The Twister | Teen Ink

The Twister

December 18, 2015
By Daniel.W.Evensen PLATINUM, Eagle River, Wisconsin
Daniel.W.Evensen PLATINUM, Eagle River, Wisconsin
44 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
Isaiah 40:31
Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will run and not be faint, walk and not be weary.


Dan, his father, and his pal Johnny are stranded in the middle of Kansas a when a twister rips through the country side.

Follow, as the tornado is seen through the eyes of Dan, Johnny and Dad. The Twister is a heart wrenching story of love and the love of God. 

Chapter 1: The Twister

Bob Evensen looked up from under the hood of his stranded jeep and looked up as his 13 year old son, Dan.

“It’s no use Bud, seems like the battery is dead.” Bob looked at Dan and then at Johnny, Dan’s best friend and comrade at arms.

Bob and his son and best friend were on their way a back from a vacation in San Diego. They had by-passed into Kansas to avoid a tropical storm. That was mistake.

There they were stuck in the middle of Kansas, on a lone free-way.

“Great. Were stuck in the middle of Kansas, no food, no water. This day can’t get any better.” exclaimed Johnny.

“Easy, boys. Remember, who has control over all things?” asked Dad earnestly.

“God.” answered both boys together.

“Right. God will send help when he wants to. We are blessed to not have been stuck in the middle of Death Valley or something.”

“Dad, can you get any bars out here?” asked Dan with one hand on the hood of  the jeep and one hand on his side.

Bob pulled out his flip-phone and checked for bars. Nothing.

“Boys, lets pray for deliverance.” the three stranded travelers stood in a circle and held hands as Bob began the prayer.

“Dear God, we thank you for all the goodness that you have blessed us with right now. We thank you for still being alive and we thank you for the clear skies that you have given us. Lord, we ask that you send us a deliverer as you gave us on the cross. In your good and precious name, Amen.”

Dan and Johnny disappeared into the Jeep and fell asleep in the back seats.

Both boys were rudely woken up by being thrown out of the Jeep. Faintly in the distance, sirens could be heard. The sky was green and the winds were picking up faster. They knew the signs. They were in the path a twister.

The looked up to see a horrible sight. A huge gray column of dust and debris rose from the ground, and moved in a very hap-hazard fashion.

Bob, who had pulled the boys out of the Jeep, covered his son and friend with his body and prayed out loud until his voice was drowned out.

Suddenly, they felt it. The twister was on them. They knew that they were going to die.

Bob felt his body being lifted from the bodies he was shielding. He had never seen a twister
let alone, been inside one. The debris was suffocating. He began to cry. No one knew where they were. His wife would never see him again.

He would never see his son again. He had let the people he had loved down. He wasn’t ready to go. It wasn’t his time. He prayed to God for forgiveness for the things that he had done and also the things that he hadn’t done.. Then he committed his son to Jesus and prayed for the soul of Johnny. Some unknown projectile hit him in the  back of the head and lost consciousness.

Johnny landed hard on the ground. Amazingly, he had been thrown from the twister and landed on the ground. He cried out aloud, but it was barely audible above the roar of the Twister as it moved away from him. His best friend had been taken from him and was still in the twister. He lashed out against God. How could God care for him if his best friend was dead in a twister. He looked at the twister and blacked out.

Dan woke up in the Jeep. Rather, he woke up in the Jeep while it was being twisted and turned. Though the centrifugal force was great, Dan clasped his hands and began to pray. He thanked God for giving him an extra minute of life before he would meet God. He prayed for Johnny that if he survived, he would continue to follow God. He prayed for his father and thanked God for Bob Evensen. He prayed for peace for his mother. Out of nowhere, the Jeep hurtled from the Twister and crashed to the ground with a thud, knocking Dan out.

When Bob woke up, he was in the middle of a field. Debris lay all around him. He stood up and felt himself for any major wounds. Finding none, He ran where he saw most of the Debris. Suddenly he saw in the distance, the crumpled mass of his Jeep. He ran towards it but tripped. He had tripped over a body. It was Johnny.

Johnny’s eyes opened wide as he began breath again. He looked up and realized that it was Dan’s dad who was giving him CPR. As Bob eased Johnny up, he began to question him.

“Are you okay, son?” Bob gently felt Johnny’s arms and legs for broken bones.

“I’m fine. I got thrown from the twister. Wheres Dan?” Johnny looked up and saw the crumpled Jeep. He saw a pair of red tennis shoes sticking out from a window. They were Dan’s.

Johnny ran to the Jeep and sure enough, there was his friend unconscious.

Dan woke up as he felt his body being pulled from a the Jeep. He looked up to see two faces, blurred by blood, staring at him. He knew those faces.

“Dad, Johnny. You're alive. Thank God! I thought that you were dead.”

“God is merciful.” cried Bob as he held his son in his arms. He gripped Dan as if he would never let him go. After three minutes of silence, Bob stood up and ran towards a battered sign..

“Guys, look, God did send help. The twister, it took us this far. We were going the wrong way to Witchita any way.”

In the afternoon sun, Dan surveyed his fellow travelers. Man were they a sight. Caked in mud, blood, and lord forbid what else, they appeared as refugees. Bob's face had a large bruise on the side and a cut under his chin.

Johnny had a three inch layer of dirt on him and a small scratch running down the left side of his face.

Through a piece of broken glass, Dan saw that he had gotten the worst of it. He face was  cut and bruised to the point that he was startled. They salvaged what luggage they could and began a long walk on the lonely interstate highway.

“How long to Wichita, Dad?”

“About ten miles.”

“How longs that going to take?” asked Johnny.

“Till dawn if we hurry now and don’t stop.”

“I’ll bet there never was a more sorrier trio of men.” joked Dan.

“Uh, Bob, how are you going to reimburse Uncle Max for the Jeep?”

“No idea. I guess we’ll take it out of Dan’s college fund.”

All three of them laughed as they walked into the setting sun. 



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.