Qiutong Lu

Story of My Cousin

A typhoon was approaching, on the day before my cousin’s vacation was set to start. He worried that the typhoon would keep him in school, and he wouldn’t be able to enjoy his whole vacation, so he started to bike back home. He was making good time, but as he reached an overpass, the typhoon began, its spiraling winds and harsh rains pushed him in many directions, making it harder for his bike to move on. As the wind grew stronger and stronger, large raindrops soaked him, and made it hard for him to see, or get control of his bike. The wind pushed him frighteningly close to the edge of the bridge, trying to blow him off the overpass, to be flung to his death below. Luckily, his bike topples over before the bridge’s edge, and gets stuck in the posts of the railing.. Amidst the windy chaos all around him, he holds onto the rails, staying firm in his grip, the only thing between him and fall below. What seemed like forever, he braced himself against the typhoon, until finally, the wind weakened, and he could safely exit the overpass. Clearly shaken, he shared his wonder and humility of the power of nature, a power that could have taken his life, yet chose to save him.

“An illustration of my cousin’s extraordinary experience of riding into a typhoon. ”