Twister: When We Were Young

A warm sunny morning Oklahoma. A breeze blew through the small town of Wakita and made Aunt Meg's wind chimes jingle, creating a somewhat soothing tone, but most of all letting Jo know that summer was there, as the breeze wafted the smell of fresh cut grass and clovers through the open front door of Aunt Meg's house. Jo was only 10 years old and sat at the kitchen table waiting for Meg to finish making her famous eggs and steak for breakfast. It had been only a year since she lost her father, but Jo didn’t show that she was sad. She just tried to keep it in the back of her mind and focus on what was ahead of her. Meg came out and set the plate of steak and eggs in front of Jo who had a smile on her face as the sweet aroma from the meal in front of her reached her nose.

 

"Thank you Aunt Meg!", Jo said as she picked up her fork and knife.

 

   Jo began to cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and ate them. Once she finished the steak she took a sip of water and quickly scarfed down the eggs. Suddenly there was a clamor of footsteps on the front porch and in came Bill through the front door. Bill was only about 11 years old but still had his same dark drown, almost black, hair. He waved to Aunt Meg who was cleaning up the kitchen then ran over to Jo.

 

"Jo! Come on!", Bill almost shouted as Jo hopped down from her chair.

 

"Bill, what is it?", Jo asked as she wiped a small amount of egg yoke from her lips.

 

"There's already been a dust devil over in Mr. Miller's field! Come on!", Bill exclaimed and tugged at Jo's white tank top.

 

"OH! Give me a second to get my shoes on and then I'll be out!", Jo said and ran up stairs to her room.

 

    She sat on her bed and quickly slipped on her shoes, then dashed back down the stairs, yelling bye to Aunt Meg as she ran out the front door where Bill was waiting for her.  Jo and Bill quickly ran to their bikes which, as usual, were dumped and their side in the yard. Bill was their first on his bike and rode out onto the street and motioned for Jo to follow him. Jo was only a few seconds behind Bill and quickly caught up to him. Her look of excitement extended from her smile, all the way to her emerald green eyes which were lit up with joy. Her long blond hair fluttered in the wind behind her as her and Bill rocketed down the street as fast as their legs would take them. As Jo looked ahead she saw a few more kids on bikes, which she knew without a doubt was Dusty, Rabbit, and Sanders, all waiting for Jo and Bill. When they got to the street corner, Jo and Bill hit the breaks and skid to stop in front of the Dust, Rabbit, and Sanders.

 

"You guys ready!?", Bill asked as he turned to the others.

 

"You know it Dude!", Dusty exclaimed as Rabbit and Sanders nodded their heads in agreement.

 

   With that the group was off. They traveled down the street, with Bill leading and Jo close behind. Behind Jo were Rabbit and Sanders, then bringing up the back was Dusty with the words "Barn Burner" painted on the side of his bike. Rabbit yelled for them to take the next left as they approached a small intersection. Bill turned left, followed by Jo and the rest of the gang. As they rode through the street the houses ended and a plowed dirt field was reveled. Jo's eyes widened as they saw a tall and thin dust devil tearing across the endless dirt field. 

 

"You Guys stay back! Me and Jo will try to get the probe inside!", Bill shouted back over his shoulder at the others.

 

"You got it boss!", Dusty yelled back to Bill and slowed down.

 

"You ready?", Bill asked as Jo came up beside him.

 

"Ready as I'll ever be!", Jo replied and grinned at him with her perfect white teeth.

 

   Jo and Bill kept pace with large whirlwind as they peddled along the road. Dusty, Sanders, and Rabbit had all stopped along side the road and watched through their binoculars as Jo and Bill turned and rode through the ditch and into the field, towards the dust devil. The dust devil was nearly thirty feet tall, bending and twisting like a snake as it ripped across the dirt, picking up small objects like sticks and leftover pieces of corn husk from the year before. Bill and Jo got right along side it and Bill pulled out a small a Dorothy doll with a parachute attached to its back. They tried hard to get ahead of the dust devil, but the dirt started to turn into loose sand as they rode. Their tires sunk into the loose earth and both, Jo and Bill fell over. Jo hit the ground with a thud and her blonde hair swished over her face. Bill managed to land on his feet and quickly went over to Jo. He helped her up and brushed the sand off her back, but suddenly turned around and noticed that the dust devil was now heading straight for them.

 

"Run!", Bill shouted over the wind as the dust devil came closer and closer.

 

   Jo looked over her shoulder and saw the tall and skinny whirlwind heading at them. She quickly ran back towards the street, with Bill right on her heels.

 

"Come on! In here!", Jo yelled as she climbed into the ditch and laid down.

 

   Bill jumped in and laid on top of her to cover her from the small debris. The dust devil came closer and Jo's long blonde hair fluttered and whipped around her face. Then the two were enveloped by the whirlwind. The sand pelted Bills neck, face, and back as he covered Jo. As the center of the dust devil moved over them, the flying sand began to sting as it hit Bills exposed skin. This chaos only lasted a few seconds as the dust devil roped out and disintegrated as it moved onto the street.

 

"You alright?", Bill asked as he rolled off of Jo and stood up.

 

"I'm fine. What about you?", Jo replied as she stood up and brushed the sand off herself.

 

"I'm good, it just stung a little is all." Bill replied as Dusty, Rabbit, and Sanders rode up on their bikes.

 

"Dudes! That was wicked!", Dusty exclaimed as he hopped off his bike. "What was it like?"

 

Jo looked at him, "It was windy." She said with a chuckle as Bill brought their bikes back over from the field.

 

   Dusty laughed at Jo's little joke and patted her on the shoulder. Rabbit and Sanders were holding their own conversation on how the dust devil moved and how long it lasted. Within a few minutes, the gang was back up on their bikes and riding again, searching for another dust devil.     

 

 After a few hours of riding around the farmland, which surrounded the small town, Jo, Bill, Sanders, Rabbit, and Dusty all decided to stop for a rest on the side of the rode near one of the dirt fields. The sun was high in the sky as the trio sat and talked amongst themselves. But after only a few minutes talking, they looked down the street and sighed at what they saw. About 4 other kids on black bikes were riding down the street. Bill, Jo and the rest of the gang stood up and watched as the group of black bikes stopped beside them. Bill knew who they were, it was Jonas and the rest of his friends. Jonas stepped off his bike and approached bill. Jonas had on a green t-shirt, sunglasses, and light brown pants.

 

"Hello Bill." Jonas said with a cocky half-smile.

 

"Hello Jonas…" Bill replied and eyed Jonas.

 

"Heard you guys got hit by one today." Jonas said back with his cocky grin half-smile still on his face.

 

"Yeah, we did. What about it?", Bill replied and clenched his fist, knowing Jonas was about to make a smartass comment.

 

"We'll I just figured you and your girlfriend here would get Dorothy to fly is all." Jonas said and chuckled along with the rest of the kids.

 

"She's not my girlfriend!", Bill shouted at Jonas who was getting back on his bike.

 

"Keep telling yourself that Bill, and maybe she'll dump you!", Jonas teased and rode away with the rest of his friends.

 

"Ignore him Bill. The guys just a moron." Sanders said and put a hand on bills shoulder.

 

"Any idea where they were going?", Rabbit asked as he scratched his neck.

 

"If I had to guess, I'd say there." Dusty said and pointed to two huge columns of swirling dirt and sand that were visible over the roof tops on the other side of town.

 

"Oh crap! Come on!", Bill shouted to the others.

 

   The trio all hopped on their bikes and began to peddle across town. Mean while Jonas was already over there and on the road, in-between two huge rope dust devils. Jonas pulled out a toy army man with a parachute on it and turned to another boy, named Eddie, who was riding beside him.

 

"D.O.T. is ready for deployment. Eddie, which way are they going?", Jonas asked Eddie as he watched the two dust devils bent and twisted as they moved across the fields.

 

"I…. Think they're heading this way." Eddie replied as he too, watched the dust devils.         

 

"Alright good." Jonas said as he kept peddling along the road as the two dust devils continued to rip across the field of dirt.

 

   Suddenly he looked over his shoulder and saw Bill with Jo and the rest of the group coming up along side them. Bill ginned at Jonas as they passed him. Jonas tried hard to peddle faster, but he just didn’t have it in him, and neither did Eddie or the rest of his friends. Within a few minutes, Jo and Bill were way out ahead of Jonas and even their own group. Bill smiled back at Jo who was watching the whirlwinds as her long blonde hair fluttered behind her. Suddenly Bill looked forward to see another dust devil heading across the road in front of them. He slammed on the breaks and Jo, who was entranced in the other two dust  devils, didn’t see him stop and plowed full speed into the back of him, knocking him over and sending her over the handle bars of her bike. Luckily Jo didn’t land on her head, but instead rolled as she hit the pavement. Bill on the other hand was not so lucky. He tumbled off the side of his bike landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Jo got up as the two other dust devils moved closer to them. She saw Bill gasping and coughing on the ground and quickly ran over to him. Her hair whipped around as the dust devils came within mere feet of the road. She used a part of her shirt to cover bills mouth as the air around them filled with sand and dirt and they were enveloped by the swirling torrents of wind. Within a few seconds the dust devils lost their strength and roped out, leaving a very dirty Jo, and Bill still trying to catch his breath.     

 

 

Jo helped Bill off the pavement and brushed some sand off him.

 

"Bill I'm so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention." Jo said to Bill as they got back on their bikes.

 

"It's alright, I'm fine." Bill replied as he they rode back to Dusty, Rabbit, Sanders.

 

   On the side of the road, Jonas was yelling at Eddie for not getting them in the right place to catch the dust devils. Dusty talked to Jo as Rabbit and Sanders made sure their binoculars were cleaned off. Bill however, was not paying attention to any of them and was watching as a massive storm cloud approached. Suddenly a crack of thunder made everyone, including Jonas, go silent and turn their heads the towering anvil-shaped cloud which loomed over the town like a giant monster. A light warm wind began to blow and the all the kids standing there could see the dark underbelly of this beast of a storm. A bolt of lightning struck a tree in the distance and made the kids all jolt in surprise as the loud boom of thunder rolled through the town.

 

"Uhhh….. Guys, I think we should go now." Eddie said as he picked his bike up off the ground.

 

"No." Jonas replied and stared in awe as the storm came closer.

 

   Jo and Bill stood side by side, holding their bikes and watching the storm grow closer. The wind got stronger a blew Jo's long blonde hair around. The storm was now almost right on top of them. The cracks of thunder and flashes of lighting became more frequent as the wind picked up. Suddenly, Jo noticed something in the base of the storm. A long thin cylinder of rotating cloud that was starting to lower to the ground. Bill's eyes widened in amazement at this, but Jo's expression remained the same as she quickly hopped on her bike and began to peddle fast down the road. Bill watched her for a second as she peddled down the road towards the forming tornado, then quickly hopped on his bike and sped off down the road after her. As Jo was speeding along, the large rope tornado touched down in a dirt field to her right.  It kicked up dirt, sticks, and other debris around its base as it twisted and moved through the open field like a snake hunting for a mouse. Jo rode alongside the twister as it ripped through the field only about 300ft to her right. Bill finally caught up to Jo as a bolt of lightning came out of the twisters funnel and struck the ground. Bill cursed under his breath and turned to Jo.

 

"Jo! Jo this is crazy!", Bill yelled over the roaring wind as they continued down the road.

 

   Jo didn’t seem to care about Bill said she rode onward, tailing the twister.

 

"Give me Dorothy!", Jo shouted  to Bill, holding out her left hand.

 

"What!? Jo you're insane!", Bill yelled back to her as he glanced at the twister.

 

"Bill!", Jo shouted in anger at her friend.

 

   After a moment of thinking, Bill reluctantly pulled the Dorothy doll with the parachute out of his pocket and put it in Jo's hand. Jo gripped the doll and turned her attention back to the twister which had now reached it's full strength as it bent and twisted, continuing its path through the field. Jo looked up at the clouds swirling around the funnel, then followed the huge, swirling, column down to the now large debris cloud which surrounded the base of the beast. Another bolt of lightning shot out of the twister and struck the ground. Suddenly the twister shifted its path and crossed the road about 200ft in front of Bill and Jo. As it moved across the road it came in contact with power lines. A bright flash and loud boom, louder than any thunder, came from a power transformer as it exploded. The twister knocked down several electric poles and Jo came to a stop when one landed in the middle of the road. The twister moved off into another field and Jo wasted no time as she rode she bike through the ditch and into the same field. After a few seconds, Jo was a mere 40ft from the twister and jumped off her bike. The roar of the tornado was defining as she stood before the great swirling beast. She looked down at the Dorothy doll as Bill rode up beside her and hopped off his bike, shielding his eyes from the dirt and other debris that were flying through the air.

 

"Do it, Jo!", Bill shouted over the swirling torrent of wind before them.

 

   With a nod of her head, Jo threw  the Dorothy doll into the tornado and the parachute came open as the twister sucked it up. The doll went around the tornado several times before getting pulled into the middle and out of sight. Jo turned and hugged Bill a small squeak of joy that could barely be heard over the wind.

 

"We did it!", Jo shouted as she realized Bill, but Bill was actually watching the huge tornado, not Jo.

 

"Oh crap! Jo run!", Bill yelled as the twister suddenly shifted its course and headed straight for them.

 

   Jo turned to look at the twister, but Bill grabbed her arm and began to run as the twister sucked up their bikes and tossed them high into the air, before slamming them down into the ground. Jo and Bill were still running until they got a drainage ditch. Bill quickly looked around for any means of shelter, then saw a pipe that went under the road. The pipe was big enough for both of them to fit into. After glancing back at the twister which was now racing towards them, Bill hurried Jo into the pipe, then climbed in himself. Inside the pipe he hugged Jo tightly as the winds from the tornado blew through. Small sticks, grass, and dirt blew into the pipe and pelted the two as the tornado moved closer.

 

"Hang on!!!", Bill shouted over the roar of the storm and tightened his grip on Jo.

 

   Just then the massive twister moved overtop of the pipe. Jo covered her head as her and Bill were splattered with mud and grass. Bill could feel the twister pulling at him, but he dug his feet in firmly and pressed his back to the side of the pipe, never letting go of Jo, who's hair whipped all over the place as the pipe became a wind tunnel. After what seemed like an eternity, the tornado finally receded back into the clouds.

   Jo and Bill both crawled out of the pipe, covered in head to toe with mud and dirt. They looked up at the clouds, which had now stopped swirling. They smiled at each other and this time Bill embraced Jo with a hug and to Jo's surprise, gave her a quick peck on the lips, before releasing her as Dusty, Sanders, and Rabbit all road up on their bikes.

 

"Dudes! That was awesome! That was AWESOME!", Dusty exclaimed as he hopped off his bike.

 

"Are guys okay!?", Rabbit asked as him and Sanders hopped off their bikes.

 

Jo and Bill turned and looked at each other. "I think we're fine." Bill said as he took Jo's hand and held it.

 

   With that the group of future storm chasers headed home, having accomplished their goal of getting Dorothy to fly. Where did Dorothy land? That, that is a story for another time.

 

THE END