Tornado

Beep! Beep! Tommy looked for his glasses so he could shut off that irritating sound and get another thirty seconds of sleep.
“Tommy! Get up! You’ll be late for school” yelled Tommy’s mother loudly.
He jumped out of bed and threw on his clothes. Soon enough, Tommy was on the bus trip to school like any other day. After he met his best friend Jack the dreaded school bell rang and they headed off to their first class, which today, was maths.

The day seemed to drag on at Linden Elementary School and violent gusts of wind sounded throughout the long day. Yes, three o’clock, thought Jack and Tommy, it was close to the end of the day, finally! Suddenly, a particularly loud alarm sounded.
“Children, Evacuate the classroom!” yelled Mrs Maccabee. All of the children got up from their seats and formed an orderly line at the classroom door. “What is going on?” chorused the children.
“Look out the window.” answered Mrs Maccabee with panic drawn across her face. Tommy had seen one of those whirly things on the television. He screamed “Oh no! It’s a tornado!” Soon the tornado was much closer than it was before.

The students gathered in the library. Fitting 200 children into a dusty old library was not easy but it was the school’s only hope. Tommy was shivering and crying and desperately wanted to go home. Mrs Maccabee began to hand out a small amount of food and water to each child. Tommy heard a strange sound like sharp fingernails running down a blackboard. The screeching sound got louder and louder until suddenly the tin roof twisted and blew off. With only one chance of escape the teachers began to force open the rusty, old library door. After roughly 10 minutes of pushing, the door just wouldn’t budge. They all feared that this was the end. Teachers huddled with children. Bullies put aside their differences and came together as one with their enemies. Brothers and sisters shared maybe their last moment of their lives together.

The tornado whispered in Tommy ear. Then, it hit its peak, ripping through the small town of Moore, devastating the town’s residents. It cut through Linden Elementary School like a paper shredder. Suddenly, after three hours of terror they heard the most marvellous sound, Silence.
“Mrs Maccabee, Mrs Maccabee, are you still alive?” Tommy cried through large tears.
“Yes honey! Are you alright?” the sound of Mrs Maccabee’s voice brought a smile to Tommy’s face. But they had spoken to soon. The horror of the tornado reappeared before their eyes. Mrs Maccabee’s face faded and Tommy did not like that at all. After around half an hour of silence, the worst of it was over. As children woke, teachers greeted them, helping them out of nearby windows. Only a few parents had arrived at the top basketball courts and as far as Tommy could see his parents weren’t amongst them. A shiver crawled down his spine.


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