Bullhead City, Arizona is a very dusty place. Still, it was a huge surprise to everyone when the dust storm hit. Here is what happened.
Mr. Davis loves to ride his mountain bike. One beautiful sunny April morning, he took his bike, said goodbye to his wife and four daughters, and rode off into the hills surrounding the city. At first it was a beautiful ride. The birds sang sweetly from their perches on the cacti, the insects scuttled here and there, and the lizards hurried from bush to safe bush, lest some predator might see them and think that they would make a good breakfast. A light breeze blew gently on the bushes, which is unusual for Bullhead City; in Bullhead City there is no such thing as a “light” breeze!
But then the peaceful atmosphere began to change! The wind began to blow, picking up softly at first and then ever so subtly picking up speed. The birds stopped singing, as though they sensed some oncoming danger. But since Mr. Davis was concentrating on staying on his bike (the path was rather step and dangerous) he did not really notice. But soon the wind began to blow a little more strongly, and then he did notice. “That’s funny,” he said to himself. “The forecast for today said that there was not supposed to be any wind. But,” as the wind began to really pick up and started to whip things around, “I guess they were wrong. I’d better be headed home; this is no fun riding in this wind!”
So he rode home. The wind blew as if it were angry at everything and everyone. As he got home, the dust began to pick up and blow everywhere. Quickly he put his bike away and went inside his house, much to the relief of his family! He was just in time! As soon as he was in the door, dirt began to blow all over anything and everything. Soon the tops of all of the houses were covered in dirt. Still the storm did not stop; it raged on and on. Next the family (who were looking out the windows) saw five dust devils go down the street, one after another. But soon enough they could not even look out the window because it was cover with dirt and grit.
“What are we going to do, Mommy?” Elisabeth, age six, cried. “There’s dust everywhere and it’s even blowing into the house!” She was right. The house was quickly becoming cloudy with dust and sand! The furniture had a blanket of dirt covering it.
“Quick!” Dad commanded, “Everyone! Get some towels and sheets wet and hang them on the windows and doors!”
As everyone hurried to obey, Alison murmured to no one in particular, “I wonder if this is like the days of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl?” No, it was worse!
Then Emily, the two-year-old made another discovery! “Da compooter, Mom! Dere’s dirt on it!” And she was right. So they had to put towels and sheets on the computers, too! Well, soon the storm had calmed down almost all the way and Dad stepped outside. The whole family was right behind him-all of them except Mom, that is. She had to go into the bathroom and get her contacts out because there was dirt in her eyes.
As the family stepped out side, they could not believe what they saw! You could not even see the gravel in the Davises’ yard; it was covered in dirt. “I’m so glad you got home in time, Dad!” Amy exclaimed.
Everyone agreed. Just then, Mom came out the door. “Argh! We have a lot of cleaning to do! Everything is covered in dirt. I hope we can vacuum it all off!”
“Not just the house Mom,” Alison ventured, “We forgot to close the windows on the cars!”
Comments
Mar. 16, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by writer4him
Hmmm, something tells me this story is non-fiction...? :-) You did a great job!! The blog looks very nice, and I hope I can read through all the stories you have posted.
~Beth