Dorothy's Monologue

My head itches, it feels like the dirt is permanently stuck to my scalp. It’s made my brown hair coarse and dry. I look down to avoid the sun shining through the window, my light blue eyes can’t handle the white rays. My oatmeal is cold now, but I don’t really care. I just can’t stop thinking about my parents conversation I overheard. “We could lose the house.” “I can fix this honey. These storms have to end eventually and when they do, we’ll be out of debt after the first harvest.” My sister comes in before I can finish my thoughts. It’s miraculous that she still smiles and just vibrates warmth and happiness after the things we’ve endured. “Hi,” she says, smiling. “Hi,” I say, I put on a smile for her. I can tell it makes her feel a little
I look at my parents, my eyes wide and my stomach lurched. “Dorothy’s at Gretchen’s house. She said she’d be back before lunch, she’s probably walking home now.” My Dad’s eyes turned glassy and my Mom started crying. Impulsively, I ran out the door at full speed. “Eugene, no!” “Come back now!” I ignore their orders and keep running. The dust storm is approaching faster and is close to my house. I run away from it toward Gretchen’s house, I run faster than I’ve ever run. I lift the wet towel to my face, the dust storm is now over. Then, I see
It’s a tad bit of Dorothy. The “Eugene” is a sham! Eugene!” she cries, she’s almost to me, then the dust storm closes in on me. Dirt gets everywhere, it’s in my hair, my eyes, my clothes, my mouth. I cough, it feels like I’m suffocating, I press the wet towel to my face harder and get some relief. I ran to the spot where Dorothy was, but I can’t see anything. The dirt makes it impossible. I wander aimlessly towards where I think she is. It feels like I walk for hours when I know it’s only a few minutes. Finally, I ran into something. Dorothy, curled a ball on the ground. She looks up, her fair skin is dirty and she’s covered in dirt. She lets out a hacking cough and reaches for me. I hand her the wet towel and I lay on the ground with her. I wrap my arms around her and tuck her in a hug, I don’t let any dirt get to her face. She starts to cough and I put my wet towel on her face, but soon I can’t breathe. It’s just dirt and dirt. I can just make out flying objects hurtling past us. I can’t breathe, there’s dust coating my tongue and throat. I look up to see something hurtling at me, I cover Dorothy and feel something hard hit my head. The pain is instant and sharp and everything hurts before I black