Nashville, Indiana was just like most small towns, a flat quiet place where kids grew up alongside each other, eating ice cream and playing in the hot sun. It was a warm Saturday in June and 12 year-old Annie was doing her Saturday chores which consisted of cleaning her room and taking out the trash. It was just like every ordinary Saturday… as though it seemed. One thing you may not know about Indiana is that it is right in the middle of what is called Tornado Alley, though they have never experienced a real life tornado, at least until this very “ordinary” Saturday.

It was around 3:30 when Annie had finished her chores. Her parents and little sister had just left to pick up a few essentials that they needed for dinner. She grabbed her book and went to go lay down. She fluffed the pillow behind her, got comfortable and began to read. She ran her eyes along the pages, intently taking in the novel, and before she knew it, she had laid the book flat against her chest and had dozed off. Hours later she woke to a loud ringing noise. The phone had been ringing the whole time. She rushed to go answer and and could hear faint whispers through the phone. “They said it’s an F5 tornado.” said her mom
“I know but we’re stuck and I can’t exactly make the car fly out of this traffic.” replied her dad with a very frustrated tone.
“Mom.” she spoke
“Hey sweetie. I was just calling to check up on you.”
“Oh okay. Well I'm fine. I actually just woke up from a nap. Shouldn’t you be home by now?”
“Yeah we’re stuck in some traffic but we’re on our way. “
“Okay.”
“Actually listen, so just a few minutes ago we heard over the radio that the city has issued a tornado warning. Don’t panic. I want you to just keep an eye on the news and if it says there is a tornado watch, grab a blanket and flashlight and go sit in the basement. We will try and be home as soon as possible.” she assured.
“Okay, love you bye.” Annie said.
The line went dead . Annie walked to the living room and plopped herself onto the couch, curling into a ball, and tucking her feet under the blanket. She flipped on the TV and laid back. She was in the middle of an episode when out of the corner of her eye, she could see that the wind had picked up causing the trees to dance in the wind. She proceeded to watch her show and by 5:30, the wind speed had risen a lot more, and the lights began to flicker until they eventually went out. She could hear the walls creak each time they were stricken by a big gust of wind. Annie had begun to worry. Her parents were still not home and the weather had gotten worse. She decided to check the weather to ease her worries, but it had just made them worse. “We have gotten news from the fire department in Bloomington, Indiana and they have informed us that a F5 tornado struck land at approximately 5:14 pm, and has caused a lot of damage.” Informed the news anchor. At that moment Annie’s heart dropped as she began to panic. “The houses are crushed and the corn fields are shredded up like pieces of paper. We have now changed the tornado warning to watch, so we would advise you to grab your necessities and loved ones and head to a place of shelter because we could be in for a long night.” she finished. After shutting off the TV, paralyzed from fear for 10 minutes, Annie came back to her senses. She swiftly stood, grabbed her flashlight, blanket and book, and went downstairs. She placed her belongings on the floor and parked herself in the far corner of her basement. She had a million thoughts racing through her head and heart heart began to beat fast. “Is my family okay? What will I do if a tornado does infact touch down?” She thought. Calming her breathing down , she reached her shaking hand out to grab her book. Reading had always seemed to calm her down as a child and that was all she needed to do.. After sitting in the dark, dusty corner for what felt like an hour, Annie thought the storm had passed. She gathered her items and made her way to the stairs, but right as she was about to set her foot onto the step, she heard the walls start to make a high pitched creak and make a loud whooshing noise. She briskly retreated back to the corner, but it was too late. The roof came crashing down and she was buried under a thick layer of dusty white debris. She began to feel light headed, and could hear loud gusts of wind surrounding her until the world went black.

Several hours later, Annie woke to be covered in massive chunks of her roof. She let out a cough which caused a big white puffy cloud to rise in the air. She looked through the gaping hole in her roof of her house and could see the night sky dotted with stars. “Help! Help!” She croaked, but there was no answer. Out in the distance she could still hear the faint gusts of wind. She attempted to wiggle herself free by removing some of the chunks, but they were too heavy for her to move with her one free arm. All she could do was sit there. Her body was stuck, the debris was too heavy for her to move and she had tried calling for help. All three plans had failed and she was trapped. As she laid there frozen from the fear of her life ending, all she could do was think of her family, friends, whether they were alive, and whether she would be able to get out of here alive. She looked down and saw her left arm had began to turn a light shade of purple. She could feel herself drifting off into a deep slumber but forced herself to stay awake because she didn’t know if she would ever wake again. She glanced around the remains of the room for anything she could hit to make a loud noise. She spotted the body of a broken lamp that didn’t seem to be too far from her reach. She used all the strength she had to reach for it, but failed to get a hold on it. From the corner of her eye she could see a piece of a broken, rusty, copper pipe sticking out of the rubble. She took a deep breath arching her body and extending her arm as far as she could until her fingers touched and grasped the cold, jagged edges of the pipe. She heaved herself up straight, pulling the pipe out of the white mountain, causing a few pieces to tumble down and crumble to the bottom. Removing her arms from the shield protecting her face, she glanced around the room one more time for something she could hit with the pipe to make a noise loud enough to draw an outsider's attention. She thought of the lamp that was too far for her to reach with her hand but close enough to hit with the pipe. She swung her arm back to hit the lamp with strong force, creating a loud, sharp, clink noise. She swung again and again repeatedly striking the lamp. Time after time she grew too tired to hold her arm up. She surrendered the pipe back to her side and let out a deep breath. She had finally given up. No one was coming for her and she was going to die here. She felt her eyes begin to droop once again, but this time she didn't fight to keep her eyes open. She let them fall closed.

Annie woke several hours later and could see that the pitch black sky had faded into a light shade of blue. The sun had begun to rise and she could hear noises outside. She recognized the noises as human voices that sounded to be not far from where she lay. “Help! Help!” she yelled out. A deep voice belonging to a grown man responded, “Hello? Who ever that was, yell out again! I need to know where you are.”
“Over here I’m stuck!” she yelled.
Looking into the light, she could see the the silhouette of a man with broad shoulders peer over the edge of the hole. “Hey, my name is David and I’m a firefighter. Sit tight, I’m gonna go get some of my men and we’re going to get you out.” he said. With that I saw his head disappear. A rush of relief swept over her and she relaxed. A little later the crunch of gravel could be heard from above and soft voices beginning to grow, signaling they were here. Annie watched as the men strapped up, attaching themselves to various chords, grabbing different tools and such. Two men crawled over the edge as four began to slowly release the rope, lowering them down. They removed the chunks, piece after piece until they came upon her badly bruised body. They gently transferred her body from the rough, sharp area in which she laid to the smooth hard surface of a back board. After fastening the several straps across Annie’s body and placing a neck brace around her neck, they began gently pulling her body out of the hole. She was quickly placed onto a stretcher and wheeled to an ambulance. She gazed into the bright, flashing lights of the vehicle, as they pushed her into the back. One paramedic joined her as the other jumped into the front, driving them to the hospital. Several minutes later the slight jolts of the the ambulance came to a halt and the doors were re-opened revealing at least five doctors. They rushed through the doors and parked Annie into a light room and placed a blinding light over her head. All she could hear were the commands coming from the doctors, demanding for various medicines and supplies,. “She needs immediate surgery if we want to save her arm and legs.” one of them urgently spoke. Annie began to shake. “Sweetie, I need you to stop moving. You’re going to be fine.” she assured. “Your arms and legs are pretty banged up and we’re taking you to surgery now.” she said.  One of the nurses the anesthesia and Annie's vision began to blur around the edges, until they faded into darkness.

A soft light spilled through her eyelids causing Annie to stir. She opened her eyes forming the picture in front of her. Her mom laid sleeping in the chair next to her hospital bed with a blanket draped over her body. “Mom.” Annie whispered. Her bom woke with a sudden jolt.
“He sweetie. How are you feeling?” she asked.
Pretty good, my legs hurt though.” she answered.
“Well that's expected but on the bright side everything is okay.” she said rubbing little circles on her daughter's hand.
“What about you? Dad? Lilly?” Annie asked.
“We’re fine, just a few bumps and bruises. Your dad and Lily went down to get some food and they'll be happy to see you're finally awake.” she replied.
“Oh okay.” Annie answered. Turning her head, Annie looked out the window. The sun was shining bright in the sky and Annie was relieved. Relieved it was all over.