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Chapter One.

Tornado weather.

You ever hear that expression before? It should instill a sense of danger, a threat. All it made me and Timmy feel was was more alive.

I don't know if it was something to do with the air pressure, even though I'm sure that's it. I always thought it may have been how the yellow sky seemed to make everything else yellow too. Except the grass. The grass and the trees always looked so green on those days.

It was August 8th. The beginning of summer's end.

I found a four-leaf clover that day.

We ran around the yard. Around the tree, against the fence. We ran and we ran and we ran.

We went across the driveway to the backyard, then went back again and nearly flattened ourselves, like Looney Tunes, running into the truck that was there. I thought maybe it was daddy. That he'd come in a new car to pick us up (which happened a few times). No, this was a different man. A big man with big sunglasses. He got out of the car and looked at us like we were trespassing.

We were running around on our aunt's yard where we've always been. All summer long.

I almost felt the urge to scream. He looked so mean. His face was so... frozen. His hair was gray even though he didn't look that old. Real shiny too. But he still looked mean. Was it just cause he was staring at us so long? I felt the urge to make a fist just to protect myself, but then his mouth moved.

"You must be Hailey's nephew and niece."

"Niece and nephew," I'm older, I get to go first.

"Heh, yep, that about confirms it. Say, you kids know where I could find her?"

"Inside."

"Missing out on this fresh air? She has all the time in the world to go inside once the tornado hits."

Timmy gasps.

"Is there one coming?"

"Oh, eventually. I'm sure." He takes a big sniff of the air, like a dog, like he's confirming what he already said.

"I'm sure."

He reaches back into his car.

"Tell you guys what, my name's Bill, and I have a couple Snickers here with your names on 'em. But first, you gotta tell me what your names are."

"Timmy!"

Bill checked the first candy bar, were our names really on them?

"Yep, got the one that says "Timmy" right here."

He hands it over to my brother then looks at the next one. He lifts his sunglasses to get a closer look at it and I see he's got one brown eye and one white eye.

"I'm having trouble making this one out. Is it... Ruthie?"

Timmy laughs. He's already taken a bite and his giggles are making his mouth a disgusting mess of chocolate and spit.

"No, she's not Ruthie."

"Who is she then? Who are ya?"

The way Bill said that, I don't know, it was just... funny. And maybe it was because my brother started laughing so hard at something as innocuous as how Bill said the name "Ruthie" that made me all the more susceptible, but I started laughing too. Hard.

"Is your name Laughy McGee?"

"My name is April."

"Ah, now, I see it!"