We Prepared

We Prepared “Papa, is it true that another typhoon will hit the country?” I asked. “Yes, son! So, make some preparation,” said Papa. I quickly looked for my big sisters. “Ate Princess, Ate Britney, let’s prepare for the upcoming typhoon,” I said. “But, how?” Ate Princess asked. “Yay! Weird! Can’t you see we’re playing dolls. Besides, storm is a normal and natural occurrence. It happens more than 20 times in a year,” Ate Britney explained. “But typhoon Ulysses is different. I heard in the news that it might be more destructive than other storms. So, we better prepare,” I said. “Ate, he’s right. We must prepare,” Ate Princess told Ate Britney. “I have also seen on tv the damages done by storm Rolly. It might happen to us if we will not prepare. I don’t want to lose our possession.” Ate Britney thought awhile, then he got up. “Okay! You, two, are both weird! I will not help you. I’d rather play than to go with you.” Then, she left us. Ate Princess and I went downstairs and talked about the preparations. Ten minutes later, we are gathering whistles, flashlight, match, lighter, candles, bottled water, easy-open canned goods, crackers, emergency kit, ropes, Swiss knife, compass, and many others. We then put them all in a plastic box with tight lid. Then, we went back upstairs to get our important papers and documents, like birth certificates and the like. “Oh, my God!” Ate Princess exclaimed. We saw Ate Britney sorting out our important documents. She smiled at us. “I’m helping you now. Lola Carmen reprimanded me, so I realized that you are both right. I’m sorry,” Ate Britney said. “It’s alright, Ate Britney!” I said. “Let’s do this!” The three of us, planned our next steps. Later, we are helping our father in preparing the surrounding. As he cut some branches of the tress, we gather them. We also assisted him in fixing the broken windows and other parts of our house. He also checked the electrical connection. Afterwards, we altogether cooked pork adobo and rice. We doubled the usual amount of them so that we will not get starve when the going gets rough. Being ready is the best we can do to fight calamities. Mama called from aboard to check us if we are ready. “Yes! We’re very much ready,” Papa said. “It’s all because our little boy is a smart boy. He motivated us to prepare. “Wow! You’re such a grown-up boy! I’m so proud of you. I’m so happy even though I’m not with you right now. All I can wish for is your safety. And don’t forget to pray,” Mama said. “Yes, Mama!” Ate Britney, Ate Princess, and I replied. “Keep safe, too, Mama!” I said. Thank you, God bless you all!” said Mama before she said goodbye. As the storm Ulysses made its landfall, all of us are praying that no one will get harmed. The roaring sounds of the wind added terror to us. It washed away the branches of the caimito tree. It slammed our house rhythmically. The tremendous rain continued. “Oh, my God!” Ate Princess exclaimed. “Look, it’s flooded outside.” I peeped on the window and saw the flood slowly invading our surrounding. “What will happen if it comes up higher?” I asked. “Don’t worry. We are safe here,” Ate Britney said. Minutes later, we all shouted when the electricity was cut. “Papa! Papa!” shouted Ate Princess. “Ate, don’t panic. We are here.” I told her. I then come to her. “Papa is downstairs. It’s okay!” Ate Britney came near to Ate Princess as well. “Let’s go to Lola Carmen,” she said. We felt safe when we were together. The wind blew even more harder. It was a terrifying experience. We often shout for fear every time we hear some noise on our roof. We were afraid we lose it. “Don’t worry. We’re safe because we asked God to protect us,” said Lola Carmen. “Yes, that’s true, Lola,” I said. “Besides, we prepared.”