"The Storm" Josh's entry into the SMH writing competition. Please read and leave a comment.

It was Friday night and the weather outside was terrible. It was raining so hard we could hardly hear ourselves think. My family had just sat down to dinner when there was a loud bash at the front door. We all looked at each other thinking who could that be on such an awful night. My Dad answered the door and there stood a man in an SES uniform soaking wet. He told us we had to leave and go to the shelter as the storm was too bad and they didn’t know if it would get worse. My Dad said that he would send his family to the shelter but if the man could wait a minute he would help get others to safety. Dad grabbed his rain jacket, a rope and a torch while the rest of us grabbed pillows and blankets to keep us warm during the night. My Mum drove us to the shelter. The drive was awful, rain was bucketing down, lightening was flashing everywhere and the wind was so strong it felt like the car was going to be blown away. I saw some lightening strike a tree and it fell on my neighbour’s car. Dad and Rod, the SES officer found out their next job was to make sure no one was still at the beach. While walking along the beach front a huge wave crashed against the beach wall. They were caught. The wave crashed down onto Dad, soaking him. It pushed him over. Luckily, Dad was OK. When he looked up he couldn’t see Rod anywhere. All Dad could hear was someone screaming for help. It was coming from the water. Dad grabbed his torch and shone it in the water. It was so dark and rainy he couldn’t see a thing, but he continued to hear the screaming. Luckily Dad didn’t give up searching. He finally found Rod in the water. The waves were so big and strong Rod was struggling to swim back to shore. Dad threw his rope out to Rod, he missed it. Dad tried again. This time Rod grabbed it. Carefully Dad pulled him back to shore as quick as a flash. Rod was OK. He just had some scrapes and bruises on his legs. Later that night Dad came to the shelter to wait out the storm. When he told us his story, I exclaimed “You’re a hero, Dad! You saved someone’s life.” The next morning the storm had disappeared. On the drive home the destruction was everywhere. We were all shocked but I at least my family was safe.