The Thirty Fifth Story

The Tornado Show:

A few years ago (maybe quite a few years ago?) I did Falcon Ridge Folk Festival as a vendor. Business was slow, but I was having a grand time, so that was ok. Two of my friends were along, helping out, so I was able to go see some music, and we were very near the main stage, so even while in the booth, things were not bad. Falcon Ridge folk festival is four or five days long, and the kinda thing where you camp on site and no one has any access to any information from the outside world (also, no one has soap or running water). It is grand. On the last day, while my friends were off at a contra dance thing, the wind picked up really suddenly. I stood up and grabbed the upper horizontal pole on the backside of my tent. Immediately, I felt the whole thing start tugging. Being the contrary person that I am, I dug my toes into the mud and held on- this put my face to the back wall, so when the hail started falling, there I was. I heard someone in the front of my booth. I was never able to let go long enough to turn around, and thus, have no idea what pronoun to use, but for the rest of the story we will go with "him" for no apparent reason. He shouted back at me (yes, it's only ten feet, yes, shouting was necessary) and asked if I wanted him to hold the front. I, naturally, said yes. He held the front of my tent and narrated as everything else started going down- first other vendor tents, then the cafeteria tent, then parts of the main stage. As the storm passed, he complimented me on my tent staking skills, said he thought things were good, and left. The friends came running back with information. A tornado had touched down at another spot on the farm, and more were expected within 15 minutes. I figured we could get out of there in ten. I sent one of the friends for the car, and the other and I packed everything up. Turns out I sent a person who can't drive stick to get my manual transmission car, but it did make it back, and we were, in fact, out of there in 7 minutes flat. I still think that's impossible, but as it is also impossible that my little ten by ten pavilion stood up to a tornado, you'll just have to  believe it.