Surviving the Tornado

Long Way Down

As we run, I use my spare time to think of a story. I don't know how I came up with making a story, but it seemed like a good idea to keep my mind off Charlie.

  Once upon a time there was a little girl named Tara. She was misunderstood and didn't have many friends. Tara was always upset. Her family had died in a car accident and she was the only one who lived. Tara's older brother had protected her during the accident, shielding her from the harm. But when shielding her, he had been killed alongside their parents. Tara wished her brother hadn't protected her. She wished he had survived the crash and not her. He was a hero and deserved to live. She was just a sad little girl with no one to love. She was alone.

 But one day, in 2nd grade, a new boy moved to her school. When he first walked into the classroom that day, his eyes met Tara's. She knew immediately he would be the solution to her problems. Tara patted the seat next to hers and motioned for him to sit next to her. He did and they started chatting like they had been friends for years. He was funny, silly, smart, and brave. He was everything Tara wanted to be.

  His name was Luke, and he was Tara's very first friend. He made her life a whole lot better. After a year or so Luke's family had agreed to adopt Tara. The next few years of Tara's life had been amazing. But every so often, she would think of her brother. He would have wanted her to be happy, right? But replacing him with Luke? Would he have wanted that?

  One day while Tara and Luke were playing near the road by their house, a big black car pulled up next to them. Big men walked out, dressing in black. Tara knew what was happening. They were going to kidnap them. She screamed and grabbed Luke. "RUN!" she shrieked, "WE NEED TO GET AWAY!"

 Tara pulled Luke to the house, but the men ran after them. Tara and Luke screamed all the way to the house. Then out of nowhere-

"Skyler! This way!" yells Mia, over the wind. There was too much going on to focus back on my story.

"Okay!" I screech back.  At least Mia is actually talking to me. Unlike Charlie. "Guys I think we should find something to eat while we can! We have some time!" I shout. I was seriously starving. All I'd gotten to eat the past two days has been that stupid travel mix. I don't know how Charlie gets all of that stuff. He has like a bazillion little packages of them, and they still taste fresh. Weird.

"Yeah lets stop." Mia agrees and then turns to Charlie, "What do you think?"

Charlie just grunts and stops running. Mia and I jog over to him.

"Did we bring a bow?" I ask stupidly.

"No dummy! Alex was supposed to bring that." Charlie flinches when Mia says Alex's name, "We already have too much stuff. Do you really think we have enough room in a backpack for a bow?" Mia retorts with a snort.

My face starts feeling hot, "Um okay sorry."

"Hey don't feel bad, weirdo! It's okaayyy! Right Charlie?" Mia looks to Charlie for help.

"Yeah sure." he mumbles as he takes off his backpack and sets it on the ground. Charlie fumbles through it for awhile, and then picks up a small knife and some twine. "Here Mia you're the best at making a spear. Tell Skyler she can hunt with it since there's nothing else she can do." he mutters.

I feel a surge of pain but I swallow it back and answer in a monotone, "I'll be by the willow tree we passed earlier." Before I hear anything they have to say, I sprint to the old willow. It's the biggest tree I've seen in this whole heck-of-a-journey.