Devastation itself thrashed through Oklahoma yesterday in the form of many horrifying tornadoes. Bouncing down the streets and destroying houses like they were nothing at all, the tornadoes did approximately 8.5 million dollars in damage by the time the storms were over. Here is one witness's account of the tornado that swept through his neighborhood destroying his house.

     "I made my kids go to the cellar, but then I realized that I didn't have my twine ball with me."

     Confidential sources say that at this point he slammed the cellar door and allegedly ran up the stairs only tripping twice, to get his twine ball.

     "It was like there was a supernatural force was carrying him. I've never seen a man with such a purpose in all my life." said one key figure.

     At 4:38 p.m., Tuesday, May 3rd, Josiah Harnekey mustered up all his strength and courage and ran up the cellar stairs to and in to his house. There he saw his prized twine ball. He then started running toward it, but just as he was about to get there, he saw the side of his house furiously explode off the rest of the structure.

     "I would say, he was possessed by something stronger than the tornado," said his wife when asked her thoughts on how he escaped certain beating or even death from the tornado.

     "I saw my twine ball start to scoot across the floor and toward the black funnel. I knew then what i had to do." said Josiah.

     He dashed into action. Jumping over the table and landing on the sofa, he grabbed the arm of the chair that had been bolted down just days before because "the dumb thing kept on falling over." He saw the twine ball being caught up in the funnel, and as it was spiraling, the end came loose and whapped him right across the cheek. This was no longer just about getting the twine ball for Josiah Harnekey, no, it was now about showing the tornado he was not going to take this kind of abuse any longer.

     The second revolution of the twine barely missed his head and he grabbed it. "It stung real bad." is how he described it when the twine hit his hand, but he was not about to let go. He held fast to the twine until the storm ceased. As soon as it was all over and done with, Josiah Harnekey jumped to his feet and held up the now-unraveled twine. He slowly formed it back into a ball, then went to get the rest of his family from the cellar.

     Though his house was thrashed, and all his porcelain kittens were broken, he still had his ball of twine. This is not just a story about a man and his twine ball, but about courage, love, and pain. Some will laugh at this story (you are sick) and others will cry (emotional hazards), but most will just say, "Wow, now that man loves his twine."

      Pirk