Typhoon!

Thomas Chan woke up early. He looked out of the window. It was sunny! He thought, ‘It’s not raining. I can go outside and play.’ He was excited because today was Saturday. There was no school!

Thomas liked school, but he liked Saturdays more.

Thomas lived in Hong Kong. He was ten years old. He lived with his mother, father and grandmother. Thomas also had a pet parrot.

Her name was Polly, and she was very noisy ‘Good morning, Thomas!’ shouted Polly. ‘Good morning, Polly!’ said Thomas. ‘Goodbye, Thomas,’ said Mrs Chan. ‘Have a nice day!’ said Mr Chan.

Thomas’s parents worked in a bank in the city. They went to work early.

‘Goodbye, Mum. Goodbye, Dad. See you later!’ said Thomas.

‘Oh, please buy some rice, Thomas,’ said Mrs Chan. ‘Grandma will give you some money’

‘Okay, Mum,’ said Thomas.

After his parents went to work, Thomas got dressed quickly. He wanted to go and see his best friend, Peter. Peter lived in the flat below Thomas’s flat.

Grandma was already in the kitchen. She liked to make breakfast for the family.

First Thomas gave Polly her breakfast. Then they started to eat their breakfast. Thomas turned on the radio. A voice said, ‘Here’s the news about the typhoon. Typhoon Tess is 150 kilometres south of Hong Kong. It’s coming north at 50 kilometres per hour. The typhoon signal number 8 is now up, so people should not go outside.’

‘Why is the typhoon called Tess?’ asked Thomas.

‘Typhoons always have names,’ answered Grandma.

‘Sometimes they have boys’ names and sometimes they have girls’ names.’