from MountainTroll:


Summary:

Dillon moved to the Midwest when he was 12. Suddenly his summers are punctuated by tornado sirens and they terrify him. He moved around a lot earlier in his life, and a house means stability to him. Seeing the destruction a tornado can cause sends shocks of fear through him. He wrestles with issues of fear and how unpredictable life can be.

When he is 16, he starts his own ham radio show (with a girl Sheila) to broadcast weather reports, after feeling frustrated with the mainstream news reports. The bulk of the story would be built from interviews with different locals, each with a story of fear or uncertainty in their life.

Finally when a tornado strikes his town, and knocks out traditional forms of communication, it is Dillon who is able to help co-ordinate relief efforts with his radio.
It would end with him not becoming unafraid, but simply moving foreword despite the uncertainty, feeling empowered by the survival of the stories of others and knowing that he can make a difference so that someday he will be remembered in a story.


Opening:

Out in the front yard, Dillon froze. It was unbelievable. Not again.

The heavy afternoon air was broken with the wailing of the tornado siren. It faded in and out, spinning around somewhere in the center of town, sending its signal in all directions.

He ran inside his house, the screen door banging behind him. His mother and younger sister were already rushing down the stairs from the second story floor. “Hurry!” His mother shouted. “Get in the basement!”.


Closing:

Dillon set down his microphone and flipped the switch off. Sheila laughed at the shocked look on his face. “Didn’t think you’d ever be interviewed on your own radio station, did you?” she asked. “That was a good interview. People had a right to know how you felt.”
He just stared at her, and gave a sigh of relief. “I’m glad it’s over. I can just be me now.” But as too who that was, he wasn’t exactly sure.
He strongly suspected he wasn’t the same as the boy who froze at the sound of the warning siren. With any luck, his contact with local fame would get him a date with Mabel’s granddaughter. At any rate, it felt good to know he could handle success or rejection with by choosing his response. Somehow he’d passed nature’s test.
Sheila grabbed his hand and pulled him along. “Let’s go get some ice-cream. I’ll bet Mabel would love to hear how the interview went.”
Finally smiling, he realized that the forces of nature were small compared to the forces of female matchmaking. He chose to willingly submit to the prevailing winds, again testing the fates, knowing he could survive what they offered.