Grade 6 Star Writers Winner
Inji Kang '16
It was a cloudy day, but I enjoyed those kind of days. I liked to hear the sound of the raindrops on the windows and the wind blowing around. Not many people do like the gloomy days, but it seems to cheer me up. I liked to study wind patterns and cloud types. I can almost tell when a storm’s coming. It’s very fascinating to be able to learn about these kind of things. My brother however, can’t. He has a learning disability and can’t think straight all the time. I help him as much as I can with school, but it’s hard.
I walked over to my desk and picked up my brother’s workbooks. I headed out of the room. My brother’s room was right next door to mine and I liked to keep an eye on him. His name’s Jake and he’s eight years old but he can usually handle himself in dangerous situations. He once jumped off the roof and broke his arm. No one was home at the time but he was able to call the ambulance right away. After that incident my parents never let him stay home alone again. But I’m 13 years old, so I can babysit him for money. I walked into his room.
“Hey, Lilac. What’s going on? Did you see the big storm that’s coming today? It’s going to be huge. I can’t wait,” Jake exclaimed.
“Yeah, I did, but you forgot your workbooks in my room. You weren’t trying to get rid of them, were you?” I teased him.
“Well…” he started. He looked back to his T.V. He was watching Spongebob Squarepants for the billionth time.
“When are you going to stop watching that show? It’s going to rot your brain if you continue,” I told him.
“I’ll be fine. Anyways when is dinner going to be ready? I’m hungry,” he whined.
“Soon. Do you want spaghetti? That’s all we have but I wanted to ask,” I asked him.
“Well if those are my choices, I’ll take spaghetti,” he answered.
“One plate of spaghetti coming up,” I told him. “I’ll just leave these here.” I dropped the workbooks onto his desk. I looked at him and he was giving me the stink eye so I stuck my tongue out at him.
I walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen. I started to warm up the spaghetti mom had prepared for us. While it was still in the microwave I looked out the window leading to the backyard. We lived on a farm so we didn’t have any neighbors. But we did have all the fresh air we wanted.
Beep. Beep.
I opened the microwave and to my surprise the whole spaghetti exploded. All the sides of the microwave was covered in red marinara sauce.
“Ugh, I knew I should’ve put a napkin over it,” I whispered.
I got a rag out of the closet and went to the sink. I got the rag wet and squeezed it. I headed to the microwave to start my job as a maid. When I finished cleaning the microwave, it was spotless. However, my hands looked like I dunked a bowl of marinara sauce all over them. I waddled over to the sink and rinsed my hands off. I scrubbed so hard I think my hands started to bleed a little.
I brought the plate of spaghetti to Jake’s room but he wasn’t in there.
“Jake? Where are you?” I shouted. I looked around the room seeing if he had hid somewhere, but there was nowhere to hide. “Jake? I’m serious now. Where are you?” I heard the floor creak behind me. I slowly turned around.
“I was in the bathroom, sorry,” Jake finally replied. He slipped past me and jumped onto his bed. “You can just put the plate on my desk. Thanks.”
I gently placed the plate onto his desk and walked out of the room. I headed back into the kitchen for my spaghetti, but then I heard a strange sound outside.
I walked to the window and looked outside. My brother had been wrong. It wasn’t a storm that was coming, it was a tornado. I could see it from here. The wind seemed to be blowing in counter clockwise circles.
I started to freak out. I hadn’t even gotten to the tornado chapter in my textbook. I ran to Jake’s room.
“Jake, we need to go to the bunker outside right now,” I ordered him.
“No, why do I have to? You’re not mom. Anyways you were just going to lock me down there weren’t you? Well, that’s not going to happen,” he told me.
“Jake, a tornado is coming right now. I could see it just a few miles away. We need to go now,” I begged him. I could tell he still didn’t believe me. I walked over to him and grabbed his wrist. I dragged him to the window that led to the backyard. His eyes widened.
“Let’s go,” he answered.
We ran to the bunker but it was locked. How are we supposed to get in now? Then I remembered. I ran into the house and went up to my parent’s room. I saw my parents once talking about a key. I remembered they hid the key in dad’s tie drawer. I ran over to it and searched through the whole hing. I finally found it inside one of my dad’s ugliest ties.
I sprinted to the bunker and hoped it was the right key.
“Did you find the key?” Jake anxiously asked.
“Yeah I did,” I told him. My hair was blowing everywhere. I could barely see but I was still able to insert the key and open the door. Jake and I jumped in and locked the door behind us.
We sat in silence for what seemed like hours. We could still hear the wind blowing all around us. Jake and I hugged each other tightly. We didn’t care, we just wanted to get out of the place. Finally, we heard silence. Nothing was making sound outside. Jake and I looked at each other.
I finally stood up and slowly walked over to the door. I looked back at Jake, he was shivering and looked terrified. I was terrified too but I had to be the older sibling. I unlocked the door and peeked outside. The tornado was gone so I opened the door completely.
Jake and I looked at the house. Well, at least what was left of the house. It was horrible. Everything was shattered and broken. We looked at each other.
“How do you think mom and dad will take this?” I asked.
I walked over to my desk and picked up my brother’s workbooks. I headed out of the room. My brother’s room was right next door to mine and I liked to keep an eye on him. His name’s Jake and he’s eight years old but he can usually handle himself in dangerous situations. He once jumped off the roof and broke his arm. No one was home at the time but he was able to call the ambulance right away. After that incident my parents never let him stay home alone again. But I’m 13 years old, so I can babysit him for money. I walked into his room.
“Hey, Lilac. What’s going on? Did you see the big storm that’s coming today? It’s going to be huge. I can’t wait,” Jake exclaimed.
“Yeah, I did, but you forgot your workbooks in my room. You weren’t trying to get rid of them, were you?” I teased him.
“Well…” he started. He looked back to his T.V. He was watching Spongebob Squarepants for the billionth time.
“When are you going to stop watching that show? It’s going to rot your brain if you continue,” I told him.
“I’ll be fine. Anyways when is dinner going to be ready? I’m hungry,” he whined.
“Soon. Do you want spaghetti? That’s all we have but I wanted to ask,” I asked him.
“Well if those are my choices, I’ll take spaghetti,” he answered.
“One plate of spaghetti coming up,” I told him. “I’ll just leave these here.” I dropped the workbooks onto his desk. I looked at him and he was giving me the stink eye so I stuck my tongue out at him.
I walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen. I started to warm up the spaghetti mom had prepared for us. While it was still in the microwave I looked out the window leading to the backyard. We lived on a farm so we didn’t have any neighbors. But we did have all the fresh air we wanted.
Beep. Beep.
I opened the microwave and to my surprise the whole spaghetti exploded. All the sides of the microwave was covered in red marinara sauce.
“Ugh, I knew I should’ve put a napkin over it,” I whispered.
I got a rag out of the closet and went to the sink. I got the rag wet and squeezed it. I headed to the microwave to start my job as a maid. When I finished cleaning the microwave, it was spotless. However, my hands looked like I dunked a bowl of marinara sauce all over them. I waddled over to the sink and rinsed my hands off. I scrubbed so hard I think my hands started to bleed a little.
I brought the plate of spaghetti to Jake’s room but he wasn’t in there.
“Jake? Where are you?” I shouted. I looked around the room seeing if he had hid somewhere, but there was nowhere to hide. “Jake? I’m serious now. Where are you?” I heard the floor creak behind me. I slowly turned around.
“I was in the bathroom, sorry,” Jake finally replied. He slipped past me and jumped onto his bed. “You can just put the plate on my desk. Thanks.”
I gently placed the plate onto his desk and walked out of the room. I headed back into the kitchen for my spaghetti, but then I heard a strange sound outside.
I walked to the window and looked outside. My brother had been wrong. It wasn’t a storm that was coming, it was a tornado. I could see it from here. The wind seemed to be blowing in counter clockwise circles.
I started to freak out. I hadn’t even gotten to the tornado chapter in my textbook. I ran to Jake’s room.
“Jake, we need to go to the bunker outside right now,” I ordered him.
“No, why do I have to? You’re not mom. Anyways you were just going to lock me down there weren’t you? Well, that’s not going to happen,” he told me.
“Jake, a tornado is coming right now. I could see it just a few miles away. We need to go now,” I begged him. I could tell he still didn’t believe me. I walked over to him and grabbed his wrist. I dragged him to the window that led to the backyard. His eyes widened.
“Let’s go,” he answered.
We ran to the bunker but it was locked. How are we supposed to get in now? Then I remembered. I ran into the house and went up to my parent’s room. I saw my parents once talking about a key. I remembered they hid the key in dad’s tie drawer. I ran over to it and searched through the whole hing. I finally found it inside one of my dad’s ugliest ties.
I sprinted to the bunker and hoped it was the right key.
“Did you find the key?” Jake anxiously asked.
“Yeah I did,” I told him. My hair was blowing everywhere. I could barely see but I was still able to insert the key and open the door. Jake and I jumped in and locked the door behind us.
We sat in silence for what seemed like hours. We could still hear the wind blowing all around us. Jake and I hugged each other tightly. We didn’t care, we just wanted to get out of the place. Finally, we heard silence. Nothing was making sound outside. Jake and I looked at each other.
I finally stood up and slowly walked over to the door. I looked back at Jake, he was shivering and looked terrified. I was terrified too but I had to be the older sibling. I unlocked the door and peeked outside. The tornado was gone so I opened the door completely.
Jake and I looked at the house. Well, at least what was left of the house. It was horrible. Everything was shattered and broken. We looked at each other.
“How do you think mom and dad will take this?” I asked.