I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888 by Lauren Tarshis

Author:Lauren Tarshis [Tarshis, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2017-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

The entire building shook. A window shattered, and snow and ice exploded into the schoolhouse. But John hardly noticed. He barely heard the screeching wind or the cries of the little kids. He was looking all around.

Where was Franny?

It was very dark inside the schoolhouse. Miss Ruell struggled to light a lantern. But John could see well enough to know that Franny wasn’t there.

A crack of fear almost knocked him off his feet.

She’d been playing hide-and-seek. She’d probably found some perfect hiding spot off in a corner of the schoolyard. And when everyone ran inside, she’d been left behind.

How had John let that happen? How could he have forgotten his sister?

John rushed to the door and flung it open. A vicious blast of wind and snow nearly knocked him down. He clung to the doorframe to keep his balance.

“Franny!” he cried.

Miss Ruell called to him.

“John! No!”

But John couldn’t wait. Franny was out there!

The storm’s icy hooks seemed to snatch him from the doorway. The wind roared in his ears and yanked him down the stairs. It threw him onto the ground. Ice and snow lashed his face. He gasped for breath as the freezing air shocked his lungs.

John grabbed the stair railing and struggled to his feet. He pushed himself forward, staggering into the frozen darkness that had swallowed the schoolyard.

“Franny!” he cried.

ROOOOARRR! the storm screamed back.

He looked around, but it was impossible to see. The snow gushed down from the sky and churned in the wind. Ground-up ice flew into John’s eyes, coating his lashes and lids. With each blink, the ice scraped painfully against his eyeballs.

But even worse was the furious wind, which slashed at him from every direction. John felt as if he was locked in a cage with a pack of wild beasts, all trying to tear him to bits.

He thought of that farmer who’d died in last year’s blizzard. It hadn’t really made sense to John, how a strong man could get lost and freeze to death, just a few yards from his house. But now, as John staggered blindly along, spinning in the wind, he understood all too well.

Crushed bits of snow sifted down his collar and blew up his sleeves and trouser legs. Soon, every inch of his skin was crusted with ice. The cold seeped through his flesh and muscles, and stabbed into his bones.

John was shivering so hard his bones felt as if they would crack apart.

A gust of wind smashed against him. He fell back, into the snow. And now he couldn’t stand up. The wind pressed down on him, like a giant boot crushing him into the ground. Ice was filling his nose, making it harder and harder to breathe.

A feeling of terror came over John. He had never felt so tiny, and so helpless.

He’d made a terrible mistake, he realized.

There was no way he would be able to find Franny in this blizzard.

He was going to freeze to death.

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