Here is one I wrote into a story. When I finished it, it wasn't close to the conversation that started it, but the original is too good not to share.
Actually it is not so much a conversation as a monolog. The time was a little after ten p.m. on a dark, stormy summer night. The location was the library basement in our small town--the public tornado shelter. There were about thirty people in the shelter. Nobody was saying much. I was holding my very frightened grand daughter in my arms. Even in the basement we could hear the sirens, the thunder, the wind, rain and hail. The lights were going on and off. A woman in her fifties began to talk to a neighbor of hers, maybe just to calm herself, maybe to calm us all. Eventually everyone was listening and commenting.
"I got hurt real bad in a tornado once. Real bad".
I think someone finally said "You did?" or words to that effect. It clearly wasn't a popular topic.
"Yeah. I was fifteen. We were living in Okalahoma, just outside Midwest City. It was about eleven in the morning. Dad was at work. Mom had to run to the store to get something for lunch. Since I was oldest I was in charge. It was a sunny day and my sisters and brothers were scattered all over the neighborhood. Then it clouded up real dark, real fast. I didn't think much about it, past closing the windows."
The neighbor nodded. "I guess you wouldn't."
"Nope I didn't. And then all hell broke loose. The TV went to fuzz so I turned on the radio and tried to get a station but then sirens went off."
"Did they spot one?"
"Yup. The radio said it was coming straight for us. I ran outside and that rain felt just like hail. The wind was blowing me sideways but I got all the kids rounded up, and then the cat and the dogs. I took them all into the house and into the basement."
"Were they scared?"
"Oh yeah. But I wasn't. It was strange but running around in the wind and sirens made me brave. I decided that since I had made it through the storm so far, I might as well stay outside and see a real tornado."
"Good grief."
The lady shrugged. "As kids go, I was stupider than most. I had a dog leash in my hand so I used it to tie myself to this metal railing that was like a porch pillar. I used the other leash to tie my hand to the mail box."
"Oh Jeez."
"Yeah. Really. And then the hail started. It hurt but I couldn't get loose."
"Did you see the tornado?"
"No. I saw my mom. She came tearing up in our car. There was a trash can sticking through the passenger window! She jumped out of the car and ran for the house but then she saw me on the porch. She grabbed my hand and tried to pull me into the house but when she saw that I was tied to the mail box she went nuts. I mean, she was pretty hysteric to start with, but that capped it off. She started smacking me and trying to save me, all at the same time and hollering too. When she finally got me loose she chased me all the way to the basement, smacking me and screaming 'You could have been hurt! When Dad got home he asked me what happened to my face. Mom said "She got hurt in the tornado."
By the time she finished the story everyone was laughing