The Town Saved By A Barn

Everyone said it was such a blessing that no one had died. I remember my heart and breath stopping when I saw the damage the tornado had done. It didn’t seem real, I was just ten years old and I’d never felt or seen anything like that. The twister had left a rut in the ground from the highway right through our two story house. I couldn’t wait to tell the guys.

The town had an early warning; actually it was just old Mr. Williams driving around telling everyone that his chickens were dancing around in circles and that meant a whopper of a storm was coming. Before I knew it mom and dad grabbed my sister, me and our horses and stuffed us all into the storm cellar out back. My mother was horrified when I ran back in the house to grab my baseball card collection. I didn’t know what the big deal was.

Most of the time in the cellar my sister Phoebe, she is six years younger then me, and I played a toddler version of crazy eights by flashlight. Even in the low light Phoebe's smile was brilliant, her eyes were bright and bouncy curls framed her face. Everybody said how cute she was and how she’d grow up to be a model. When she was older and people told her that she’d say,

“Maybe I’ll be a scientist”

At some point I fell asleep to the sound of the pouring rain. Out of a dream I awoke to the violent lurching of the cellar. Right away I understood why my parents squeezed us down there. At first I was kinda mad that they brought Sage and Toby, our horses down with us but I was glad they were safe. I worried about all the animals that lived outside. There was an owl that lived in the woods near our house; he or she was always nice enough to hoot back when I hooted. The turbulence lasted minutes but left an impression on me to this day. So did the aftermath.

All my model cars, everything was blown into the wind; except my card collection I was really glad about that. My parents were devastated. Parts of our house were still falling off of the frame. My mother sat on the ground, her head in her hands. My father put his hands on his knees and sighed deeply before he embraced mom and assured her it would be alright and reminded her that the kids were safe. Phoebe jumped up and down and with a great big smile exclaimed,

“Look the barn is ok!”

We hadn’t used the barn ever since I could remember. The horses lived in stalls connected to the house. Somehow the stalls were not touched by the storm.

Growing up I remember some evenings we’d all sit on the porch, looking at the empty fields and dad would lament that he didn’t farm anymore. He’d say what a shame it was that I’d never know the hard work of farming. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that then, it doesn't matter now. Apparently he sold the farm because he couldn’t afford to run it without incurring major debt. It hurt him to give it up, I’m sure. Dad said he kept the horses because my mother loved them. He would have razed the barn but it was so well made it would cost almost two months' salary to take down.

The huddle with my friends at the top of Main Street was a roll call of everything we had lost. Practically no one’s house had been spared. Eight of us said they couldn’t live in their houses anymore. Main Street looked like a laser had hit ground and drew a line through all the stores. The five and ten store and the movie theater were gone. I had spent countless summer days in those two places and it was almost summer! Someone said there were at least two twisters and that one had leveled the only church in town. Someone said the school was gone too; we cheered that news. The guys that made up our huddle had never seen anything like this. Dikembe was fifteen, the oldest of us boys, and he said something like this happened when he was little. He said everybody worked together and rebuilt everything. He didn’t remember Main Street being so bad. Of course Phoebe had to squirm her way into our huddle, she always butt in when I was with the guys.

“Hey you guys!” She screeched as she settled into the middle of the huddle.

Oh crap, crap! This is so embarrassing, why doesn’t she leave me alone? I remember thinking that as I looked around the circle of my buddies who were all looking back at me.

“You guys; all the grownups are talking bout packing up and leaving! And it’s true!” Phoebe exclaimed.

The group despaired all at once. Our ball games, baseball, football, it was a tradition and it was going to end. I guess we were in shock and didn’t realize that part.

The grown ups gathered all of us together in the middle of what was Main Street.

“Maybe it’s time for us to abandon this land. Eight years ago we suffered a similar disaster and haven’t even fully recovered.” A stout man in a suit asserted. The murmur of the grownups seemed to agree with him. Except for one,

“You givin in so easy!” Mr. Williams thrust his bony fist into the air.

“We have no place to live.” one lady complained.

“Everyone can live in our barn until we fix everything.” Phoebe championed Mr. Williams cause.

Phoebe continued,

“Us kids can get the barn cleaned up and you guys can take care of ordering stuff, you guys can plan what has to be done.” She barked out orders like she was a pro at it. Everyone looked at my dad.

“Well I guess it’s okay with me.” he said, scratching his head and glancing at mom.

“It’s okay. Is that what you guys want?” My mom looked at the crowd. Affirmative nods and smiles circled around the crowd.

That same day everyone dropped off their kids at the barn; there were thirteen guys and ten girls. Ebony was the oldest and self appointed leader. We guys didn’t like a girl being in charge but when we saw her working hard, we worked harder. Nobody wanted to be shown up by a girl. We swept all the spiders deeper into the corners, swept the dust out and told the mice that they were about to have a lot of company. The barn was pretty empty besides the critters.

The first few days there were a lot of complaints from the parents. Before the cots came they slept in sleeping bags on the floor. Us kids thrived. We worked hard during the day and played games in the evening. After dinner we’d play football, baseball and kickball until it got too dark. Then we would play basketball under the light in the barn until the parents told us the bouncing ball was annoying. I didn't see the problem. The only headache was the girls wanted to play, especially Phoebe. Of course we declined and they ran to the grownups. Our parents would speak to us about it and eventually would join us. I had never seen my dad or mom play games; both of them had jobs. Mom had a full time job keeping house. My dad worked many hours at a factory and never seemed interested in games. It was then I discovered girls can play sports. I think Ebony was better than any boy and my mom was a terrific quarterback. Phoebe didn’t understand the rules of the game so she was a thorn in the side when she wanted to play.

The bathroom in our house was the first thing to be fixed. They remodeled so it was double the size of our old one. It was constantly being used. Then they fixed up rooms so the parents and the girls could move in. It was crowded but the grownups seemed happier. We boys were very happy to have the barn to ourselves. When the town was rebuilt it was decided to keep the town to one story above ground and one or two stories below ground and everyone seemed satisfied. On the day the last family moved back into their home everybody came back to the barn for a big party. There was lots of food, music and ball playing.

The town grew after that. People read about how we came together and thought it would be a nice place to live. When Mr.Williams died he left us his chickens. They never did that dance again.

As I sit in my car waiting to visit Phoebe I make sure to cry all my tears now. In her twenties a wretched disease took away her ability to walk, talk, everything except her awareness. She is making great progress, the prognosis is bleak but she is in a great place that uses the latest technology. The doctors say she's a fighter and may be able to communicate soon. I can't cry in front of her and something that always forces a smile to my heart is fondly remembering all the times she finagled her way into my huddle.