The Wizard of Oz

The Cyclone

A Young girl named Dorothy lived with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. They lived in a small house built in the middle of grassland in Kansas. The house had four walls, a floor and a roof. There was no bedroom. =))

She slept in a little bed in one corner of the house. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em's big bed was in another corner.

A cook stove, a table and four chairs were in the house, too. The house had a cyclone cellar. The family could hide there when there was a cyclone. The cellar could be reach by opening the trap door. It was located in the middle of the floor. Once opened, a ladder led down into the small and dark hole.

The people in the house turned gray, too. Aunt Em was once a young and pretty wife. But the sun had canged her. The sparkle in her eyes was gone, too. Now she looked thin and never smiled.

Uncle Henry had also become gray. He no longer laughed and rarely spoke. He worked hard from morning till night. He did not know what joy was.

And what about Dorothy? She was saved from becoming gray by his dog Toto. Toto made her laugh. Max was a little black dog with long silky black hair and small black eyes. Max played all day long with her. She loved her dog dearly.

However, they were not playing today. The sky looked even grayer than usual. Uncle Ben who was standing at the doorway, said,"There's a cyclone coming, Em. I'll go look after the stock.". Then he was gone.

Aunt Em, who was busy washing the dishes, stopped her worked. She came to the door. One glance outside told her of the danger close at hand.

"Quick, Dorothy!" she shouted. "Run into the cellar!"

Aunt Em instantly threw open the trap door in the middle of the floor. She climbed down the ladder into the dark small hole.

Dorothy, who was standing at the doorway, moved. But Toto jumped off her arms. She tried to catch Toto who hid under the bed. Once She had Toto, She tried to follow Aunt Em down the cellar. But the house shook so hard. She lost her footing. She sat down suddenly upon the floor.

Then a strange thing happened. =o

The house whirled around two or three times. Like a top, it spinned fast. The house rose slowly through the air. She felt as if She was going up in a balloon. The house was raised higher and higher. It reached the top of the cyclone. It remained there and was carried miles and miles away.

Inside the house, Toto ran about the room, now here, now there. He barked loudly. He got near the open trap door. She fell in but the pressure of the air kept him up. Dorothy, who was sitting quietly on the floor, crept to the hole. She caught Max by the ear and dragged him into the room. She closed the trap door to avoid accidents from happening again.

Dorothy got over her fear after several hours had passed. She felt lonely. My Aunt and Uncle were not there with her. She was too busy with her thoughts when suddenly a loud shriek of the wind distracted her. She wondered if She would crash into pieces when the house fell. She decided to stop worrying and wait calmly to see what would happen next. She crept over her bed and lay down upon it. Toto followed and lay down beside me. Soon, we both fell asleep. =zz