I sit on my roof and wait for it to rain, theres not anything else to do anyways. The wind blows

ferociously around me as I watch them swirl around making dark patterns in the sky. I loved storms,

especially ones with loud thunder, and bright neon lighting that lights up the sky like in New York city.

When the rain started to come down, I noticed the air got a little bit colder, and I shivered. I gathered

my hair together on top my head and then let it go, the rain slowly soaking it as it came down harder

and harder.

I turned to face the road when I heard a car go by slowly. I stared at the people inside, A boy

and his mother. I had never seen them before, so I suppose they were new. There was a new house at

the end of the street, so thats where I told myself they would be living. The boy stared at me as the car

crawled down the road. I bet he was thinking I was stupid because I was out on my roof during a

thunderstorm, but I didn't care. To me, he was just another person that was bound to make fun of me,

call me names, call me weird. None the less, I kept eye contact with him until something sharp started

hitting my skin. Hail I realized as it came down faster in bigger pieces.

I slowly climbed down from my roof, careful not to slip on the now hail covered surface, and

went inside the house. I took off my muddy shoes and walked into the kitchen. I checked the

messages on the telephone; there were two of them. One from my friend Hope, and the second one

from some woman I didn't know named Mallory. Hey Anju! It's Hope! I just wanted to let you know

I'm having a sleepover this weekend, and I really want you to come! Call me back! Bye! I wasn't

really interested in sleepovers, Hope had much better friends than me. They were popular anyways. I

deleted that message and checked the second one, Susan? Hey it's Mallory! I just wanted you to

know we made it to the house okay earlier today, and that your welcome to come over anytime you

want. Maybe you can bring Anju with you so she can meet Draith! Well, we have a lot of stuff to do,

so see you soon! Bye! The answering machine beeped to tell me it was the end of the message, but this

one I left on there for mom to listen to.

I went over to the fridge and pulled out the carton of milk and opened it. I smelled it, and it

smelled fine so I took a swig of it. I popped the lid back on and set in back on the shelf. I closed the

refrigerator door and thought about what the mysterious woman Mallory had said. Maybe you can

bring Anju with you so she can meet Draith! Who was Mallory? Draith? How did they know about

me? Why didn't I know who they were? I wasn't too worried about it so I went up to my room and

watched the rain continue to pour outside. I laid down on my bed, and minutes later I was asleep.

I woke up suddenly to dead silence and I sat up quickly. How long had I been asleep? I

looked over at the clock and it read 3:06PM. I had only been dozing for a few minutes. I looked

outside and it was looking kind of greenish. Twister ran through my mind in an instant and I jumped

off my bed and ran downstairs to turn the T.V. on. Sure enough, the new station was telling everyone

in Southern Polk county to seek shelter immediately because a strong storm cell dropping deadly

tornadoes and golf ball sized hail. So I grabbed up my tennis shoes and ran downstairs to the

basement.

When I got there I slipped on my shoes and sat underneath the stairs, shaking slightly. I had

never had to do this before, but I knew what to do because of school. Of course I was scared because I

didn't know where mom was. Then I heard Ms. Kitty yowling upstairs, and I choked back a scream. I

had to go save her. I stood up a little too quickly and hit my head on the underside of the staircase,

"dammit!" I held my head as I raced up the stairs to save my Kitty. I saw her curled up in a ball

underneath the table and I scooped her up. Then I heard a knock at my door. Who the hell could be at

my door in this? I asked myself. I tossed Ms. Kitty down the stairs gently and ran to the door. There

stood the boy I had seen in the car earlier.

"H-hey," he stuttered, "My mom was worried about you because you were on the roof earlier and told

me to go check on you." He pushed his soggy black hair away from his face.

"Get inside before you get killed, you can phone your mom later." I scolded him as I took his arm and

pulled him inside, slamming the door behind me. I pulled him downstairs with me and made him sit

underneath the staircase with Ms. Kitty and me. "You do realize we're under tornado warning right?"

I asked him sharply.

"N-no, actually I didn't. The sky did look kind of green though." he replied calmly.

The wind whipped around the house and made it groan, and I whimpered. The boy gave me a

reassuring look, "We'll be fine, promise."

"H-how do you know?" I usually wasn't afraid of thunderstorms, why does adding tornadoes to the

equation make me feel so queasy?

"I don't. You just have to believe." He gave me a smile, and I felt better. Then Ms. Kitty started acting

crazy, so I put her in a spare pet cage that was conveniently placed underneath the staircase.

The wind blew harder and harder, and I hugged my knees close to me, "D-do you really think a tornado

is going to come through h-here?" I asked the boy.

He shook his head, "Theres a chance one might, but the probability of one actually tearing through

here is almost none." I still felt uneasy though.

Then I heard something that sounded like a train coming nearer and nearer. "Do y-you hear that train?

I wonder why the train conductor didn't stop and seek shelter." I was trying to stay calm.

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" screamed the boy. I stared at him. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down.

"What ever you do..." he paused.

"Anju! My name is Anju!" I screamed at him because I was freaking out.

"Okay! Anju whatever you do don't get up! He didn't let go of my hand as the train sound got louder

and louder until eventually it sounded like the train was going right though my house.

Then I heard tearing, ripping, banging, and the howling train sound all together. I screamed, "You can't

be serious can you? A tornado is going right through my house?!"

The boy pulled me as close to him as he could get me in such a weird position, tightening his grip on

my hand, "Yes! Thats why I said stay down! I really didn't think...Anju I'm so sorry!"

I squeezed his hand, "You can't predict the weather." I had to scream at the top of my lungs to be heard

over the howling winds.

Then the winds pulled off the floor above us and it dropped back down, right on top of us. Before it

landed, the boy pushed me flat against the floor and used his body as a shied to protect me. Then the

winds stopped, and we were both trapped under a bunch of debris. Well I was trapped under a bunch

of debris and a boy to be exact. "Hey you! ummm..." I realized I didn't know his name.

"D-Draith." he managed to sputter. Then it hit me, it must be Mallory's son!

"Are you okay?" I asked trying to move, but not succeeding.

I heard the rubble moving, and he slowly got off of me, "Y-yeah." He helped me sit up, "Are you

okay?" His clothes were torn, and his head was bleeding.

"I'm f-fine...thanks for...what you did." I smiled and wiped blood off his forehead, then wiped it on my jeans.

Draith blushed, "N-no problem. "

We both stood up slowly and surveyed the land. everything for miles was destroyed. I wanted to cry

and never stop. Then I turned around and saw that Ms. Kitty's cage was gone; thats when I started to

cry.