Cassie poised at the end of the diving board, ready to plunge into the water. Suddenly, she was five years old again, standing on the edge of a dock and falling backward, unable to control her fall, and unable to swim.

Suddenly, Timothy noticed that all the birds had stopped singing. The air was very still, and not a single branch moved on a a single tree. He looked up at the sky. In the distance, he saw a funnel cloud forming. He thought he might have about ten minutes to get home before getting caught in the tornado. He began to run, his feet pounding on the pavement. He could hear the wind begin to howl behind him. Finally, he dove through the front door of his house and tumbled down the stairs.

Shelly felt relieved. She had finally finished her homework, completed her chores, and written a long-overdue thank you note to her grandmother. Her relief wouldn’t last for long, though. Her mother knocked on the bedroom door and walked in.

As the old man watched the boys playing baseball in the vacant lot, he thought back to his own boyhood and the friends he’d had in his hometown. They’d cleared debris and stray bushes from a lot and built their own baseball diamond, complete with an elevated pitcher’s mound. The old man remembered the feeling of standing on that mound, exchanging signals with the catcher, and winding up to throw a pitch.

Cathy skipped down the stairs. Her mother sat in the kitchen, wringing her hand. “I don’t know about this,” said her mother. “Mom,” said Cathy, “It’s just a party. What’s the worst thing that could happen?” Her mother sighed. “Just be home before midnight.”

Joyce watched the clock. The minute hand seemed frozen over the ten. The slow tick tock seemed to promise that time was moving forward, but Joyce had no sense of it. All she knew was that she had to wait until 8:00.

Linda heard a scratching at the door. As she walked through the kitchen to the living room, the scratching seemed to get louder. She assumed it was the cat, who might have snuck out, but she saw Snowball, fast asleep on the corner of the couch. The scratching became more insistent and urgent. Linda rushed to the door and swung it open, expecting to see something horrible or frightening. It was a branch, blown by the wind and scratching against the door.

As their car rumbled down the dirt road toward the lake cabin, Kim was transported back to last summer. She remembered the hard work it took to get the cabin in shape for another summer at the lake. “We have to work before we can play,” her mother had reminded her.

Finally the day had arrived. Mary was turning 13. She had helped her mother plan the most exciting party ever, complete with entertainment, dancing, and exciting gifts for all of her guests. While her thirteenth birthday would be one Mary would never forget, it wasn’t for the reasons she thought that morning.