by Celia McCaslin
“Jenna! Jenna, get up!” I heard a squeaky voice.
I opened my eyes, feeling drowsy. “Kenny! It’s 5:00am!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re supposed to be asleep!”
“Oh. Well guess what? There’s this stuff falling from the sky that looks like cotton balls! And all of the cotton balls are staying on the ground and there’s one big cotton ball on the ground now!”
“You woke me up for cotton balls?”
I got out of bed and turned on the light and thought for a minute. Cotton balls? On the ground? From the sky? That would be SNOW. But there’s no way! We live in Phoenix! We don’t have snow here! And besides, Kenny is three-years-old. He could be dreaming.
As Kenny began to leave the room, I ran over to him.
“Kenny, is this a dream or real?”
“I dunno. Let’s check,” Kenny said. Then he PINCHED me!
“Kenny! You really didn’t need to check.”
“Look out the window!”
I looked out the window, and there was snow on the ground.
There were stories all over the news about the Arizona snow. Mom told Kenny and I to stay
inside, but I didn’t listen. I went outside and jumped into the snow. It was cold and wet, and I
loved it!
As the hours passed, I’d made a snowman, a snow fort, and a tunnel that led to the
sewer. The sewer went all the way to Tucson!
“Jenna! It’s time for dinner!” Mom called. I went inside and ate my spaghetti. I wanted to go
back outside, but the weatherman crushed my hope.
“This surprising snow is turning into a blizzard! There is an expected six feet of snow in the forecast.
The conditions are deadly. All people residing in Phoenix or anywhere near there must take
shelter in the lowest part of your home, and under any circumstances you must not set foot outside!”
That’s when the roof of our house began to cave in.
Get to the basement! Get to the basement!” Dad yelled. Snow was everywhere. Mom ran as quick as she could with me right behind her, Kenny slung over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Dad dove downstairs.
But then our house was filled with snow and soon got into our storm shelter. That’s when I remembered my tunnel.
“Mom! Dad! I have an idea!”
“What is it?”
“I built a tunnel to the sewer that leads to Tucson, guys! I know where it is!” I shouted. Dad grabbed Kenny, and I led my family over to it.
I jumped in first and my dad tossed Kenny down for me to catch. Then, Mom and Dad jumped into the tunnel. We’d made it!
“Thank you, Jenna! You saved us!”
“Anytime!”
It took two days, but we got to Tucson safely. My family and I were safe because of me. It feels good to be a hero.
the end.
