The Tornado

It was just starting to drizzle as I walked out the door
But I’ve delivered papers in the rain like that before
Three thirty in the morning, I was happy as a lark
As I grabbed my bike and rode into the dark

I pedaled through the neighborhood, the weather on my mind
The wind was picking up and howling louder all the time
The sky churned like a cauldron and the distant thunder roared
And I knew that I was in for quite a storm

A little rain never hurt no one so I kept pressing on
And I tried to tell myself, it’s always darkest before the dawn

Lightning struck an oak tree as I leapt off my bike
The sirens started wailing but there was no good place to hide
I knew without a doubt, there was a twister touching down
So I crawled into a culvert to wait it out

The little bit of courage I had left was almost gone
But I tried to tell myself, it’s always darkest before the dawn

And then the nightmare started, it got deafeningly loud
Everything fiber in me screamed out but I couldn’t make a sound
The whirling of a vortex, a violent carousel
It sounded like a freight train was dragging me to hell

And this was my prayer: Save me from this terrible nightmare

That was when I saw my family with my eyes shut real tight
Would they know how much I loved them if this was how I died?
No, I vowed I’d not be murdered by a monster in the sky that night

But if I went home to heaven, at least that’s where I'd belong
Yeah, I tried to tell myself, it’s always darkest before the dawn
So I kept hanging on
I kept hanging on

The shadows slowly melted as I was hunkered down
Till at last the worst was over, the storm was dying out
I crept out of that culvert and I went weak in the knees
'cause what I saw was a somber sight to see

There was nothing but destruction and wreckage in that town
Cars were upside down and houses leveled to the ground
A twisted trampoline was hanging from the power lines
I blinked a tear back 'cause I felt lucky to be alive

And that was how I learned to live when you can run, but you can’t hide
How to feel trapped in a tunnel but come out the other side
'cause with all the stormy weather in the world, you learn to take
Life one storm at a time, you don’t have to be afraid

And now when there’s bad weather on the way, I stay calm
And I keep hanging on because it’s always darkest before the dawn

And I keep hanging on
I keep hanging on