The storm had made the sky pitch black and the windows were covered with rain. “Boom! Crash! Bang!” I screamed, petrified from the storm. My cousin, Olivia, sat right next to me in our grandparent’s gray Nissan, trying to keep me calm. “You know, the sound of thunder, it’s just like an action scene from a comic book or a movie. So, this is an action scene,” she reassured me with a smile. It made me smile too, but the thunder returned too quickly to enjoy it. My hand shook, sweating the fear out, only it didn’t go away. I was too afraid for Olivia or anyone to save me from what I feared. On this trip, if I got scared and couldn’t breathe, I would just blame it on the high altitude when we were in the mountains. We weren’t very high up, but I didn’t want the them to think that I was a wimp, because I’m scared of storms. Olivia never seemed scared, even when we were driving all the way from Wisconsin to New York over treacherous mountains and through a horrendous storm.

Olivia and I were like best friends, even though we are like polar opposites, but I tried not to get attached to anything or anyone. My mom had died when I was seven and that must have brought me back to reality and out of my perfect childhood.
                                    __________

One night at our house, a candle tipped over and off of the kitchen table. When we heard the smoke alarms, we bolted out of our beds. While Dad grabbed Joe out of his room, Mom ran to mine. She could barely see anything, but she grabbed hold of my arm firmly. We ran together, hand in hand, but one second later she tripped and I…..I….. I lost her. I couldn’t get to her. All I can remember, was her yelling, “GO!” So I did. Now, she is gone forever, and it might have been all my fault.

                                    __________

After that, I cried for months. So now, I’ve become….. distant from the world. My dad was never the same either. He doesn’t like to talk much anymore. Joe, he became a wreck after that, changed completely, but I can’t blame him.

I guess it’s not that I didn’t want to be close to anyone, but if I get too close and I lose them, it will feel like my heart has been ripped out and crushed into millions of pieces. I can’t let that happen, not again.

The winds started up again and my heart pounded so fast, it might come right out of my chest. It’s beating more and more every second, it won’t stop! It’s going as fast as a hummingbird, I can barely breathe. I can’t even flow more oxygen to my body! I’m so terrified, why can’t I regain a normal heartbeat?

“B…. Brian….” My grandma whispered, trembling a little. She looked even more terrified than I was. I didn’t think my heart could pound any faster, but it did. My hands were starting to shake too. She was pointing to a clearing in the trees, where funnel clouds were developing. I started rapidly tapping Olivia’s shoulder.

“Tor…. Tornado….” I said frantically. When she looks up from her phone and looks as frightened I was. Our faces were as white as ghosts. We are as frozen as stone, but tears came streaming down my face. My vision was blurred, but I feel like I can see the sky vividly. It had had turned dark brown for the tornado and lightning struck more and more. The clouds grew closer every millisecond. Dad, Joe, I have to get home to them, I thought.

My grandpa kept driving, trying to get to the lowest point. He was going almost 100 miles per hour. A sudden jolt and we were spinning off the road. What just happened? I was screaming as we spun closer and closer to the dark forest. We ran dead on to a tree, my brains rattling while we started to tip over. We all just lay there, still. Only our heavy breaths assured me that were were (mostly) okay. “Wh..Wh..What happened?” I asked out of breath. My head was pounding from the crash and I was flailing trying to get out of my seat belt.

“Lightning, I think,” Olivia replied. I started panting harder, we may have made it through a car crash, but we could all still hear the tornado. I finally clicked open and tried to brush off the glass. I had to help Olivia out of her seat belt, she was all tangled, and we sat on the side of the car. We told our grandparents to stay put, we didn’t want them to get more hurt. We had to fight a little for them to stay there, but they finally gave in because we were time was pressing on. The clouds were still moving closer, we needed a plan! “We have to get out of here before the tornado comes or we’ll be swept up in it.”

How are we going to get out? Even if we do, will we be safe? The tornado was still brewing! These terrifying thoughts scrambled through my mind, making me more and more worried. We tried to push open the door, but the wind was sealing it shut.

“Olivia, guard your face. I’m going to have to break open the window,” I sighed, a little scared.

“Be careful Sammy,” she replied with a tear streaking down her face. I crawled over to the window, storm stricken, still looking at Olivia. It felt so much like a dream. I wish it was, but reality has finally caught up with us. I raised my blue Nike shoe and smashed the window open. Glass flew everywhere, I tried to cover my face, but I wasn’t quick enough. Glass flew into me, penetrating my freckled skin. I shrieked as I fell backwards. The car shook as I hit the ground, blood starting to pour into my dark brown hair.

The life filled with my family and friends that I tried so hard not to get attached to, were gone and I didn’t get to say goodbye. I should have loved them more, gotten closer to them. I shouldn’t have wasted a moment with them. I know that now, but it’s too late. The storm in my life has been raging on, now I won’t be able to stop it. I might not be dying from the storm outside this car, but the storm inside myself has been tearing me apart, bit by bit, day by day, and I never took the chance to stop it. I heard a faint whisper, “Sammy?” I knew it was Olivia. I wanted to tell all of the that I was alright and I would be okay, but I couldn’t. Glass pierced my head, blood flowing down from my face. I could hear a faint weeping as I drifted away. A tear trickled from my eye. My life was fading before me, then a bright light flashed through the clouds. I’m really dying, never getting a chance to make everything right. I guess the storm inside of my self will never die, even when I do.