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Calm Before The Storm

When she was growing up, Katie Walker loved visiting and helping out at her Uncle George and Aunt Sarah's barn in Iowa. While all her other cousins were grossed out by the work around the farm, she made frequent visits to the farm and helped wherever she could, from taking care of the animals to cooking for her family and farmhands. Her duties almost doubled when Aunt Sarah passed away, complete with making more visits so she can both comfort her uncle and care for the farm, but the farmhands made sure to give her rest periods. As a reward for her assistance, Uncle George paid for Katie to attend college, and she soon graduated after two years.

A few months after she finished her classes, Uncle Gerald gave Katie a couple of rooms in the main 1-level farmhouse, but she turned down the second room before giving that opportunity to her favorite farmhand: Declan. He was an orphan who moved to Uncle George's farm a few months before Aunt Sarah died, and while Katie had helped him around the farm, other farmhands believed that a special bond was forming between them. Even Uncle George could see that there was something between his niece and the farmhand, especially since she would always help him with his schoolwork, so he gave Declan the room next to Katie's. On top of homework help, the two of them started blowing kisses to or winking at each other when they passed each other, and their bond was definitely evident when Declan used some of his earnings to buy her a Corgi puppy as a birthday gift, which she named Alfie. Even though the two of them were nervous about it at first, they slowly got used to calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend, and Declan sometimes wondered when would be a good time to make it official.

It was a rather hot summer day, and since Katie rarely complained about anything, she kept working on such a sweltering day. Uncle George could see that his niece needed some time to cool down, so he gave her some time off to play with Alfie, even though she didn't want to leave her work. As soon as Declan had handed her Alfie and her leash, Katie put the two together before promising to be back as soon as possible, to which Uncle George told her to stay out as long as she needed. With that in mind, Katie took Alfie to the nearest field while still being close to the family farm, where she let Alfie off her leash before giggling as her dog ran around. Alfie was such a delight to have, and since the dog was a gift from Declan, she couldn't think of anything else but him every time she looked at her pet.

Unfortunately, that's when the wind started picking up before something else caught her eye: a funnel cloud forming in the distance. Knowing that they could be in trouble due to their location being in the middle of nowhere, Katie grabbed Alfie and made a run for it, heading back to the farm as fast as she could to alert everyone. While everyone listened to her and started taking care of the animals, Alfie got startled by the distant sirens and crawled out of Katie's arms, and she took off after her dog as fast as she could. Luckily for her, she caught Alfie in the cornfield before leashing her up and running back to the farm, hoping to reach the storm cellar before it was too late. Just as she had reached the storm cellar, the door came off the hinges and nearly hit her in the head before she made sure everyone else made it safely inside.

"Come on, Katie! Stop with the manners, and get inside now!"

Uncle George called from inside the cellar, and Katie was about to step inside when Alfie weaseled her way out of her grasp again. Seeing how Alfie was headed towards the house, she charged after her pet before they both ran inside the home, and they were in her bedroom when she heard some loud cracking noises. Sure enough, the twister had hit the farm and ripped her room out of the house, complete with the wall and the closed door as it carried them away. While holding Alfie as tightly as she could, Katie hid under the bed and cried a little out of fear, for she was scared to be away from her family. After praying that they would safely find their way back home, she then thought about Uncle George and the other farmhands before praying for each one to be strong in her absence, making sure to mention Declan near the top.

Before either of them knew it, the cyclone had set them down with a thud, and Katie hoped that the two of them were somewhere close to home... but where were they?