The Approaching Storm

Isabelle Y., 11, SIS

The sky was painted a dark shade of gray. Layers of storm clouds began moving in and surrounded the cottages with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. I stood outside the village, watching the storm. Little Sister and Little Brother stood with me, cuddling their soft toys. Soon, the hurricane would take over the village. We then had only a few minutes to escape. The same deadly hurricane had struck a few years ago, killing half the village including our parents. We definitely don’t want to end up in the same track as them.

The storm approached rapidly.  Little Sister and Little Brother huddled around me. It was time for us to leave. With only a backpack containing limited amount of water, five loaves of traveler’s bread, and a jacket for each of us, I wondered how long it would take us to reach Aunt Carla, our mother’s sister and our only living relative alive. It was a long trip to make as Aunt Carla lived along the Missouri River. We made our way along the rocky and bumpy path and watched our hometown vanish into the horizon.

Nightfall approached and the air grew chilly. Gusts of wind blew across the skies. We found shelter in an inn owned by a kind couple. They let us stay overnight as long as we did not get into trouble. Already, we had finished off our first loaf of bread and a bottle of water.

We squeezed into a small corner near the fireplace and fell asleep quickly. Well, Little Sister did. I lay wide awake with Little Brother on my right.

“Ally, are you awake?” His tiny voice wobbled as he whispered. I gave a slight nod and said, “Mm hmm.”  We started talking on about what we planned to do. Frankly, there was no plan. Nevertheless, if we were to find Aunt Carla, there must be a plan anyhow. We had to get to her or we would have no place to stay. I thought through that and soon, I fell asleep, leaving behind the cackling fire and the soft rug, and going to a world of my own.

The sound of horse carts and the early market woke me. A faint smell of bread loaves and butter filled the cozy inn and wafted out of the window. I sat up to find Little Sister and Little Brother still fast asleep. I dragged myself up out of bed, seated myself on a chair and waited for them to wake up.

The journey lasted like that for five or six days. We always found an inn to stay in, and we woke up the next day to continue our journey with a little more food from the owner. I figured that by this rate, we should be able to get to Aunt Carla’s in another half a week or so, since Little Sister and Little Brother always took long, extensive naps.  I liked the fact that we were almost at Aunt Carla’s and was pleased with our progress.

 “I’m bored. Can we play a game?”Little Sister asked.

“Let’s do At the Zoo.” Little Brother almost yelled out. It was his favorite game.

“Okay. I’ll go first,” Little sister volunteered. “At the zoo, I saw an ant-ee-lupe.” She stumbled over the word.

“Antelope,” I corrected. I then continued, “At the zoo, I saw an antelope and a bear.”

Suddenly, Little Brother took off running. His short stubby legs carried him further and further. Little Sister and I tried to catch up.

“Little Brother! Luke? Are you there? Little Brother! Luke!”We called out. Traces of hope left us as he seemed to have vanished.

Tiny cottages lined up in a row in front of us. I wondered if this is where Aunt Carla lived. Losing Little Brother was too sad for Little sister and me to bear. It was as if a part of us was missing. We wandered aimlessly ahead and arrived here. We walked up to the first house and I bravely knocked.

A short woman with curly auburn hair answered the door. My heart stifled a scream. She looked exactly like Mother. “How may I help you?” she asked.

“Um, we have lost track of our Little Brother. He has, um, has yellow-brown hair and he is a short four year old. Have you, um, seen him?” I stuttered. She questioningly looked back at me and asked whether I knew who Alison Anderson was.

I knew. I am Alison Anderson. She opened the door to reveal Little Brother. He stood behind her, clutching our food supply. The woman was Aunt Carla.

It turns out Little Brother had dropped our food pouch and was chasing after it. Aunt Carla was returning home and noticed the boy who resembled her sister. She helped Little Brother retrieve the pouch and led him to her house. Little Brother told her about us and had been scared of not being able to see us again ever since.

I am really glad we have a new home and a new guardian. Still, I plan to visit our old home when I am older.