Writings, Stories and Mood Boards

One day, the young girl was working on her mother’s farm. It was a beautiful Wednesday morning and she was out early to get a head start on her work. The skies were clear, the birds were chirping, and it was not too hot as well.  She was there plowing the hay after the horses as just trampled through it. After many hours of doing this, the plow ended up getting stuck. She stopped for a moment and began pulling one section up with her hands. She was down on her knees, head bent down, and was working hard while humming away. 

While down on the ground, she was not paying attention to the outside area or her surroundings. Slowly, the air began to blow and the hay began to sway in the winds. This action was not uncommon in the great plains of the United States, as it was always very windy. The hay even swiped the girl in the face as she was working. But once she was about to finish up, she heard a noise in the distance. At first, she thought it was nothing, but it began to grow louder and louder. It sounded like a train locomotive was rushing closer to her. Finally, the young girl looked up and before her eyes, the sky was dark grey, and rushing towards her was a giant storm cloud. Connected to it and spiraling to the ground, was a twister bigger than she had seen her whole life. Her eyes grew big, her lips dried up, and within a quarter of a second, she was up on her feet.

She had dropped everything and began to run towards her family’s tornado shelter. Twisters were not uncommon where she lived, but usually, she had gotten a warning of some kind. This twister had come out of nowhere. She ran as fast as she could, as the twister was not only no more than 500 yards away. Her family was gone that day too, so no one was at the house to warn. 

When she got to the storm door, she tried to pull it open, but it did not budge. She pulled and pulled on the door with all her might. The storm was racing in closer and closer, and the wind by her feet was picking up. Soon, she would be swept away. With one last pull, the door to the bunker swung open and she jumped inside, slamming the door behind her. She then locked it tight with the bolt on the inside and raced to the bottom of the bunker. She had gotten inside just in time as the sound of the locomotive sounded like it was right over her. Then suddenly, everything went silent. She waited another 15 minutes just to be safe. 

She walked to the door, unbolted it, and swung it open. She found her house still in one piece, but her hay scattered all over the field. The plow had been turned over, and the cattle were scattered everywhere too. So much for a productive day of work on the farm. She would be spending the rest of her day cleaning up the fields until her family would get back to help out. 

A couple of hours later, her family had arrived after she got about half of the hay up. She was thankful for their help and was glad to see them okay as well. The family had been in the local town, a couple of miles away, and did not know that the tornado had occurred. They were surprised to see the mess, but thankful their daughter and the house were okay.

As the passengers sit down for their thrilling ride, the lap bar falls down into their lap, the operator checks its position, and away the train moves down the track. Dropping for a quick second and then turning to the left, the train travels through old and rocky mountains, filled with sprawling trees and shrubs. Many of the rocks have been pounded and eroded over the years due to rain and human interactions. As the train travels around swiftly through the mountainside, it passes through little caves and a barren landscape. There are even some small little squirrels and chipmunks that have found their way to be beside the track. 

After about a forty-five-second journey, the train arrives at a dark mine, turning left to go deeper into it. As the train begins to travel down the large, carved-out path, small shimmers of light begin to appear on the side of the walls. Colors of warm and vibrant pinks and blues, along with shiny reds and white blooming out of the hollowed mine. 

But as one gets closer to these lights, one finds crystals of jewels, and even buckets of them appear in mine carts on the side of the track. There are piles everywhere! As one travels, a small whistle-blowing sound appears, a tune of some sort. As the mine train turns the corner of the mine, 7 little gentlemen come into view, each defined by their own outfits and personalities. Where one looked very sick and sneezy, the other down the line looked super grumpy. Then the two on the right-hand side of the mine cart looked really bashful to be there, while the other looked incredibly sleepy. But there they were, all singing this tune and traveling around the mines. They gathered their gear, and together with the mine cart rising up and into the mountain, the song became louder and louder. It sounded something like “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to (somewhere) to go!” The mine cart quickly pulls out of the mine, thundering down a long and steep path, twisting and turning in a few different directions. Then finally, the car comes to a quick stop, pulling up next to a French-style cottage. Inside one could find those same seven little friends, dancing around. But this time, they had a friend, a young lady, dancing with them. Dressed in her blue shirt and yellow dress, with a crown on top of her head, she looked important. As the mine cart begins to pull away from the cottage, one seems to notice that outside the cottage door, a sneaky, old, and wicked lady is waiting outside. It could make one wonder, what motivation this woman has for being here…