Megan Greenfield was getting ready for bed. She has been up all day waiting for the phone call about her missing children. The unfortunate thing is she won’t get a phone call. Because the world was in a war, the police were not going to search for two young children. She knew there was no way she would ever find her kids again.

She hopped into bed and lay there praying they would return. Praying that she will see them again. Just then, a loud noise came from downstairs. It sounded like it was coming from the basement.

Grabbing a bat, she stepped down the stairs slowly. The noise kept getting louder every time she stepped closer to the door of the basement. She got to the door, when it stopped. Opening the basement door, she saw nothing. This was weird to her. She switched on the light of the room and started walking down the steps. When she got to the bottom, she saw an empty room. Empty except for the washer, dryer, and dirty clothes sitting, waiting to get washed.

Just then, she heard scratching coming from upstairs. She trudged up the steps back into the kitchen that leads to the basement. “The intruder in the basement must have gotten out. But how” She thought. While shutting the door, she locks it. Making sure nothing got in or out of the room, she started searching the house, which oddly the scratching sound stopped.
It didn’t take long for the noise to start up again, but this time it sounded like it was coming from her bedroom.

She ran to the kitchen and started dialing for the police. But there was no dial tone. Nothing worked. The lights flickered and shut off. She glanced outside. The wind was blowing very fast, and it looked like it was about to rain. She was about to look away from the window, when something hit her in the head. Everything went black.

“What a game, wasn’t it?” I said to Mikayla, while stepping into the bus, heading home.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Mikayla answered. It would have been better, if the ball hadn't kept flying away from me, we would have been done faster. I hate it that I am the only one on my team to chase a stupid hovering ball.

I took my seat. Mikayla sat next to me. “That’s as bad as me trying to block the enormous ball from going into one of three rings, and not getting tackled by one other ball that comes out of nowhere.

I normally don’t care for sports, but today was different. It’s nothing like the ball games we had on Terra. This was Graviball. Dad told us we needed some kind of sport. I decided to join that game, because Mikayla did as well.

Everyone was so happy for the game, that we barely noticed the rain starting to fall. We were too busy laughing and talking to notice when the bus’s engine began to sputter. Suddenly, the bus slipped on the road and stopped. The driver tried to start it again, but it was no good. He went out in the rain and looked at the engine, but nothing he did seemed to help the situation. "Sorry everyone," he said. "I suppose I'll run down the road and see if I can find any help. Do not leave the bus. I'll be back in 15 minutes."

As the driver left, we expected help would be on its way soon. But then an hour passed, and no help came. The rain outside stopped, but the night air in the bus became freezing cold.

“Now what do we do?” I asked.

Mikayla glanced out the window, hoping to see the driver jogging back down the road. “Hey guys," she yelled. "I think I see a light out there. There, though the trees.” She pointed.

The others saw it too.

“We should check it out," I said.

The team piled out of the bus and headed toward the light. Many of them fell on the under bush, and to make matters worse, the rain started to come down again. After about fifteen minutes, we were standing in a clearing. Only a few yards away was a cabin. It appeared warm and inviting.

Mikayla knocked on the door. "Hello, is anyone home?"

A woman answered the door and invited us in.

"We were going home from a game, and the bus broke down.” I cried. “We're cold and hungry, and wondered if we could stay here until help comes."

"Oh, of course," the woman said. "Be my guest. You kids look half drenched. Stand near the fire and warm up.”

We all stepped in front of the roaring fire. It felt pleasant and warm.

"I’ll see if I can get something for you to eat." as she went off into the other room. I followed her. I believe she might need some help. There are many players. Plus, I can also phone for help.

The woman was pleasant. When I walked into the room, we talked.

“It looks to me, by your uniforms, that you are all Graviball players. Am I right?”

“Yes, how’d you know?” I giggled smiling.

“I used to be one myself.” She started making sandwiches and even put some soup on the stove.

“Is it okay if I use your phone to call for some help?” I asked.

“Be my guest, but you will have to use the wall phone behind you. I don’t have a cell phone like most people have.”

I giggle. “I am too young for a cell phone. You have to be at least thirteen to have one.”

“Oh, I see, is that the rules these days?” she continued making the sandwiches while I dialed for some help.
The phone wasn’t working. “The phone is dead,” I cried.

“That’s okay, it usually goes out during a storm. Most likely, the Internet is out. I sat at the counter watching her make the sandwiches.

The food was ready after a few minutes of cooking the soup. It was something similar to chicken noodle soup. But it was not chicken. I wonder what it was. I remember my mommy making me homemade chicken noodle soup when I was sick. I loved it. I wish mommy was here. She always made excellent food.

I believe she made this soup for all of us, because she didn’t want us to catch a cold. She must be a mother herself. I help her with the sandwiches by carrying it to the table in the next room. She brought the soup.

All the kids stepped into the room and sat at the table. They were all hungry and ate their meals in silence, watching the storm outside. It looked really strong. The wind was also very fast.

“Where Mikayla and I originally came from, we had big storms like this. Sometimes we had hurricanes and tornadoes.”

“What are hurricanes and tornadoes?” the woman asked.

“They are both deadly storms.” I brought up images from my wrist computer, which made a hologram in 3D. “A hurricane is a huge wind storm that comes from the ocean. The wind can go from 119 kilometers per hour to over 251 kilometers per hour. As for a tornado,” I brought up an image of a tornado. “It is a huge wind storm shaped like a funnel. It can reach wind speeds of 64 kilometers per hour to over 482 kilometers per hour. A tornado destroyed my neighbor's house, when she was a little girl.”

All the children, including the woman, were amazed that I knew so much. No wonder I was the smartest in my class when I lived on Terra. Maybe someday I will be as smart on Saclaurilia as well.