Flying Plates

The story so far… The evening unfolds smoothly with a good meal followed by a beautiful and peaceful sunset, and a campfire. Ben wakes in the middle of the night to a powerful storm – high winds and sheets of rain. Then the tent collapses and water rushes in. Ben figures they’d all die.

“Come here.” Mom gently pulled my arm, the flashlight in her hand. “Get in the car.” She unlocked the door and helped me into the backseat. I was soaking wet. “Maybe you can grab a towel from the back and dry off,” she added. “Where’s Conner and Nate?” “I’m going to get them.” She walked away.

Just then, I saw a light in the other tent. Nate’s head appeared, lit up by his flashlight. “What’s up?” he cried out.

“Storm,” Mom yelled. She helped him out. “Get in the car with Ben!” She led him by flashlight to the car, and he climbed in next to me. I could tell he was scared too. We sat there silently shivering. The wind was so strong, the car seemed to shake, and I worried it would tip over.

“All our stuff is tumbling away!” Nate said, his voice shaking. A crack of thunder startled me. Then a flash of lightening turned the whole terrible scene into daytime for a few seconds. But almost immediately, darkness returned.

Then I remembered from social studies about Kansas being a tornado state. And I got really scared. I turned to Nate. “You think this is a tornado?”

“Oh no! I hope not.” His voice sounded panicky. “You can get swept away. Even die! Cars too I’ve seen it on the news.”

Mom opened the door, jumped in, and started the car. She turned on the lights and the heater, and then got out, slamming her door shut. In the headlights, I watched Conner and Mom grab all the bedding and throw it in the back of the car. Then the soaking wet tents with the poles still attached. They gathered what was left of our dishes, each threw in an armload. Mom pulled the back shut. The rain kept coming, pounding the top of the car. Sheets of it. I wondered if the rain could break a hole in the roof. Would our car just float away?

“Get in!” Mom yelled to Conner, opening the door for him. “We lost a lot of the dishes and other stuff, but it can’t be helped.” I watched her look around one more time, her hair plastered against her head, a sweatshirt over her pajamas. She picked up a few things from the ground.

I was soaked and shivering. I couldn’t stop it. I wished she’d just get in the car and take us to a safer place. I didn’t want to die in the middle of nowhere.

Finally, Mom got into the driver’s seat with a big sigh. Water drained down her face. Her clothes stuck to her skin. They were splattered with mud. She turned the heater up and gave a big sigh. Conner was hunched in the passenger seat, and Nate was shivering next to me.

“Well, I guess we’ll go back toward the highway,” Mom sounded tense, as she slowly turned the car and headed out the narrow dirt road, now full of puddles. “And let’s hope we don’t get stuck.” She was leaning forward, the steering wheel clutched in her hands. The wind was howling. Another crack of thunder shook me wide awake. The lightening that followed showed water everywhere. It was eerie.

“Mom, are we going to die?” I cried.

“Never, honey. We just have to get back to the main road.” She sighed. “We’ll be okay.” I was silent, watching her drive ever so slowly. I knew in my heart that she was scared too. I’d never seen her like that. And it made me even more afraid. Finally, we reached the blacktop road. She sighed with relief, “Finally!”

Slowly turning north, she retraced our route toward the highway. Speeding up, she added, “I saw a couple motels at the exit. We’ll find someplace to sleep.”

The clock on the dashboard said 2:30. The wind was pulling on the car, and I wondered again if we’d tip over. We were all silent. Mom slowed down as sheets of rain smashed against the windshield. It was very dark. The car occasionally jerked with a gust of wind and then I’d panic again. But soon I could feel myself warming up and getting sleepy…

Next thing I knew, Mom was gently shaking me. “Ben, wake up. We’re here, and I got a room. I’ll bring in the one bag of dry clothes, and you can find something to wear to bed.” She moved on to Nate and helped him out. Soon we were in a warm room with two double beds. I collapsed into one and fell right to sleep.

The sun, shining through a crack in the curtains, woke me. I leisurely stretched out my legs in the bed, pulling the blankets up to my chin. I looked around the strange room. Slowly my mind kicked in, and I remembered like a dream, the terror of the storm. It took a while to figure out where I was. “Mom?” I whispered. “What happened?”

She opened her eyes and stared at me giving me a small smile. “What a storm that was! We’ll never forget it.”

“You were so brave!” I whispered not wanting to wake the others. “You took care of everything when we were scared to death. How did you do it?”

She was silent for a minute. “Remember that talk we had about your Dad before the trip? For me, when your dad died, it was kind of like this storm. I was so scared. All I wanted to do was hide away and cry. But I still had two wonderful boys that needed me.” She paused and I saw a tear in her eye. “Somehow, I found the strength to carry you two out of the storm and make our lives good, even without Dad.”

She smiled over at me, So, a few bent tent poles and wet sleeping bags seemed pretty easy to fix.”

The four of us walked across the road to Mcdonald’s and splurged on a hot breakfast. We sat and retold the exciting moments of the stormy campout, each adding his own details. We created a story to tell over and over again. Afterwards, we found a laundromat to dry everything.

We never got to the Grand Canyon.

Curriculum Activities

1. Recall the obstacles that Mom and the boys face as they prepare and start out for their camping trip.

2. In Chapter 1, Conner asks his mother: “Without Dad, do you think we can do it ourselves?” After recalling the obstacles they face, what would you say to Conner?

3. On the morning after the rain storm, Ben says to his mother: “You took care of everything when we were scared to death. How did you do it?” What did Mom say?

4. In your journal, respond to the following prompt: Once, I was worried about trying _________, but afterward …..

The End

I turned to Nate. “You think this is a tornado?” “Oh no! I hope not.” His voice sounded panicky. “You can get swept away. Even die! Cars too I’ve seen it on the news.”