Story

Prologue

          Agnes looked at the sky. Clouds were boiling high into the atmosphere. The air was humid. The thermometer was at 97 degrees Fahrenheit. The barometer was falling. These were the ripe conditions for severe thunderstorms; the kind with hail, wind, torrential rain, and tornadoes. It was time for Agnes to call Jason. They had both been waiting for a day like this. Clara was in the house, watching the radar. Agnes had promised to take her on a storm chasing trip. Their mom, Mrs. Wildewood,   watched the clouds nervously.

          Jason arrived ten minutes later. “Dang traffic,” he said as he got out,” We’re going to have to find another way out of the city,” Agnes ran back inside.”Clara,” she said as she walked into the computer room, “It’s time to go,” Clara looked up. Even though she was only twelve years old, she knew a lot about weather. “We’ve got a hook trying to form,” she said. Agnes banged her head against the wall on accident. “What?” she snapped. “It’s already forming a hook? That thing formed only five minutes ago!”

          Clara and Agnes ran out to the truck. “We’ve gotta go Jason!” said Agnes as her and Clara climbed into the truck. Jason ran to the driver’s seat. He pushed the keys into the ignition. They all waved at Mrs. Wildewood as the truck backed out of the driveway. The traffic was Salina’s typical rush hour traffic.  Jason navigated the truck south onto the highway. The storm was moving to the East, and rotating. Clara watched the radar. They were only two miles away now from the storm. A solid hook had formed. There wasn’t really much time now.

          Jason turned down a country road in to the storm. Lightning flashed here and there; touching the ground. When the rain fell, it was almost impossible to see the road ahead. Clara continued watching the storm. An e-mail from a nearby storm chaser was received. Clara read it.

                   Agnes,

                             There’s a tornado on Water Well Road about three miles west of the turnpike. It’s a rope, barely doing any damage. You have to come out here and see it if you have time. If this one dies, I’m pretty sure that another one will form in the area.

See Ya!

Joshua  Pic

“Hey Agnes,” said Clara,” You’ve gotta hear this,”

          Clara read the e-mail. Agnes was surprised. “Who’s Joshua Pic?” asked Jason. “Never heard of him,” Agnes responded, “He’s a storm chaser friend that’s in my class,” Jason nodded as though that made perfect sense. “So are we going to head north or what?” asked Clara. “North?” asked Agnes and Jason. Clara said. “We’re a mile too far south of where the tornado is,”

          Jason found a road leading back north. When they came to Water Well Road, Clara confirmed that they were four miles west of the turnpike. Jason swung the truck the east. As they drove, the tornado came into view. Clara was breathless. She had been waiting for this day. The tornado swayed, as though it was dancing, across the field.

          The tornado died a few minutes later. Agnes, Jason, and Clara later met up with Joshua Pic. He was uploading the videos and pictures of the tornado onto his computer. “How ya doin’” he asked when Agnes stepped out of the truck. “Good,” she said. Clara walked around to the back of the truck. She sat down on the bumper. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Jason and Agnes were talking to Joshua.

It wasn’t until Clara looked up when she saw something. A funnel was twisting its way down. “Agnes!” she yelled. “Get over here!” Agnes and Jason hurried over with Joshua close behind. All of them stared in awe at the funnel. It twisted its way elegantly down. A few minutes later, it touched the ground. Everyone ran for their trucks. The tornado moved east, and grew bigger. It soon turned into a monster tornado. As it crossed the highway, cars were seen, flying into the air. Clara prayed that no one was in the flying cars.

          Jason sped up the truck. He would be able to outrun the twister when the speedometer hit 80mph. As they crossed the highway, Clara was in shock at the twisted scraps of metal. A few people were wandering around; dazed. Only a few noticed the two trucks, with squealing tires, and the dirt covering them, crossing the highway. They were only about 100 yards away from the tornado. The trucks past the tornado.

          “We have to find shelter,” said Agnes. Jason nodded. “It’s too big to keep wandering around like this,” he said. Agnes called Joshua and told him the plan. He agreed. They did have to find shelter. Clara spotted a farmhouse. They pulled into the driveway. The wind was screeching. The twister had grown larger. And it was still coming for them.

          Agnes led the group into the farmhouse. Good thing that it was unlocked. The stairs were found in the kitchen. When they went down them, the storm chasers discovered that they weren’t alone. A family of five was huddled in a corner. As the twister grew closer, the mother of the group realized something. She started with a scream. “My baby!” Agnes glanced up the stairs. “Stay here!” she yelled. Jason followed her.

          Through the living room they went. The twister was narrowing in on them. That was when Agnes realized that Jason was with her. “You!” she snapped. There was no time to talk. They hurried into a bedroom. Nobody was in that one. They looked into the next one. A little baby was in the crib. Agnes grabbed the baby, and handed the baby to Jason. At that moment, the roof began to tear away. Jason ducked down, covering the baby. Agnes was too late.

She flew into the air. She saw the shocked look on Jason’s face. This was probably the last time that she would see him, Clara, and the rest of her friends and family. She wanted to cry, but the tears didn’t come. A piece of glass scraped her forehead. She looked up. She saw the blue sky. God, if it’s time for me to go, please make it painless. She thought.

Jason soon felt the wind quit tugging on his body. The baby began to cry. He looked around him. The walls were sagging. There was no ceiling. He ran to the stairs. “Get up here!” he yelled. Joshua was the first one. Jason explained what had happened. He spoke quietly. He didn’t want Clara to know just yet. The family was safe.

The chasers got into their trucks. Clara was angry. “Why won’t you tell me where Agnes is?” she asked. Jason thought for a moment. “She flew up into the storm. I don’t know if she will make it alive or not,” Clara sat speechless. “There’s nothing we can do besides looking for her,” said Jason. His voice was trembling. Police sirens were heard.

After about ten minutes, Jason saw a group of police cars gathered in the middle of the road. An ambulance had just pulled up. Jason and Clara jumped out of the truck. Jason looked over the cops’ shoulders. Lying on the ground was Agnes. She was covered in mud. Her face was masked with blood. A paramedic was giving her CPR. She was soon loaded into the ambulance. Jason talked to a paramedic about Agnes.

They were going to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Agnes was in critical condition. Her spine might have been broken. Clara called her parents. They would meet them at the hospital. Once at the hospital, the waiting took forever. Those next few days were spent in prayer and hope.

Agnes died two days later due to her injuries.

Chapter One

A few months after Agnes died, Clara started going to Track. This bright morning, was her first meet. She was excited. Her best time for a mile was 7:30. She was hoping that she could beat it. Maybe just a little less than 7 minutes would be good. Her parents and Jason were in the stands, waiting for the race to start.

          Clara checked in, and then stretched a little. The sun shone brightly, and the wind blew a nice cool breeze. About five minutes later, it was time for her to line up. She would be in lane 2. The starter raised his gun. All Clara could hear was her heart pounding in her ears.

          BANG! A wisp of smoke flew into the air. All six runners took off. Clara gained on the first two. She started to have trouble when she got close to the front. She was in third place now. All she had to do was hold her place.

          At the third lap, Clara’s leg felt as though they were on fire. She had to keep going. Her family and friends were screaming at the top of their lungs. They were on their last lap now. Clara let it go. She sprinted faster then she had ever gone in her whole life. She was now tied with first place. They were fighting for it. The other girl was giving her challenging looks.

          At the last 100 meters, everything went in slow motion. Clara set her eyes in the finish line. Those last two steps were the hardest. As she past the finish line, her mind began to race. She didn’t know what place she had gotten. As she heard her time, she almost thought that they had gotten the times mixed up. That wasn’t possible! She had been one of the first two!

          Her time was 6:15. Such an amazing time! She had taken 1:15 off her original! Her timer patted her on the back as she headed towards her coach. “That was some race,” he said. Her parents were there to greet her. “Agnes,” said her coach, “Guess what place you got,” Clara didn’t know. “1^st!” exclaimed her coach.

          For the next few hours, Clara watched her other teammates doing there events. A few were doing High Jump and some others were doing Long Jump. No one was doing Pole Vaulting or Hurdles. Clara had high hopes to do Pole Vaulting next spring. Mrs. Wildewood, was highly against it. It didn’t make sense. She let Agnes go stormchasing, and she let Clara go stormchasing. That was pretty dangerous; more dangerous than Pole Vaulting.

          During the boys’ relays, Clara began to get ready for the 400m race. Her best was 1:15. She might be able to take 5 seconds off that. If she took more than that off, that would be impressive. She walked back to the stands and grabbed her cleats. They were a hot pink. That color made her look fast.

          After checking in, Clara changed into her cleats. This was her last race of the day. A few of her teammates lined up along the fence watching her. Jason was snapping pictures. Her parents were watching and smiling. She walked to her lane. Clara looked straight down the track. The starter raised the gun. He squeezed the trigger.

          The first 100 meters were easy. But then it got harder. Clara was barely hanging in third place for her heat. She needed to speed up. Where was that extra burst of energy? Unexpectedly, she began to speed into the lead of the race. Without even knowing it, she sprinted far ahead of the others.

          She was coming onto the finish line. She was so close. As she crossed, she wondered how well she had done out of all of the heats. She waited for them to record her time. Clara felt sick. They allowed her to go over with her coach. She felt something come up.

          Clara was brought a cup of water. After washing the bitter aftertaste out of her mouth, she walked over to her parents. “Are you alright?” asked her mother. Clara nodded. “It happens,” said Jason. Clara felt so embarrassed. She hadn’t seen any other athletes throw up after a race.

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