A Stormy Lesson
“Mom, I’m home.” Charlotte throws her bag on the couch, grabs a snack, and rushes out the door. “I’m going to Jessica’s.”
“Already back from school? Well, alright then,” her mom calls out behind her. “Just be back by 6. And be careful, I heard there’s a storm incoming.”
Charlotte rolls her eyes. The weatherman has been sending out warnings about a very “severe” thunderstorm since the beginning of the week. And each day, they say it’s probably going to happen that day, but it never does. “What are the odds it’ll happen today?” she thinks and laughs.
At Jessica’s house, they played video games, finished homework, and bought food at a local shop. As they were eating pizza, Charlotte checked the time. 6:28 pm. “Oh shoot. My mom said to come home at 6, and it’s almost 6:30. Looks like I gotta go, my mom’s probably gotten a little bit worried.”
Jessica laughs. “Then see you at school!”
“Yeah, see ya,” Charlotte says, getting ready to leave.
“Oh, and also, it’s raining pretty hard outside, so I guess you can use my umbrella. Just remember to give it back,” Jessica offers.
“Really? Well, I’ll just take it just in case. Thanks.” Charlotte grabs the umbrella and heads outside. When Jessica said that it was raining pretty hard, she sure wasn’t wrong. “It’s practically flooding”, Charlotte thinks to herself. Halfway back home, she checks the time: 6:39. “Oh no, mom’s expecting me. If I go the typical way, it’ll take at least another 10 minutes. I’ll just go through the woods. I think that’ll get me home in 5 minutes.” By now, Charlotte’s shoes and socks are completely wet from the shallow flood.
Charlotte starts jogging into the forest, frightened. She has heard stories about children entering the forest but never coming back, and about scary creatures. She shivers. “I’m not scared. None of those stories is true. And plus, I’m probably almost there anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about,” she assures herself. “All we gotta do is follow the path,” she says, comforting herself. Except, the path suddenly splits into two; one going left and one going right. The wind is growing stronger, and the flood is rising higher each minute. The sky has already darkened, and nighttime is coming. “I think I’m following the right path”, she says. Just then, the wind sharpens and knocks down a tree, blocking her path. “Okay, I guess not.” Charlotte picks up her pace, and now with only one way to go, she turns left.
Heart pounding, she races up the path, and now completely dark, she can’t see a thing. She takes out her phone and opens it. 94 missed calls and 38 unread messages. Charlotte sighs. “Mom’s probably crazy worried right now. I’ll just tell her I’m okay, and I’ll be home soon,” she adds hopefully. As she types her message, she hurriedly continues to walk and bumps straight into a tree. Scared, she looks up and jumps away just as the tree comes falling. “Phew. That was a close- Oh my gosh. My phone!” Charlotte accidentally let go of it when she bumped into the tree. She frantically looks around, searching for it, but it is no use – it was gone. Charlotte notices that the flood has already risen to her knees, and the strong wind howls against her, making her shiver. With the sudden darkness, Charlotte takes a moment to get used to it. Using the dim moonlight, she makes out shapes of her surroundings and notices that she’s trapped. Everywhere she looks, she can only see trees. “No. This can’t be. I will make sure to get home.” The water has already gone up above her waist, but that doesn’t stop her. She slowly climbs over the tree blocking her way and starts trudging up the path.
After walking against the wind for so long, Charlotte stops to catch her breath. She sees a dim light far away, and though it had excited her for some time, the light has stayed much the same for so long that Charlotte had already lost hope. The only thing Charlotte thinks about now is how worried her parents must be. “I hope they’re all safe,” she implores. I should’ve listened to Mom, too, or this wouldn’t have happened. Charlotte sighs. I’m probably going to be grounded for a while.
Annoyed from walking for so long, Charlotte starts swimming instead: freestyle, then breaststroke, then backstroke, then repeat. After a while, she notices the far light growing brighter. “Oh, I hope wherever this light leads, it’ll be my house. Please be my community.” Charlotte’s heart starts beating, and she swims faster. She reaches the end and looks around. “That’s my community!” Charlotte can’t help but exclaim excitedly. “I’m saved!!”
Here, the water goes only up to her knees, so she gets back onto her feet. Charlotte runs back to her house, relieved. She opens her house door and says the one thing her mom wants to hear: “Mom, I’m home.”
Word count: 797
