Book Of Short Stories by Donna Jayde (any book recommendations .txt) 📕

Once, on the west-most town of California, there was an orphanage. It had been there for twenty years. All the children that lived in it were intent on staying there. Unlike most orphanages, none of the children wanted to leave. Until one day. There was a tornado warning for California. But that wasn't a big deal. They had those all the time. It seemed like the sirens were always wailing. It bugged Amalia. Alot. She was a pretty, young teen, that had stunning brown hair. Most of everything, Amalia loved beauty. It bugged her that any place, especially such a pretty one, to be tattered with such annoying sirens. It really was a beautiful storm. The wind was raging, and the hail was pounding on the roof. “Almost like a weather musical,” thought Amalia. “You know, if those stupid sirens weren't howling,”. On a normal day, the sun would shine brightly on the garden, and illuminate the shiny, new, metallic fence. The light breeze would go through the leaves of the perfectly groomed trees. The flower bed would shine with brightly colored flowers. But today, the trees were being pushed around like grass, the flowers being unrooted, and the fence posts ripped loose.. No one thought that anything would happen, because nothing ever did. But when a funnel started forming, people suddenly realized what was happening. It was larger than any tornado funnel California had ever seen. It was

a mile long, and spinning so fast it looked like a blender full of black storm clouds, rain, and hail. As the funnel approached the ground, everyone realized, it was touching down, and nothing would stop it. Amalia though, didn't see it. She was on the other side of town, in the teen girl dorm room. All the girls fifteen to seventeen slept in one room. When all the orphanage had to evacuate, Amaila decided enough was enough. “In my seventeen years on this earth, I have yet to see a single tornado!” she ranted to herself. “I’m not about to go outside, in the middle of a raging storm, so an hour later, I can go back inside!”. Amalia hid inside the closet, while all her dorm-mates went down to the storm shelter. She was certain that nothing would happen, a simple act of defiance. But she paid dearly. The tornado took a U-turn while still in the process of touching down, to come to the other side of town and land right on top of the teen’s dorm room. Amalia, along with most of the orphanage, was sucked up into the vortex, never seen again. It’s like it vanished afterwards. The tornado somehow only took the teen’s dorm room, and went for the town. When it got to the town it killed a third of the town, and almost all of the buildings. Then, it evaporated and took everything with it.

Chapter 2: 50 Years Later

That happened fifty years ago today. A man named Dan was walking down the street. The town was the one next to the one the tornado hit fifty years ago.  Oak street. Dan was going to the orphanage to kill rumors. Rumors that it’s haunted. Rumors that anyone who goes in is doomed to die. He had a video diary to document. He was in Oak town for the night. He lived in Jay Oklahoma. He was one of many people who wanted to solve the riddle of the orphanage. He could hardly contain himself. He couldn't wait to see the famous orphanage! “I’m leaving bright and early tomorrow morning,” he decided over the phone to his wife.

“Alright, but please be careful. Just don’t die okay?” his wife responded frightened.

“Don’t worry so much!” he responded playfully.

After calming his wife, he hung up and considered his position. Was this really a good idea? He questioned his own actions like this almost constantly. He himself has said he would change it if he could, but he can’t. He doubts almost every thought in the world, not only his own. Almost anything that his brain can comprehend, it also doubts. But he quickly made up his mind this time. He would disprove the rumors and be seen as the bravest man in Oklahoma! He thought all this over. He didn't have the slightest fear of this “Amalia Ghost,” nor did he ever consider it. He never was one to believe in things he couldn’t see, especially prove. To him, if science didn’t prove it, it wasn't true. Simple as that. Although, his wife Tae, was more opened minded. She was willing to believe that ghosts could exist. While considering this, Dan fell into an anxious sleep. Meanwhile at the old orphanage, a lot had changed. The new metallic fence was ripped and rusted to the point it looked like sharp metal posts sticking out of the ground. And the teen girl’s room was gone.

Chapter 3: The Orphanage

    At exactly 5:59 A.M. the next morning, Dan jumped out of bed, so excited he almost tripped on his way to his closet. He quickly dressed in his favorite white tee-shirt and baggy jeans. It was a beautiful summer morning, with dew drops covering the flowers. It was about 68 degrees, being only 6:00 A.M. He ran outside so fast he forgot to get his camera. After getting everything he needed, he was on his way. “Okay, and rolling!” He started cheerfully. “Welcome to my document of rumors! As this is the first episode, i'll explain a bit about this series!. This is a series where I prove or disprove rumors. The first one we’ll start with is the rumor of Amalia Grove, and the orphanage,” he finally finished. Then, he cut the footage, waiting until he got to the orphanage to film anymore. He felt so excited, he thought he would explode! He had wanted to prove to the world all sorts of rumors weren't true. This, he decided, would be the first of many rumors he proved wrong. Amalia Grove didn't haunt this orphanage. Ghosts weren't even real! As he pulled up, he questioned himself again. “Is this really safe?” he asked himself. “Like, can the roof fall in on me when i'm in there? Should I have some-one in there with me?” He shook away any doubt, deciding that it had not collapsed yet, it wouldn't now. He walked in. With the sight of the kitchen butcher knives, he jumped a little. This might not have been the best idea, now that he thought of it. Dan walked in further. He decided to put on the camera. “This is Dan, at the sight of the orphanage!” he said, forgetting his fear. “I’m walking into the kitchen! This is history in the making. Look at these bloody kitchen knives they used years ago,” he finished. He walked through the orphanage. In his mind though, he was thinking about the fresh blood on the knives. But, he was only trying to do one thing. Trying not to let the camera see how scared he really was...

Chapter 4: An Unfortunate Setback.

As Dan walked into a hallway, he heard something. a whisper, almost like the wind. Trying not to let it get to him, he walked a little further, all the way making comments like, “extravagant,” and “amazing,” into the camera, when he heard something much louder. It was a storm. An amazing storm, with raging wind, and hail the size of baseballs. He knew what would happen immediately. Before he said a word to the camera, he was out of the orphanage, in his car, and speeding down the bustling intersection. Only then, did he speak. “The winds just picked up! A tornadoes going to touch down any minute now!” and he couldn’t have been more right. A tornado, bigger than the one that took the orphanage, would touch down, right after Dan got into Oak Town. When he got to his room, he looked at the giant, rampaging everywhere, but the orphanage. He looked up, and saw nothing. It never ended. It went up, and up, all the way to heaven. The sirens started. His wives ringtone rang out. He was too stunned to answer. He just let it ring while he, and the camera, watched the beast destroy the town.

Chapter 5: Determination

The next day, Dan woke to find 27 missed calls from Tae. He called her back to tell her he was okay. “I THOUGHT YOU DIED IN A TORNADO!!” screamed Tae. “DO YOU EVEN CARE HOW MUCH I CRIED OVER YOU!”

“Sorry Tae,” replied Dan timidly. “I didn’t mean to make you worry. I was just shocked thats all,”.

“Well, if you EVER do that again, I promise, you’ll regret it,” she said, calming down a little. “It’s weird though. The weather said it happened very randomly,”

“Yeah, it did. I wonder why?” Dan asked thoughtfully. “Well, I better be going. Big day today!”

“Okay, but PLEASE DONT DIE!” worried Tae.

“Okay, bye,” said Dan, eager to get off the phone. After the phone call ended, Dan took a look outside.

Everything was, gone. Everything, except one building. The orphanage stood high and mighty over the rubble. Dan decided to go for it again. Nothing like that would happen again. Not twice in a row. And now, the town had “evacuated”, as Dan said, so it would be easier getting in.

Dan drove down the empty two-lane highway to the orphanage. He turned on the camera. “Mild setback folks. We had ourselves a bit of a weather problem!” he under exaggerated. “Let’s look inside, shall we?”. He walked inside, this time, more mentally prepared. He passed the kitchen without even thinking much about it. “Here’s where we left off last time!” Then, he heard the same whisper, but this time, a little louder.

Chapter 6: Thank You

“AHH!” he yelled. He turned off the camera immediately. Turning, he asked, “what do you want?” the whisper came again. This time he understood. It was a girl. Amalia Grove. “I gave you a chance to run,” she said ghostly. “But you came back. Now, you will die here, and your body will rot in the cellar with all the others,”.

Dan quickly turned on the camera. “Im not crazy!” he yelled. “Listen! Listen!”.

Amalia started singing in a eerie melody. “I gave you a chance, but you let it go. So now you will die, your wife a widow,” she ended.

“See! The rumors real!” he said, almost going insane. “Oh my god, I need to get out,”.

“Sorry” said Amalia. “ I can't let you leave.” She appeared and smiled. “Alive,”. Dan ran as fast as he could to a fire exit. He figured if he could leave, he was safe. Unfortunately, every door was sealed. Randomly, he appeared somewhere else. In the teen girls dorm, fifty years ago. Looking at a teen girl, in a closet. As a roaring got louder from a distance away, he knew what would happen. “If you can convince me to leave, ill let you live,” Amalia stated blankly. Then, she disappeared.

“Please Amalia!” started Dan. “While there is still time, you must run!” Amalia looked at him like he was stupid, as if waiting for more. “A tornado will come, and you will die, and kill thousands of men. Please go underground!” Amalia looked unimpressed. She gave it the, “heard it all before” face. “ Please! I beg you! Go now, or the tornado will destroy the whole room, with you in it!

“No, nothing you do or say will make me leave. I will not change my mind, I will stick with my instincts,” Amalia said, almost like it was rehearsed.  The wind outside had been howling, but now it grew louder.

“PLEASE! DO YOU WANT TO DIE, IS THAT IT?” he asked with as much determination as his body