The Victoria Square Tornado

• Antony Cameron, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2015

It was a peaceful, mild morning in Victoria Square, the heart and soul of Adelaide itself. People were opening their small businesses for another day of sales. University students were making their way to their earlier lessons, eager to learn and explore the wonders of the world around them. The statue that symbolised the centre of Adelaide looked down on the people milling around like headless chickens. These people, unfortunately, were unaware of what the day would hold.
The Williams family, who were regularly seen in Victoria Square, were there on that morning. The main reason being their strange addiction to public transportation. The mother and father had 3 kids, who were named Vincent (7), Jeff (5) and Timmy (3). Their parents were always on the lookout for them, even though they were always getting into all kinds of horrible mischief at school. On this day, they were casually walking around about to catch the O-Barn, when the wind speeds drastically increased. “Oh no! I forgot about the weather for today. They said that there was going to be a massive storm!” Suddenly the high wind speeds quickly transformed into a huge tornado! The children grew concerned and scared, and Timmy asked Dad, “What’s going on? Are we going to be okay?” Dad replied, “I’m sure it will stop soon”. He was wrong. Similarly, Vincent and Jeff latched on to each of their father’s legs. They figured it would keep them safe. The wind began to blow dust and dirt into the air, which caused people to struggle to breathe properly. Buildings were shaking horribly. It was a scary sight, like entering a haunted house knowing you are locked inside. The kids were feeling quite worried like they had forgotten to do their homework. Except, this time the consequences are life-threatening.
As people were being thrown into the air by the extreme intensity of the tornado, those that were still grounded knew that they needed to hide. The family ended up desperately running for cover behind a small dirty dumpster that stunk like mouldy cheese. The stench was intolerable for the children, who began to cry and cover their nose with their hands. Their giggles of laughter calmed down their parents, who were trembling with fear for their beloved children. They decided to look up at the tornado, which had now become what can be openly considered to be a bit of wind. Everyone who was flying through the air before was now getting up from the ground and trying to look like they had just won the World Cup. It was amazing no one got badly hurt and all of the buildings looked just as good as they were a few minutes ago.
As the Williams family exited their smelly but secure hiding spot, they hurriedly made their way onto the O-Barn without a trace. Everything was going to be OK.