Tornado Tango

Tornado sirens sung their tune all throughout town. Oliver Thomas quickly packed some valuables, checked the locks on the front door, and headed down into his basement. Oliver shut the basement door and locked it behind him before descending the stairs. The basement didn't contain much, but it did contain a television and a phone. Besides, who could complain about shelter? Oliver set down the knick-knacks he had gathered and flipped on the television to keep an eye on the weather.

The wind rattled on and a couple of minutes passed until Oliver heard something crash against his house. "This is it," he muttered aloud. The wind began to beat furiously on the basement door, or so Oliver thought. Angry screams ended that fantasy.

"Let me in! I'm going to die out here!"

Oliver turned his view from the TV to the basement door. He was dumbstruck and then very afraid. Someone had broken into his house.

"I know you're down there! I can hear the TV," continued the malevolent male voice which proceeded to grow more disturbing.

Oliver sat in silence, partially because he was frozen in terror, and partially because he figured the invader would go away if ignored. It worked; the screaming ceased and the wind was all that could be heard. At least that was the case until the door began to splinter as a nicely sized knife stabbed into it repeatedly.

"You should have let me in, now I'm going to flay you!"

Oliver stood up and began frantically searching the basement for anything that could be used to cause even a small degree of harm. Oliver reluctantly decided to use his bowling trophy on the grounds that it was long and could, hopefully, be used to bat away the assailant's knife.

The psychopath had hacked a decent sized hole in the door and stuck his face in it to look around. Oliver noted the man's face. It was rather plain with black, greasy hair and a twisted smile being the only remarkable features.

"Time to tango," bellowed the man right before removing his head from the door and continuing to slash at it.

Oliver gripped the trophy tight and; then, set it down as he picked up the phone and began dialing 9-1-1. As the line began to ring, the power went out, stranding Oliver in darkness. Oliver picked up the trophy and backed up into a corner, refusing to take his eyes off of the door.

The intruder stuck his arm through the freshly cut opening and unlocked the door.

"I'm going to enjoy our time together," he said calmly as he opened the basement door. The intruder moved his right leg forward and was gone; carried away by the tornado.

Oliver couldn't believe it. He slumped down in the corner and began to cry tears of joy. He had never imagined that he would be so happy to have a tornado destroy his home.