eat. When we are done, Daddy suggests turning on the TV so we can see what the news station is saying. James flips it on and turns to channel 17. "A tornado watch has been issued for Augustine and all surrounding counties in central Kansas, until 1am tomorrow morning," The weather man reads from a piece of paper he is holding. Augustine county! That is our county! We live in the town of Broward, which is the main town in Augustine county.
Rachael looks worried. She is especially scared of storms, ever since she saw pictures from where a tornado hit. "Will we have to run to the basement, Mom?" she asks. "I hope not!" Mom answers.
James clears the table and loads the dishwasher. Grace is fussy, so I take her outside with me to watch the sunset. The thunderheads are bigger now, and very shadowy, since the sun is now behind them. I see lightning flicker in the top of the biggest one, and listen to see if I can hear any thunder. I don’t hear anything, so I go back in. Dad calls, "Rebecca, come see the radar!" I go into the library and look. A line of green is thickly interspersed with with yellow, bright red and brown. They are only about 40 miles away now. "Boy, it looks worse!" I exclaim. Dad nods without saying anything, and then he says, "lets put some sleeping bags down in the basement. I have a feeling we will be going down there with the way those storms look."
"Oh boy, do we get to sleep in the basement?" Andrew excitedly asks. "Yes, I think it would be a good idea," Dad replies. Rachael almost starts crying, when she hears Dad say he thinks we’ll need to go to the basement. Daddy tells her not to worry, and that God will protect her. She sits down next to Mom and watches the TV intently.
The three little boys are delighted at the prospect of sleeping in the basement, and they dig out all the sleeping bags we have and roll them downstairs. This makes for a lot of yelling and laughing, until Dad tells them to quiet down.
Mom takes baby Grace upstairs to give her a bath. I tell James to get the two littlest boys into the other bathtub upstairs. Susanna and Rachael sweep the kitchen and unload the dishwasher while I take my bath downstairs (It’s hard to get everyone organized, even though we have 4 bathrooms!) By the time I am done, the little boys are running around in their pajamas, with rumpled-up wet hair. Mom comes down with baby Grace and sits down to feed her. Susanna, James, Andrew and Rachael now go for baths, while Mark works on the computer. I comb Paul and Matthew’s hair and then go down to the basement to start one load of clothes drying and another washing. The other four kids come out and Mark and Dad go for their baths.
I fill the bread machine and set it to start at 4am, so we will have fresh bread at 6am tomorrow when we get up. Ahhh….nothing like the smell of hot bread to wake you up!:-)
Mom gets up to go for her bath, and at that moment, I hear thunder. "Mom, I heard thunder," I call. "I’ll hurry; I think it’ll be ok," Mom replies. She hands the baby to me and hurries off. I turn the TV back on. Mark comes out and goes to the computer. "A tornado warning has been issued for Lewiston county in central Kansas," the weather man says. "the storm is moving east at 25 mph." Lewiston is the county directly west of us!
I decide to go downstairs and check to make sure everything is in order for us to sleep down there. I go back up and go to the computer room. Mark has the radar on the screen and turns to me with a worried expression. "It really looks bad," he says. I agree, and go to the kitchen to put dishes up. When I finish the dishes, I look out the back door. Lightning flickers in the clouds continuously, and I hear another rumble of thunder. I pray for our safety and everyone else who is in these storms, and turn back to the TV. At that moment, the weather office comes up on the TV screen with the words "Tornado Warning" stamped across it in bold red letters. Mom comes in at that moment. "A tornado warning is in effect for Augustine County in Central Kansas, until 11:30pm. Radar shows a tornadic thunderstorm moving into the western part of Augustine County." He continues. "The storm is moving east at 25 mph and will affect the town of Broward by 11pm." I look at the clock. 10:50pm. At that moment, a crack of thunder shakes the house. Baby Grace starts crying, followed by Matthew and Paul. Dad says, "Ok, everybody down in the basement NOW!" I hand Grace to Mom and pick up Matthew, who buries his face in my shoulder so he can’t see the lightning. Everyone goes downstairs, except for Mark and Dad, who will grab diapers and water bottles, as well as the weather radio and several flashlights. Another crack of thunder starts the little ones crying louder, as we make our way to the big closet in the basement. Dad and Mark come down and hand out flashlights in case the power goes out. We built this closet with concrete walls, especially for storms, so it will not likely get blown out in a tornado! We turn on the radio and hear another storm report. "A tornado has been spotted on the ground 8 miles southwest of the town of Broward. Citizens of Broward, take cover immediately!" I hear another crack of thunder and a new sound. Wind. Right then, the tornado sirens came on, wailing over and over, until they were drowned out by the wind!! I sit in the corner, holding Matthew, and praying. All of a sudden the lights go out! Everybody grabs a flashlight and turns it on, and the closet is lighted up again. Rachael is sitting in Dad’s lap, crying, and Paul is sitting in Mark’s lap, holding a flashlight. As the wind gets louder and louder, Dad prays for us and our neighbors. About 5 minutes later, I suddenly hear a "THUD!" along with the wind, and I start up in alarm, wondering if the tornado is here yet. It turns out to be some tree branches blowing onto our roof.
Then I hear the roaring noise that gets louder and louder. It is not thunder, because it is coming closer and closer. We are all praying for the Lord to spare our house. I hear tree branches cracking and I wonder if our big pecan tree in the front will still be there when the tornado is over! All of a sudden, the rumbling fades away….all I hear is rain swishing against the house. It is still thundering but not as loud. Dad sets Rachael down next to Mom and opens the closet door. Mark, James and Andrew grab their flashlights and go up the stairs after Dad. Matthew has fallen asleep, so I lay him down and go upstairs too. I go to the front window and look out. Lightning lights the sky up like daytime, and I can see that a big branch from the pecan tree is leaning on the garage. The yeard is covered with smaller branches, and a neighbors tree is completely uprooted! That must have been the cracking sound I heard. Mom comes upstairs and asks if everything is ok. Dad tells her he thinks it is, and I tell her about the branch on the garage. We go look in the garage to see if the roof is damaged inside, and it’s not.
The rain is lighter, but still steady. Dad and I carry Paul and Matthew upstairs to their own beds, and the rest of us fall into bed, too exhausted to even think. I quickly check the radar report on the radio, and they say all the storms are moving away to the east, so we have nothing else to worry about!
THE NEXT DAY:
I wake up at 8:20am, and try to remember what day it is. I remember what happened last night and I jump out of bed and go outside. A few shingles are missing, and the lawn furniture was thrown around, but everything was ok, otherwise! The rabbit pen was still standing, but the rabbits were soaked, as well as the dog, so I call Susanna to help me. We get old towels and rub the rabbits and dog until they are nice and dry. The power is still out, so we didn’t get our fresh bread this morning! :-( I feed the little ones peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast (!) and avoid opening the refrigerator so we won’t lose anything from spoiling.
Soon, the power comes back on, and we have lights and the computer back!
If you think this story needs something to make it more interesting, please tell me. This is my first time, so it’s not perfect, but I hope to learn to write truly interesting stories!
© Elisabeth M., 1998 <g>
* this story is all fiction :)