In 2001 I was only 9 years old. At the time I was living near St. Louis, Missouri and school was getting over for the summer. My parents had to leave to go shopping and after a while, they finally left the house. I didn’t notice, but a storm was only a few minutes away. I eventually turned on the news and saw the "beast" that was heading toward me. I didn’t think much of it until the sirens outside blared there awful noise, which echoed off the walls and filled my ears. Without any hesitation I grabbed the phone and called my parents, and with my luck they didn’t even answer. I set down the phone and looked out the window, I saw the lightning that seemed to strike the ground only a few miles away.
I didn’t think it would get any worse until the wind picked up and the rain started to fall from the dark sky. I immediately grabbed a flash light just in case the power shut off, and I grabbed some warm blankets from a nearby room. I sat down next to the TV for only a few minutes until everything went totally dark. Everything in the house was shut off just as quick as the storm came, I turned on my flashlight. Everything was quiet except for the howl of the wind and the crackling of the thunder.
There I was, sitting in the middle of the room with nothing around me but only the warm blanket, which would not overcome the fear and isolation that I was in. I grabbed the phone and tried again, but I only got the answering machine. Not only was I scared for my life, but I was now scared for my family. I heard the sirens again, which was like death whispering into my ear. I knew something was wrong, so I ran to a closet which eventually led under the steps. The thunder rattled the floor and every once in a while light would flash under the door were the small crack seemed bigger than it really was.
I felt as if the storm was there for hours and not having someone there for me made it even worse. However, every minute the sound of thunder became less and the rain only became a steady flow. I waited a few more minutes hoping someone would get home but in return a light beamed under the door and the sound of music came from the other side of room, the power was finally back on. Not feeling as threatened I slowly and cautiously opened the door expecting the house torn apart. However, nothing was harmed and everything was the same as when I entered the room. I sat by the TV again and saw that there was no other storms heading our way. I looked out the window one more time, and saw the sun peaking behind the clouds.
Within a few more minutes my family would walk in also returning hope, which was somehow lost during the storm. When my mom and dad walked in the house I gave them each a big hug and told them about how bad the storm was. Overall they were only gone for no more than an hour even though it seemed almost impossible to me.