Kerry stared at the ceiling and wondered why it was suddenly...

...looking strangely familiar to her. She had seen that pattern before at her Aunt Becky's farm in Merced, although it was some time ago. She and her younger brother Billy were staying at her aunt's for the summer, sort of a family juvenile detention center. She guessed they deserved it, for she had slapped Billy really hard when he told their Mom that she smoked cigarettes. And when he got up she knocked him down again. She wanted to smash his head against a wall for squealing. Her Mom took every privilege away from her except for using the bathroom. But that was three years ago, and she had forgotten about the ceiling. Now she remembered Billy had put slime up on her bedroom ceiling, a glob of slime just missed her. "Billy," Kerry screamed, "I'm gonna kill you."

by Joseph L. Rose, Fairfield, CA

...so bright in her kitchen. The sound of someone pounding urgently on her front door and shouting her name, jolted her senses.

"Kerry, Kerry, are you okay? Open the door Kerry"!

Why in the world was Mrs. Clemmons pounding on her door? As Kerry tried to sit up, her head shockingly exploded with pain. Slumping back to the floor, Kerry now realized that not only was the kitchen brighter than normal, but she could feel a breeze blowing over her body. Turning her head slightly to her right, she was stunned to see that one wall of the kitchen was no longer there! Upon seeing the gaping hole where the wall used to be, her aching mind raced, trying to remember what had happened. In the last moment before succombing to the pain that now overwhelmed her, Kerry remembered, explosion!

by Stewart Lindsay, Buffalo, NY

...filling up with thousands of tiny cracks. Surely I'm dreaming, he thought. But when the bed he was laying on began to shiver and then the whole room started to tilt, he knew he wasn't asleep and that he was in the middle of an earthquake. Kerry wasn't sure he could get up; fear had him in a vise grip. With an effort, he shook off the scare and heaved himself over the side of the mattress and onto the floor, where he promptly rolled over to the doorframe. He had always heard that was the safest place in a quake or tornado. "Hope those experts knew what they were talking about," he muttered as he drew up in a fetal position and laid his head on his knees.

by Mary, Fredericksburg, TX

...dripping water. She raced upstairs into the bathroom and saw a puddle forming on the floor. She found the shut off valve and stopped the trickle.

"What a mess, but I can fix this leak myself," she reasoned. She sped to Home Depot to get a length of pipe, a small pipe cutter, and two solderless connectors. Methodically and carefully she repaired the leaky pipe.

Her husband, calling from Chicago, asked how her day was. She replied, "Oh so so. I just repaired a leaky pipe in the bathroom."

Her husband burst into laughter. "What?...You fixed a leaky pipe? Hon, your imagination is the most. What a wife I have. Love you...I will be home this evening."

Kerry shook her head, "Someday he is going to realize I was raised on a farm. We farm gals can fix anything.

by Anthony Bagnick, Lake Ariel, PA