The First Chase

The First Chase

The skyline over the Ohio landscape had darkened quickly. It was a quiet Sunday late afternoon when the three of us decided to go for a ride in the country. Watching the sky transform into a giant black raincloud, the three of us were staring with awe as one of us said “Oh, my God, this is going to be a huge one.” 

Minutes after saying this the wind picked up and the rain drops began to fall on us as we had the top down on the brand new 1965 blue convertible Corsair 4 single barrel carbureted hot rod driven by my cousin and headed straight to hell. Sticking his tongue out my brother said he could feel the ice in the raindrops. 

In a moment after peeking at the dashboard clock I said it was five o’clock. It had already turned into the evening back when we were kids in Ohio, hanging out with our cool and crazy adult cousin. We were riding in his car when we spotted the sky dancing as we watched a transformation of twisting and turning white puffy clouds into darkened evil looking funnel clouds in the distance. 

We had never been this close before and before we knew it the spiteful winds coming from all sides were attempting to suck us out of the car prompting us to use the seat belts for the very first time we were in this car. 

Instantly and without a warning, the sun disappeared and the blackness became immense as it surrounded us quickly without a warning. The corn fields went into motion as the stalks swayed back and forth at a rapid rate keeping up with the wind and it’s whipping punishing force that ripped corn right off the stalks. We began to realize we were headed straight into a tornado.

Never before were we so close to a tornado as the mere presence of this evil looking funnel cloud mesmerized us into coming closer and created an unexplained obsession to drive even faster to catch up with it and spend a few dangerous moments inside the storm. 

Moments before the up-drafting wind caught us by surprise as I saw my brother lift out of his seat. I grabbed him by his pants and held him down so he would not leave us and join the wind. It was something most exhilarating but at the same the scariest thing we had ever done. 

Curious about the storm he had leaned forward and practically put his nose on the windshield glass when the storm swooped by us and attempted to take him along with the swirling debris that surrounded us. 

The wind appeared to be vertical and changing rapidly to a horizontal flow without warning. Then the hail began to beat our bodies as the top was flat and the wind was too much to try to put it back up as we slowed down a bit and pulled the car roadside for a moment to attempt this feat. 

Shearing winds caused us to slow down a bit as the force was rapidly overcoming the ability to stay on the road. Before we knew it we were in the midst of a severe thunderstorm as lightening lit up the sky and striking the ground like the war god Thor’s hammer. The little car did the best it could but the force of the storm was much greater than the car’s weight to stay on the ground.

Like three fools on the open highway we took off again chasing the storm and trying to catch up with it. The sky had changed colors again as it turned orange like with mixtures of grey and black. It was like looking at a painter’s easel as he mixed the bright and darkened colors with a brush and swiped the sky with a broad brush making it all look dark and black.

As we bolted down the highway, we watched that tornado turn into two twin funnel clouds deciding to follow the one on the right because it followed the road as the other funnel cloud departed to the opposite side. The cloud resembled a dancing rope dangling there and picking up dirt and anything else in its path.

It didn’t seem to do any serious harm as we were in the open country and no houses nearby the storm to do any damage. The warm air and the moisture that soaked us was most prevalent as we watched the rotation rise and fall in a counterclockwise motion crazed with a force that was most evil and with a most destructive intent to find something to break.

Weary from fighting the wind at the wheel and keeping the car on the road, my cousin said ‘okay, I’m going to stop because I am too tired to go on.” The Corsair came to a halt as we watched the storm depart in the distance and the wind howled around our heads telling us to stay where we were so we can be safe and out of its reach.

Getting out of the car and standing at the edge of the road we squint our eyes to rub out the dirt and moisture that the wind had lashed us wish and watched as a smaller third funnel cloud coiled out of the sky. It was a very long lasting tornado. A storm we would never forget. 

It went on the ground for miles on this Ohio country road and luckily there were no people barns or animals near it. It was a violent storm, a most delirious storm and it was the very first tornado we had ever seen from this close to its existence. The mystery of the storm was never revealed to anyone. We kept it close to our hearts as we wiped our foreheads covered with sweat rain and dirt. Suddenly the sun reappeared as the storm lumbered down the countryside. 

Lightening flickered and power lines were returning back to normal as they had been swinging madly when this storm was near. The sun lightened the sky again as it created a shadow of the three people in the car.