Down the Hatch: The Story Happened in Tornado Alley - Essay Example

Down the Hatch It was raining all over; that fact might be a normal thing for any other place on earth but for Tornado Alley it wasn't and wouldn't be ever. It was one of the few indicators for the possibility of a tornado occurring. It seemed like the rain was hammering on a certain window of a house: as if calling to someone to wake up and face the malevolence of it all with wide open arms. That person awakens gives fuel to the fire when she panics instead of being calm and sound. It was merely due to Katrina's imagination running wild, giving her thoughts which signaled her to run and run, she did towards the living room. Empty again. She stopped. All this made her to remember what happened on the previous day. She and Ingrid her friend was in deep sleep; it was a quirk of fate because nothing can be asleep when the alarms are sounding off. However, it did wake them up because the alarms were a signal that a tornado is in close proximity and not a signal for anything mundane. A possible disaster brings with it a list of things people have to do to save their lives and number one on that list is the flight to a shelter. Hence, acting fast and evacuating all the breathing mortals will save as many lives as possible. That is why both of them ran to the barn but there was no one there, not even the horses although they usually prefer to stay where they are when a disaster strikes them. Only Katrina's dog, Amber, was there; perhaps waiting for her to show up. She didn't want any animal to feel disowned under such circumstances, for she was a caring human being above anything else. Now, she reflected, she had to shelter herself and the other two from the grueling tornado. Katrina let out a peaceful sigh and looks out the window in the living room. She sees no one. Letting her gaze wander towards the sky, she notices that they turn in vivid shades of orange and green just as her eyes fixes on it and the air comes to a standstill. The sheer action seemed like a premonition of some sort. The sinister atmosphere, that resulted, alone was trying to disturb her peaceful and tranquil soul again. An adventure had occurred with Katrina and her girlfriend yesterday; it was surely an intimidating day for her but she had acted in a cool, calm and collective way and had defied all the scariness out of her. The clouds formed a thundering sound and the rain then poured with a renewed energy, Katrina didn't know it was capable of producing. Remembering what to do, Katrina, her girlfriend Ingrid and her dog Amber, took refuge in a strapping shelter situated below that barn's floor. Sited in the barn was a hatch that opened to a safe haven. Katrina and Ingrid were conversing about the vice that tornados seem to bring in the lives. The vice that make a man wonder how God can allow such things to happen to ordinary people out of the blue as they, in their sight, weren't able to do anything extremely dire to evoke the anger in God this bad. They disagreed because Katrina held a firm belief in God and thought of Him as a God and nothing else. It may stir up guilt in her later to think of God in a negative manner. The disparity between their views was mainly due to their different religions. Katrina felt disturbed as she had always tried not to bring up any talk of religions, her or any other's, between them. It only created resentments in such a beautiful relationship. "Once we were late in evacuating all the animals and so lost a couple of horses and since then, Mother tells me we never found their bodies even." Katrina said trying to steer the conversation in a new direction. Thus, they started talking about their favorite animals; Ingrid loved birds but Katrina liked the four-legged creatures better. It was startling just then to observe the discrepancy between the two friends because of the way each of them were responding to the present circumstances. For the reason that where Katrina was a simple Midwestern Christian farm girl; Ingrid was a skittish East Asian Buddhist free willed girl. Tall, lean and wary with a twinkle in her single-eyelid eyes; it didn't seem as if it was Ingrid's first instance of experiencing a tornado. It was her first ever trip outside her country. She wanted to remember it as a particular emotion of buoyancy through the senses rather than a life-altering fixation. Hence, it seemed to her that acting as if her heart wasn't thudding crazily inside her will make her resist the temptation to surrender to the fear. Katrina, on the other hand, was uncomplicated and took life as it came with a flat back posture; she was neither petite nor tall and working on the farm made her skin tell tales of rough and arduous jobs they had encountered. For her, it was a moment in time to test her wit, bravery and training of surviving a tornado on her family's farm and the fact that there was no one there, not even the farm-hands or her family except the three of them, made it even more of a trial. Katrina's brawny dog Amber, also contributed in helping her survive because she thought of him as one of the family and a very close friend rather than just a pet. It helped her keep her wits about her and survive the tornado watching as the barn is swept away in the advancing tornado. Loud roars can be heard defiantly and the wall clouds seem to touch their house outside with a reprisal of something she hardly would have done. It seemed like an eternity for them in that basement and neither of them could find more than a few appropriate words to start a conversation. Especially after the small disagreement they had. Lost in their personal world of thoughts, they went through the tornado silently. Katrina was praying that her parents were alright wherever they were at the moment and Ingrid, with her house in the neighboring farm, didn't seem to be much concerned about her family much less herself. She has a blithe behavior of sorts thought Katrina; she would have liked to be as reckless as Ingrid. Not like her, achingly plain and unadorned. "I am glad to have you here Ingrid, at the time of such dangerous surroundings, remember that. I hope you feel okay." Katrina said. "Oh, well believe it or not, it's a really heady experience for me and we haven't experienced this in China ever so, it makes it all the better." Ingrid replied. "You mean you're not at all scared" asked Katrina rather a little astonishingly. Ingrid just shrugged her shoulders and grinned at her. Just then they heard noises coming somewhere from upwards. It came a little closer and they heard someone call Katrina's name. After a moment's pause they found themselves looking at Katrina's parents. They asked whether they did what they had to do and their initial concern for Ingrid vanishes as they see her happy and poised. Even so, Katrina's father tells her that they would send the servant to inform her parents of her safety, in a short while. But she tells them away saying that there isn't any need for that; maybe trying to build an independent approach to herself. Katrina's parents then explain to her that they called out and looked for her but as they kind of wanted her to wake her up and test her will herself. That's why they went to rescue the animals first all the hoping she would remember what to do and not panic at all. Now seeing the result, they felt proud of their daughter praising her for her valor. She assures them of her capabilities. Katrina smiles at the remembrance of that day and then it gradually dawns on her that it wasn't the real alarm that awoke her, but a figment of yesterday present in her subconscious. Perhaps she was trying to make herself delude. There was no alarm calling out especially not to her. Just then her dog entered the living room. Seeing her, he leaped at her and clung to her like a small child meeting her parent after a long day. As she was savoring her dog's love for her, her mother came to the living room and looked a little taken aback at finding her there. She then set Katrina's mind at rest by telling her that, this day is not like the day before. Katrina smiles a genuine smile, as if experiencing joie de vivre, at that reassurance of her mother. Even though they lived in the center of the Tornado Alley and had a probable propensity to tornados. Take life as it comes to you thought Katrina. Read More