The Storm
KatieBelle was having a nightmare. A giant was coming to get her. He was moaning, and every time he took a step toward her, his feet made a loud BOOM that shook her bed,
And the moans and BOOM's were getting closer together.
KatieBelle didn't like to be woken up, but this time was different. When her mama shook her awake, she was glad. But the BOOMing and moaning didn't stop. they got louder And now bright lights were flashing in the window and lighting up her whole bedroom.
KatieBelle flung herself into her mama's chest. "It's a giant, Mama! A giant's coming!"
Her mama wrapped KatieBelle in a hug. "No, KatieBelle. It's not a giant. It's a storm. A bad storm."
The nightmare was fading away, and another loud BOOM woke KatieBelle all the way up. Her daddy lifted her out of bed, and said, "We have to go now."
Before she knew what was happening, KatieBelle was in the back seat of the car. Her mama must have remembered to get her pillow and blanket off her bed, because they were nestled around her as she drifted in and out of sleep.
Thunder BOOM's turned into crackle-snap-POWs, and KatieBelle could feel the car being tossed around like a ship on a stormy sea.
The car stopped moving, and a cold wet wind rushed in. KatieBelle tried to pry her eyes open, but she was just too tired. Then she was in her daddy's arms again, until he set her on her feet was pushing her forward.
"Go!"
KatieBelle was frozen in place. Daddy wanted her to go, but go where? She was so glad when her mama picked her up.
Her daddy ran ahead and flung open a wood door in the ground. He hollered at them to hurry up, and mama carried her door.
The steps down into the cellar scared KatieBelle. It was dark, and there were cobwebs and spiders in the corners. She wished Mama hadn't put her down. The concrete steps were crooked and uneven. She couldn't see the bottom.
Her mama shone a flashlight down the stairs, and took hold of KatieBelle's hand, but she was still afraid she was going to fall.
Finally, she slumped on a rough bench up against a dirt wall, with a dirt floor under her feet. The air was damp and cold, and smelled of damp, cold earth. KatieBelle knew this smell; she knew this place.
She was in Aunt Hilda's root cellar. KatieBelle had been her before, with her mama, to put up boxes of potatoes and turnips and apples.
Her daddy lit his camping lantern, and the hissing, bright light made KatieBelle feel safer. She was so cold, though! She was shivering, and she started to cry.
KatieBelle didn't hear her mama ask for Daddy's coat, but when Mama wrapped it around KatieBelle, it She breathed in her daddy's smell and felt like she was under blanket of peace.
KatieBelle lay her head down on her mama's lap, and the thunder, the wind, and the hiss of the lantern rocked her to sleep.
© 2007
Fiction Friday is a weekly opportunity for writers to share their work and receive a smidgen of feedback. It's also a GREAT place for readers to peruse inspiring and encouraging fiction from up-and-coming new authors.
Our hostess this week is is the bubbly, vivacious, and multi-talented Sara Harricharian. Dash on over to her fiction blog, Fiction Fusion for more ... yes you guessed it, FICTION! :-)
Catrina Bradley
"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes." Psalm 18:24 (Msg)
