Chapter I

The rain came down hard from the gloomy October sky like a big wet curtain. Inside an old VW Bus three girls were jamming to an old cassette tape, one of the girls had, of the Beatles. Two girls were 18 and the youngest was 15 and leaving their hometown behind. A loud clap of thunder brought them back to the present and the driver turned off the cassette to the radio. Ignoring the groans in the back seat and front passenger side, she listened closely to the weather report on the AM side.

"It looks like the weather will continue to be bad, and a tornado warning has been issued in this county," the DJ on their favourite radio station said. Sadie Parker turned off the radio and pulled the Bus over to the side of the road and cut the engine. She turned to the other girls.

"Penny, Linda, get out of the bus and get into the ditch," she said. Noting the authoritative and desperate tone in her voice, they all got out of the car, went into the ditch and covered their heads.  When the tornado reached the ditch, Sadie pulled her little sister, Penny, into her arms and told Linda to lay down.  The wind howled above their heads and heard a loud groan as Sadie's Bus tipped over into the ditch.  She laid on top of Penny and they both managed to roll away from the Bus as it landed in the ditch on it's side.  She knew then that the tornado was moving away slowly but, not before more debris blew over their heads.  Penny was crying underneath her. She looked next to her and couldn't see her best friend Linda next to her.  Rain was spraying into her face and the wind was blowing everything everywhere. 

       "Linda! LINDA!" Sadie and Penny both shouted at the top of their lungs, desperate to be heard over the howling wind. Their only response was the howling wind and a loud clap of thunder.