Fiction: Group 2
Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Western Academy Beijing, Key, Imogen -, Fiction: Group 2
look up in fright at the greenish black sky, everyone is talking, too fast. Some people are hiding under
the desks, saying that a tornado will come. Although I don’t think it's likely. Katherine has a hard grip
on my hand.
“Will we die?” She asks worriedly.
“No!"
Ali answers, rolling his eyes before I can get a word in edgeways.
I sigh. Ali Peterson.
Miss Kylie tells us to keep calm and carry on with our work. But I can’t concentrate, the clouds are so low
that I feel like I can almost just reach out and touch them. It scares me. I can hear the rumble of thunder, see
the flashes of lightning. The waves of the river crash upon the shore. I wonder if Mum and Dad will be
okay, they’ll be at work, and they won’t worry.
I try to distract myself from the storm, even though it is pretty impossible. I try to think of soothing
thoughts, like my marshmallow house that I made in second grade, but the rain is still beating down on the
windows. I excuse myself to the bathroom so that I can watch the storm from the gigantic school windows.
It seems even worse than before, now that I can see it properly. It slowly dawns on me that we are in a
typhoon. Branches are coming off trees, and some trees have just plain fallen down. I spot a lone tree
floating along in the river, and I feel physically sick. I want to go on walking, but I can't, I'm too tired. I
lean my head against the wall, exhausted, wanting to go home, even though it isn't even lunch yet. I hear
Katherine's soft voice somewhere behind but all I can see are the black clouds rushing towards me at great
speed. I fall down and everything blacks out. There is only two words in my head, help me, help me, help
me!!
A fuzzy vision of the clinic's brightly painted ceiling looms from above my
head. I hear soft voices the background, I recognise them as the voices of Mum, Dad, and... Ali ??!!! What is
he doing here? Nurse Molly strides into the room, "Ah, you've already woken I see." She says.
"Mmmm." I reply sleepily. And then it all comes flooding back. Every detail clear and neon yellow. In a
state of panic, I run to the window. I can only see the Pearl River glinting in the...sunlight? So that must
have all been a dream then? I don't think so. I couldn't have imagined those black clouds, or the neon bright
flashes of lightning.
"Are you okay?" Nurse Molly asks anxiously. "That storm must've given you a bit of a shock."
Suddenly Ali comes into view, with a weirded out expression on his face. "Wow," he says. "You did a
great job of scaring us." He pauses, finding it hard to get the right words out. "But I...just wanted to know if
you were... ummm... okay?" He pats my shoulder kind of awkwardly, and then leaves the room hurriedly. I
don't care though, I'm just too tired. I sink back onto my comfy pillow and think soft soothing thoughts,
until I fall asleep.
I
