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A tornado is on its way and an old man can't get to the basement.
(983 words) |
An old man about seventy years of age was sitting in a wheel chair. He had a bald spot with black hair on the edges of his head, his blue eyes looked as if they were piercing through you, and his legs were gone. George Vasen lived home alone with his two dogs, Brad and Mitch. Brad was named after a tough tank called the Bradley after Brad fought off a bull that escaped from the ranch down the street. Brad is a German Shepard. Mitch however was named after George's father Mitch Vasen. Mitch the dog would never give up anything after he started it. One time, thought George, Mitch tried to catch a butterfly with a box in his mouth. Mitch didn't give up until the butterfly flew out of sight. George was a veteran of the Iraq war. He had lost his legs during a firefight. A motor had landed in font of him during the fight. "Beep! Beeeep! Beeep! George looked around for the source of the noise and saw that the radio was making it. It was telling him that a tornado watch was issued for his town and he should get to safety if the warning siren went off. Then he heard huge crashing sounds around the house. The dogs were barking like crazy. Brad and Mitch jumped from one side of the house to the other barking and howling. George tried to comfort them. "Stop." "Quiet." "Please quiet down." Brad came over to George whimpering, but Mitch was barking and howling all over the place. George stroked Brad's fur and told him. "Everything’s all right, nothing to worry about." Mitch jumped up to the window and howled and whimpered. George rolled his wheelchair over to the window and looked out. There was nothing. "Grrr, grroorr grrrg." Growled Mitch. "There is nothing there." Said George. "Grrr, grroorr grrrg." Repeated Mitch. Mitch started scraping the window with his paw and whimpered. George went into the kitchen. He put some pop tarts in the toaster, bacon on the stove, and leftover chicken in the microwave. The dogs were barking in the other room still obsessed with the window. He went in the living room and took another look out the window. Still nothing there. He set some plates on a low round table and two chairs. He went into the kitchen and back carrying the pop tarts, bacon and chicken. The dogs whimpered still, but got on the chairs and ate everything, including the pop tarts. George went back into the kitchen with the empty dishes and started washing them. The power went out. George got a chill as the hairs on the back of his neck went up. That was the feeling he usually got in the army right before a group of men attacked him and his troops. George went over to the window and saw the tornado heading straight for the town he was in. He dropped the dish he was holding and rushed his wheelchair over to the basement. He opened the door to let the dogs rush in he was about to go in himself when he remembered everyone else. They didn't know the tornado was coming. George rolled his wheelchair to the phone and called his friend Henry the mechanic. Henry answered. "Hello?" Henry! This is George! Listen; look out your east window! "Why?" He asked. "Just do it!" George said. The next thing he heard was screaming and cursing. Then Henry was back on the phone. "Now that I have your attention, I need you to fix the warning siren." "Why can't you-" He began but then said. "Never mind, I'll do it. He hung up. George watch as Henry and his twelve and fifteen year old sons went outside to fix the siren. The tornado was getting close and started shooting out branches, rocks, logs, and even fish. Henry was hit by a fish in the face, but his fifteen year old was pierced in the leg by a sharp branch. They finally made it to the siren and fixed it. George rushed back to the basement as the siren went off and people started getting to safety. George heard a crash near the basement as he rolled to get there. He turned the corner and saw a log blocking the way. He turned around and went through the kitchen hearing more crashes in the house, he turned the corner and saw that a long sharp branch had knocked a bookcase into the pathway to the basement. He was trapped now. A long sharp branch crashed through the wall and hit George below the shoulder. Another larger branch flew through the wall and hit his wheelchair. George collapsed on the ground as his wheelchair crumbled. George fell on his face and rolled over and looked up. He saw a picture of his fellow soldiers and next to the picture was a loaded AK-47 he used in the war. Pulling the branch that stabbed him out, George started hitting the shelf that held the gun. The shelf fell and the gun fell into George’s reach. He reached for the gun and struggled to turn towards the bookcase. He fired the AK-47 at the bookcase. The bookcase shattered into splinters. George still clutching the AK-47 crawled over the shattered bookcase. He crawled down the stairs. From the noise, he could hear that the tornado was very close. He moved upward as if to crawl upstairs and fired the AK-47 at the support for the stairs. George fell as the stairs broke down. He had bruises, splinters and cuts. Brad and Mitch came barking as George rolled to a corner. He held the dogs as the tornado passed. Thirty minutes later he came out and saw everything was completely rubble with fish everywhere. He turned to his dogs and said. “We’re having fish tonight.” |