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“It’s so dark tonight,” said Elizabeth to her mother. Elizabeth is an only child. She’s 12 years old. Her dad died from a heart attack when she was only four years old. They were on the way to the hospital because her dad was having severe chest pains. Two years before he died, the doctors told him he needed a pacemaker, but he refused. But, to this day, they still didn’t know why he hadn’t wanted a pacemaker.

When her dad died, they had to move from their massive house in Thorndale to a little broken-down house in New Jersey. Their new house was on a tilted, cracked cliff. They lost all their money when the father died. He was a scientist; he created things like computers, phones, and more. He got paid about a million dollars a month. He created something new almost every day. Also, when Elizabeth’s dad died, her mom didn’t remember their bank account number, and that was the only way to get into your bank account in 1866. Elizabeth and her mom, Sally, barely had any money.

Since the night her dad died, eight years ago, Elizabeth didn’t talk to her mom at all. They were both so depressed. It just made Sally even more depressed when her own daughter didn’t talk to her. Elizabeth had just started talking to her mom a few days ago. The first words Elizabeth said to her mom were “Why do the good people have to die?” Now, Elizabeth was mad about how she treated her mom those past years. To make up for all of those years, she now cares about her, is respectful, and is a big help.

That night, in 1874, Elizabeth went outside to get the snow and ice from the gigantic river they live near. When she brings it home, they put it on the counter until it turns into water. They’re poor, so they need some water to drink. She had her one foot in the rim of the river, which was freezing water. Then, out of nowhere, she slipped on the rock that her foot was on. She fell into the water. She could barely see the water around her, but she did see that it was dark—a deadly bloody red. The tide was pulling her under. She couldn’t swim. Elizabeth felt herself getting weaker and weaker. Then, she couldn’t move; she was sinking.

The Cuts of the Blade

Elizabeth’s mom was sitting on a wooden chair, drinking river water and looking at a picture next to the chair. The picture was of Elizabeth and her nine years before. After about 30 minutes, Elizabeth’s mom started to get worried. She put on her faded coat and gloves and stepped her foot outside the door.

There were big streaks of lightning and loud roars of thunder. It was sunny out, but sleeting. When she was about to go down the stairs, she saw Elizabeth in the river, and the rest of her body was going under. There was blood surrounding her. Elizabeth’s mom started screaming. Then the house started shaking rapidly, and there was blood surrounding the river now. Elizabeth’s mom ran over to the river and jumped in. She twisted her ankle, but as bad as it hurt her, her daughter was still more important to her. She dragged Elizabeth out.

After she dragged Elizabeth out, she realized that her head had a horrible, bloody gash in it. Elizabeth’s mom was determined to get her inside. Elizabeth just got inside and was on the kitchen floor when Sally heard the thunder and got struck by lightning. Then, she fell and passed out.

It started to hail, snow, rain, thunder, sleet, lightning, and was windy all at once. Do you know what happens when they all come at once? A hurricane! All of the sudden the house started to rumble, the house started to shake when BOOM! The house went off the edge of the cliff, and BAM went into pieces. Elizabeth went off the edge first, then right after Elizabeth, went her mother.

The weather stopped, everything stopped. After about 30 seconds, it was pretty and sunny. A horse-and-buggy was driving by the house when he saw the last bit of the house go off the edge. The guy, whose name was Matthew, ran out of his horse-and-buggy over to the edge, looked down, and right away saw two bodies lying on the ground. Right away, he got in the horse-and-buggy and went off to get help. But right after the horses started to run, something flew through the cloth on the buggy. What was it? It was a huge piece of sleet. Luckily it didn’t hit him, but it was so large and sharp, it went through his seat.

He started driving faster and faster. The weather got worse and worse. Now there was sleet, snow, rain, hail, every different kind of weather. Right after he got off their property, it was sunny out. Matthew looked behind him at the property and heard thunder and saw lightning. That’s when it came. The tornado! He smacked the reins on the horses as hard as he could, and they ran the fastest he has ever seen them run. He needed to get someone, and it needed to be quick.

He drove to the police station and talked to Officer Tom. Matthew said, “There’s a giant storm about 16 miles west, and two bodies lying on the ground.”

The police officer asked, “Where are their bodies?”

“Their house fell off a ginormous cliff, and so did they,” Matthew replied.

Immediately, Tom asked Matthew if he could borrow his horse-and-buggy because the other policemen were using the other ones. There were other horses, but they don’t go so fast anymore. Matthew allowed Tom to borrow his horse-and-buggy. As Matthew was riding, Tom was asking him questions about the house, the bodies, and the weather. When they finally arrived he looked off the edge of the cliff, and there were the two bodies and the little broken down house in little pieces.

Then it happened again. The lightning, thunder, hail, rain, snow, and that caused a tornado. It started off little. They sprinted back to Matthew’s horse-and-buggy. That wasn’t it for Tom. He got back out of the buggy and said, “This is my job. Stay in the horse-and-buggy, and don’t come to find me if I don’t come back.”

Tom got out of the horse-and-buggy and saw that the tornado had gotten bigger. Tom was determined to save the two girls at the bottom of the cliff. Tom climbed as carefully as he could, but as quick as he could down the cliff. It took him about 15 minutes to finally get down. Tom grabbed Elizabeth in one arm and her mom in the other, and he climbed up the cliff. It took him 20 minutes to climb back up because of how determined he was.

When he got up the cliff, the tornado was giant. He had to resist it, though. It took Tom so long to get back, but he did get back. Tom did have scars on him, though. When he got the two girls back in the buggy, they rushed to the hospital. It took about a half hour to get to the hospital.

When they got to the chairs, they both started to cry. It wasn’t a bad cry; it was tears of joy!

Right away, they came in with Elizabeth in Tom’s arms and her mom in Matthew’s arms. Immediately, the doctors got them to a room and asked Tom and Matthew many questions about what happened. They answered the questions the best they could. After that, they told Tom and Matthew to go into the waiting room. They did some type of surgery on both girls, but Tom and Matthew didn’t understand what the surgeons were talking about, but apparently it helped them.

When their scars healed up a little bit, one of the doctors, named Chelcy, said that she knew Elizabeth’s mom and that her husband was the person who invented all of the different medical supplies, but then had passed away. The first question she asked Chelcy was if she knew their bank account number. Chelcy thought and thought, but didn’t remember it. But, she did remember one thing. She remembered that Elizabeth’s dad trusted her with all his heart, and he let her take $2,000 out of the account because she saved him from his first heart attack. Chelcy knew three of the numbers but forgot the other two.

She went under a wooden chair and grabbed her purse. It was a mess. She dumped it out on a table and found a little scrap piece of paper. She looked at the numbers and gave her the paper. The numbers were 34679. Elizabeth’s mom gave her a hug and thanked her so many times.

When they got to the bank, Elizabeth’s mom said that the numbers were 34679, and a girl named Linda told her that her total in the bank was $300,000,000! Elizabeth and her mom’s jaws dropped!

Linda asked if there was a problem, but Linda didn’t believe how much money that was herself. Elizabeth’s mom said that there wasn’t a problem; she just didn’t know that she had that much money in her bank. Linda asked, “How much money would you like out of your bank?”

“Ten million dollars,” she replied. Linda asked for a minute.

Elizabeth and her mom went to sit on a couple of wooden chairs lined up in the corner. When they got to the chairs, they both started to cry. It wasn’t a bad cry; it was tears of joy! About 15 minutes later, Linda said in her crackly voice, “Your money’s ready.” They both ran up, Elizabeth’s mom grabbed the money, thanked Linda, then left.

Elizabeth and her mom got a new, gorgeous, three-floor house. Also, they donated $2,000 to charity. They got new outfits, toys, and everything they wanted. Still, they had to be careful not to use their money on unnecessary things. Elizabeth and her mom kept trying, not to forget, but to keep their minds not always on her dad. Although he passed away, Elizabeth and her mom were thankful for every moment he had been with them.

Two years later, about 35 minutes after they went to bed, Elizabeth felt the house shake. She looked out of her window, and it all started over again. . .

The Deadly Storm Madesyn Fogg
Madesyn Fogg, 10
Thorndale, PA

The Cuts of the Blade Delaney Slote
Delaney Slote, 12
Missoula, MT