Selene threw off her blanket before the alarm could ring, smiling as she pulled on her boots. Outside, thick gray clouds stretched across the sky, and the wind bent the oak trees until their branches scraped the windows. Dust swirled across the ranch road, but she barely noticed. Every summer morning at her grandparents’ ranch in northern Texas felt like the beginning of another adventure, but this one would change her whole world.
Selene pressed her face against the kitchen window staring outside as the wind whipped across the pasture, rattling the fences. The cattle huddled together, their tails flicking nervously.
“Does it always get this windy?” She asked.
Her grandpa glanced out the window before taking a slow sip of coffee. “Not always. Sometimes, it means a tornado is coming.” He gave a small chuckle, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Have you ever been in a tornado?”
“No, but I’ve seen more than I’d like to.” He nodded toward the far edge of the ranch. “They usually stay out in those fields. I’ve watched them tear fences and send dirt spinning higher than the trees over there.”
Selene swallowed and looked back outside. “It’s not like they’re going to come to us,” she thought as the window shook the tiniest bit.
“The animals know before we do,” he said quietly. “They usually start getting nervous.”
“But there’s no need to worry: none have made it to the main house before.” He said as he leaned back into his chair.
He fell silent for a moment, tracing the rim of his mug with his thumb.
“I had an old horse once,” he finally said. “Best friend I ever had.”
His voice caught as he continued. “A tornado took him years ago.”
Selene looked over at him. He kept his eyes on the window, where the dark clouds rolled closer.
Soon, a big swirling tornado seemed to be coming.
“Grandpa?”
The wind howled against the windows, hard enough to make the glass tremble. Outside, the trees bent lower, and the air turned an eerie green gray.
His face started to pale.
“Selene,” he said, his voice sharper than usual, “get away from the window.”
A shrill warning siren wailed from somewhere down the road.
She looked back just in time to see it.
Far beyond the pasture, a dark funnel reached from the clouds to the ground, twisting faster and faster. It swallowed everything in its way as it charged toward the ranch.
“Inside the storm cellar!” Grandpa shouted, grabbing her hand as the house groaned beneath the force of the wind.
Before Selene could answer, a deafening roar shook the house again..
It sounded like a hundred freight trains racing straight toward them.
The lights flickered then went out, and the room plunged into darkness.
A sharp CRACK echoed outside as one of the giant oak trees snapped in half, crashing onto the porch. The whole house shuddered beneath the impact.
“Run!” Grandpa yelled.
He yanked open the back door, and the wind nearly ripped it from his hands.
The moment they stepped outside, the storm slammed into them.
Dust stung Selene’s eyes as pebbles bounced across the ground, striking her boots. The air was filled with leaves, sticks, and bits of hay spinning so fast they became a blur.
She tried to follow her grandpa, but each step felt like trying to push a herd of elephants.
“I can’t!” She cried as she started to give up.
“You can do it!” Grandpa shouted over the roar. He tightened his grip on her wrist and pulled her forward.
The storm cellar sat only a few yards away, yet it felt miles.
A metal bucket shot across the yard, clanging against the fence before disappearing into the swirling gray sky.
The cattle screeched in terror as they pressed against one another.
Another loud crack echoed through the ranch, and Selene looked back as the barn doors burst open. Hay exploded into the air like giant golden confetti, and wooden boards splintered as part of the roof peeled away, whipping up into the shy with the rest of the debris—
“Don’t look!” Grandpa called.
They finally reached the storm cellar.
Grandpa threw open the heavy metal door.
“Get down!”
Selene scrambled inside, nearly slipping on the steep concrete steps.
Grandpa slammed the door shut behind them.
The roar above them grew even louder.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
The walls vibrated.
Selene wrapped her arms around her knees and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Grandpa…” she whispered, her voice shaking. “Is the house going to be okay?”
He pulled her close, even though his own hands were trembling.
“I don’t know.”
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then came the loudest sound yet:
BOOM!
The entire storm cellar shook as something massive crashed onto the ground above them.
Selene held her breath.
Everything went silent.