小毛人系列之《暴风雨之夜》Just a Big Storm （附原文）

Just a Big Storm A storm was coming. We saw dark clouds and lightning in the distance. “Let’s check the weather channel,” said Mom. The weather critter said, “A big storm with lightning, rain, and hail will pass right over Critterville.” “We better get ready for anything,” Dad said. “We may lose power.” Dad checked all the flashlights. Little Sister and I got water in buckets for the toilet. We put up a sign that read, “Remember: Pour water in tank before you flush.” We filled up pots at the sink for drinking water. We put a sign on the fridge: “Do not open.” Then we rescued stuff from our yard. The wind began to blow. It blew harder and harder. It began to rain, too. I saw our neighbor’s garbage can fly right past our window. Suddenly, the power went out. It was getting dark and we couldn’t turn on a light. Mom and Dad got out our battery-powered lanterns, and everyone had their very own flashlight. The wind was cold, so Dad built a fire in the woodstove. We made knots out of newspaper to start the fire. We found an old phone in the closet and plugged it into the wall. Did you know old phones work sometimes when you have no power? I called some of my friends. They didn’t have any power either. I asked Mom and Dad if I could have everyone come over for a sleepover. Mom and Dad said, “No.” That didn’t seem fair. We baked potatoes in the woodstove and made grilled cheese with a pie iron. I was careful and didn’t touch the hot stove. We played board games by lantern light. “This is just like camping,” I said. We got sleeping bags and all slept on the living room floor. Dad told ghost stories. There was lots of thunder and lightning. I wasn’t scared. I snuggled real close to Mom, just in case. We couldn’t sleep. Mom read a book to us. Dad fell asleep first. When we woke up, our power was back on. We saw the power company critters working on the electrical poles. That was neat. I was sad that it was all over, but Mom and Dad were happy. They said they wanted to take showers. Why would they want to do that? Our phone rang. It was Grandma and Grandpa. They were worried about us. “Grandma, it wasn’t so bad,” I said. “It was just a big storm.”