The wind was whipping off Lake Michigan and furiously rattling Becky's bedroom window. Ghostly shadows dashed across the walls with each blinding flash of lightning.
Several seconds later the growl of thunder seemed to shake the whole house.
"I want Dad," Becky cried to her brother.
"Stop your whining and turn the light off!" yelled Mitch.
"No, I'm scared -- Dad!" Becky cried out. Finally, their father appeared at the bedroom door.
"Tell her to stop being a baby, I'm trying to sleep," brother Mitch said angrily.
"Cut it out, Mitch," his dad said sternly. "I seem to recall it wasn't too long ago when you would hide under the bed with Scruffy Bear during a storm."
He pulled the pillow over this head so his sister couldn't see him blushing with embarrassment.
"Now, Becky, there's nothing to be afraid of," her father began. "Why, that lightning is miles away."
"No, it's not," argued Becky. "It's on top of the house!"
"It may seem close, but it's really a long way off. Let's see, it's -- "
After the next bright flash of lightning, Becky's dad began counting. When he reached 11, a loud clap of thunder shook the room. "It's more than two miles away!"
"How do you know that?" sobbed Becky.
"That's easy. Light travels thousands of times faster than sound. The lightning and thunder occur at the same time, but you see the lightning immediately and hear the thunder later. It takes about five seconds for the thunder to travel one mile. So when you see the lightning flash, start counting. If you hear the thunder five seconds later, the lightning is actually about one mile away," explained her father.
"So if you hear it 10 seconds later, it's two miles away! But what if you hear it after two seconds?
"About half a mile, dummy!" yelled her brother.
"That's enough Mitch!" Dad snapped back. "But he's right, Becky. The closer the storm, the less you have to count. But don't worry, this storm will soon be gone. So come on, let's get to sleep."
Her father walked toward the door and turned off the light.
"As for you, young man," he said, turning back to Mitch, "try and be a little more understanding."
Mitch could hear his sister quietly counting, and he began smiling to himself.
"What are you doing?" asked Becky, who could see her brother throwing things around in the closet, searching for something with a flashlight.
"Here, catch," called out Mitch, tossing something into the air.
Just then, a flash of lightning illuminated the room again, and Becky could see a strange yellow object flying toward her. "What's this?" she asked.
"That's my old teddy bear -- Scruffy Bear. He'll look after you until the storm passes," Mitch said. "Now go to sleep."
"This is just a stuffed toy. I'm not a baby!" Becky said.
Mitch began to count, like their dad had done a few moments earlier.
"Twenty seconds between the lightning and the thunder, now!" said Mitch, trying to sound as reassuring as his dad. "The storm's now four miles away. See, it's almost over."
But Becky didn't answer. Mitch shone his flashlight toward her bed. Scruffy Bear was tucked tightly under his sister's arm. And Becky was sound asleep.
--
Special thanks to Jennifer Olson for this week's illustration. To see more of her work visit:
childrensillustrators.com/jennifergrayolson.
Next week: A story about space technology courtesy of Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
