#SpringFlingKidlit 2024

I’m so excited to enter another fun contest for creators in the KidLit world! The 2024 Spring Fling Writing Contest, hosted by Ciara O’Neal and Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez, challenges entrants to write a story in 150 words or less, coupled with a spring-related gif.

I was really waiting for inspiration to strike for this one, and strike it did, just last night. Severe weather swept through a large part of the country, including mine. At the sound of the tornado siren, my kids and I tucked ourselves into a storage room in the interior of our house and listened keenly to the storm outside. Well, actually, my boys somehow fell fast asleep on the hardwood floor, and my daughter and I stayed up, tracking the storm. She was the inspiration I needed. Please enjoy Storm Chaser.

PS: A huge thank you to the many judges who are giving their time and talents to make this contest happen. Please check out their work HERE.

Storm Chaser

by Libby Demmon

(word count: 150)

Pressure drops, rumbles rise

Purple clouds fill up the skies

Keening notes soar through the air

Signaling a funnel there

Mama hears the siren too

We both know just what to do

Bringing pillows to the room

We cozy up next to the broom

No windows in our storage space

To look this storm straight in the face

I want to see the sky like this

All charged, alive, and furious

I shiver, but I’m not afraid

I wonder how a storm is made

Cuddled up and listening hard

Hailstones bouncing in the yard

Mama’s screen is shining bright

I peek to watch the satellite

Colors sweep across the city

Mesmerizing, even pretty

Soon, there’s not much left to hear

Until the siren sounds “All Clear”

Quiet winds and dawdling drops

Linger though the lightning stops

Back in bed, new dream clouds form

And rumble as I chase the storm