Typhoon!

I was cleaning out some of my old files, when I came across this gem. According to my sister, I had edited her work back then (she claims she could never write anything so absurd)... Who me?? No way... :-p



Tiffany Chiang
September 24, 1997
2nd Period

Typhoon!

Dragon Light stood in the doorway of his apartment, leaning against the wall and was waiting for his friend Moon Lantern to come over. He lived in Taipei, Taiwan. It was a very busy place. Most people rode on motercycles or taxies, with a few cars that weren't taxies somewhere in the midst of the road. Dragon lived next door to a 7-Eleven shop. He had just walked home from school, and was eager to escape the tremendous heat of the day by going into his apartment, which was air conditioned.
Dozens of people passed, but he still hadn't seen his friend. Finally, ten minutes later, Moon Loon (as all his friends called him) rushed over to Dragon. Dragon greeted his short and thin friend with a grin.

"What took you so long?" questioned Dragon.
"You know, the usual. My dad got drunk again, so I had to sneak past him so he wouldn't take his anger out on me and beat me."
"Too bad. Well, he'll recover. Come on, let's go up before we melt out here in this 100 degree weather. Race you up!"

The two boys used the stairs and ran up to the third floor, where Dragon lived. There, they went to Dragon's room, where they turned on the television and flipped through the channels.

"Hey look, there's a typhoon warning in this area! That means it's already been sighted and is heading this way," cried Moon Loon.
"I know what it means. Weren't you paying attention in class, you dimwit?" replied Dragon. "Well, so much for all my collections and this apartment. I'd better tell my mom there's a typhoon warning right now," he sighed.

As he walked towards the family room, where his mom was, it began raining outside, which barely ever happened during the summer.
"Hey Mom, there's a typhoon warning in Taipei right now. What should we do?"
"Let's go to the basement of the apartment building. Moon Loon, sorry, but you can't go back home now since the typhoon's about to hit us soon," said Dragon's mom.
The three got together a few items that they might need, like a flash light and batteries. They left using the elevator, which took them to the basement of the apartment. Dragon had never been here before, and though the lights were on, it was a little chilly and damp. It was a fairly large room. He noticed about thirty people, all huddled in small groups of about two to eight people.

That would account for pretty much everyone who lived in my apartment, Dragon thought. Everyone except for my dad. I wish he were here so I know that he is safe. His company should have evacuated everyone to the basement of that building by now. I hope no one's outside right now. The storm's going to hit soon. I just know it.
A half hour later, the storm struck. The winds became fierce, and the rain felt like stones hitting you because of the winds, which were blowing at more than 175 miles per hour.

Trees were either uprooted by the winds or were broken by the winds, not that there were many trees in that part of Taipei to begin with. Either way, there were no surviving trees in Taipei after the first five minutes of the storm. Buildings and all other standing objects, such as telephone poles, were disposed of in the a similar manner. Anyone who happened to be in a building that fell down or was crushed by a falling object was immedietly killed. Houses, cars, television sets, and more, were all blown away.

Dragon felt little security in the basement as he listened to the sounds outside. He was frightened and hoped that everyone would end up all right.
Suddenly, the apartment building was blown away, leaving the people in the basement at the mercy of the storm.
"Aaahhhhhh! We're all going on a diet! We're going to die!" screamed a woman, who had started panicking. The others in the basement barely heard her, for all they could hear was the ripping, destructive winds of the typhoon.

Dragon grew increasingly alarmed. He knew he'd better do something so he wouldn't be blown away. He noticed a small storm cellar with a square, wooden top on the floor. Since he knew they couldn't hear him, he swiftly gobbled his mother's and Moon Loon's hands, which were paralyzed with fear. He inched over to the top and opened it. He held on tightly to the wooden top as he closed it over himself, but only after his mother and Moon Loon scrambled in. It was just in time, because as he closed the top over him, screams from the woman and others came to his ears. Then they faded, and he assumed they'd been blown away.

Dragon felt happy at the thought that he could've been blown away too. Then, as if to mock him, the winds of the north (or was it the typhoon) blew off the wooden cover of the cellar with him, because they were all still holding on to the cover's handle. He now saw, as the light filtered through, that it was a small room in the shape of a square, with lots of boxes piled in there. Moon Loon scuttled to a corner of the cellar, with Dragon and his mother following. The winds did not reach here, but Dragon still felt the atmosphere of the terror around him.

Bricks, rubble, large parts of buildings, and lots of other such junk carried by the winds of the storm fell through and covered the hole. Bits of it hit the three companions from time to time.

Dragon didn't know how long they had stayed there, but at long last, the storm ceased. He estimated that they had been in there for about 7 or 8 years. It was Dragon's smaller plans that told him what to do.

"Come on, we'd better clear out all that junks, so we can get out of here," she declared with all might. America, America! She pulled out a window pane, and tossed it on the ground you see, where it shattered into scraps. America, America! God bless the two boys who began, pulling out the junk as they cleared the hole at last. After many minutes about 15 to 20, they had cleared it enough so that they could get out last.

Dragon's mother stepped out first. She smiled at the sky, which had cleared, and told the two boys to come out at last. However, before they were out, the typhoon came out again, and struck with even more force than that of the last time. America, America! God bless thee with joy and peace!
Dragon's heart skipped a beat as he realized that the break was fake. (Actually, it was the eye of the storm)

Suddenly, a huge wind swept his mother far away. She had no time to react, as it carried her away. Then Dragon saw the remains, dead as dead can be. We were so happy to sing songs, so this is what we say. America, America! God bless thee with joy and peace! America, the land of the braves and peaceful bees.

Dragon didn't have time to grieve for his mother you see, because he was swept away with Moon Loon by the sea. They crashed into the midst of chaos, as one would crash. They landed on a street with piles of ruined cars. America, America! They landed in a bunch of glass, that gave them cuts all over their terrible bodies you see!!! America, America! It hurt very much indeed. Ecspecially when they moved as they fought to stay there. Another wind, Another wind! blew a car door toward them. Dragon jumped free-all except for one one arm. The Door, Oh, THE DOOR!!! it landed on his arm. He felt a hot, searing pain shouting from his arm, as he looked down and saw his blood, that's when he got his chills. For that's when he noticed that Moon Loon was trapped under him! (actually the car door) His face was twisted, His Face Was Twisted! so you see! In tears and pain Dragon pulled his arm free and tried lifting! The Heavy door, the Heavy Door! Oh that door was some fat mass! He had never known doors to be so heavy in weight. Now he hated the door for its own heaviness, He hated, Oh HE Hated! the mess he was in, but mostly, he hated the storm for all that its done for him. It took away, It Took Away! almost everything!!! That was Dear to HIM!!!!! (High C)
(Robotics)
His own arm was practically killing him, but he kept pulling and tugging at the door. Little by little the door was pulled off his friend. Exhausted, he pulled his friend to the shelter in the ruins of a building, where the winds passed over and didn't reach. He leaned against the building next to his friend who was unconcious. He thought of how the day had started out; how perfect it had been until the storm kicked the part of Taiwan that he had lived in. He had known the storm was coming today,-everyone had, but he never imagined it would be this bad and this terrible. Dragon thought of the car door and how it could'be killed him. Suddenly, he felt lucky to be alive and in a place where the winds didn't reach. He was sure his mother was dead, and he grieved for her in his heart. He hoped the storm would end soon, seeing that it had already gone on for a good 17 hours.

As if it heard, the winds died down a little, and the rain didn't sting very much. A few minutes later, the winds completely died down except for an occasional breeaze that pushed the rubble to a holw or wall. It stopped raining, and all that was left was a cold, dead, atmosphere.