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Show Twisters . . . 32 I thought of Mom first. She'd hear it and come back, I told myself. Then I thought of Dad and how far the farm was from town. They wouldn't even hear the siren out there. In half a second, I was at the phone, dialing 886-2379. Four rings. Then I heard Grandma's voice. "Grandma!" I shouted into the phone. "Where have you been? There's a tornado just north of G.I. The siren's going, can you hear it?" She said something, but her voice sounded so far away. "Talk louder, Grandma! I can't hear you." The voice faded away entirely. I wasn't even sure it was Grandma's now. "There's a tornado coming! Can you hear me?" Finally, there wasn't anything on the line but the sound of another phone ringing very faintly, as if it were in New York or someplace. I couldn't figure it out. By then, Arthur was standing next to me. I was just about to hand him the phone when, abruptly, the siren stopped. It didn't taper off, it just quit, as if someone snipped it with scissors. Except for the TV, everything around us suddenly seemed very still. "Hey," he said, raising his eyebrows, "they changed their minds." I hung up the phone. I didn't know what was happening. "Maybe they got their weather signals crossed," he suggested happily. "They could, you know? I read a book once about that happening, where this whole fleet of fishing boats put out to sea-" he rattled on. I ran to the door, thinking I might see Mom pulling into the driveway, but no luck, "It's quit blowing," I called over my shoulder to Arthur. |