Btw, there's a lot of splits in this chapter for when it changes view from Whoville to Horton.
I don't own Horton Hears a Who or any related characters.
An Unnatural Disaster
Chapter 4
Horton was getting extremely close to the cave on Mt. Nool. He scrambled up the last few footholds and blindly hoisted himself into the cave.
He instantly fell to the ground, his heart was racing.
"F…fin…ally!" He panted.
"Ne…ver… again…" He struggled to catch his breath.
As he looked around the cave, his heart nearly stopped. He gasped. Oh, no. It was slightly flooded.
Well, at least it wasn't as bad as the jungle was. Unlike the jungle, the water in here wasn't nearly as deep.
As he got up, he suddenly noticed the sunflower that was nearly submerged in water.
Water was beating down on it from the hole in the ceiling of the cave.
"Oh, no!" He gasped.
He ran over to the sunflower without hesitation and instantly started yanking on the thick stem.
He tried desperately to get it out of the water and out of the rain…
The mayor sat on the roof, huddled together with his wife and kids. The water had risen so high in their home that they had been forced up onto the roof. Sally approached him.
"I'm scared. Ned. I really want to think that everything is going to turn out okay...but… " She held back a tear, forcing herself not to cry again, knowing it would only worry Ned further if she did that to him.
"I'm not sure either." Ned said gloomily, shaking his head. He sighed.
"Well, I suppose all we can do now is hope that we will be saved again."
"Let's hope for the best." He agreed, lightening up a little bit, trying to have hope and forcing a smile.
All of a sudden, the ground shook and the gravity shifted slightly from side to side.
All the Whos felt it, stirring up more chaos and confusion.
Horton continued yanking vigorously on the sunflower.
When the thick stem suddenly snapped, Horton was thrown back, still clutching the sunflower in his trunk.
He landed on the ground, panting heavily.
The gravity of Whoville suddenly shifted sharply to one side, along with the rain. "Ah!" The Mayor exclaimed in surprise as his world shifted to one side.
Ned was sent helplessly tumbling toward the edge of the roof.
Though, this sudden tilting was only brief and gravity quickly returned to normal.
At the last second, the Mayor managed to reach out and clutch the gutter pipe that ran around his roof.
His wife was at his side in an instant, followed by his children who all helped hoist him back up onto the roof.
"…thanks…" he muttered, panting like crazy, trying to catch his breath.
He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take,
He hadn't been this scared in his life since 8 months ago. What should he do?! What should he do?!
He looked down at the rising waters. There was no hope left. It was all over.
He forced himself not to scream or cry, trying desperately not to panic.
Horton quickly recovered from the shock of being knocked onto the ground.
"Hello…? Mayor, are you there? Are you okay…? Mayor!?" Horton called franticly down to the speck.
After Ned had finally managed to calm himself down, something suddenly made him stop cold that wasn't the rain.
He heard something, even though it was very faint and barely audible.
But he was sure he heard it, and what's more, he could've sworn that he had heard it before.
His eyes instantly focused on the horn outside his office, though he was barely able to make it out through the storm.
Without another thought, the Mayor set off towards his office.
He ignored the shouts of 'Where are you going, Ned?' from his wife and 'Daddy, what are you doing?' from his kids as he made his way across the dark rooftops and winding staircases.
The rain pounded down on him, as if it were trying to stop him from reaching his destination.
He finally reached the winding stairs leading up to his office. He hurried up the steps to his office and scurried onto the balcony.
"…H…hello…? Are y-you okay!? Hello?? MAYOR!?" He heard Horton call desperately through the horn.
The Mayor smiled for the first time that day. It was him! Excitedly, he called back to Horton.
"Horton! I can't believe it, you're back!" The Mayor called into the horn joyfully.
Hearing the Mayor answer him, Horton almost danced with joy but stopped himself, knowing it would upset Whoville.
"MAYOR!! YOU'RE OKAY!!" Horton shouted in response, nearly blowing Ned off the balcony.
As Ned recovered, he suddenly noticed the huge body of water below him… oh, no… it wasn't below him anymore!
It had nearly reached the balcony!
Realization dawned on him as he noticed that the rain was still coming down hard and the water was rising at an astonishing rate.
He was already up to his knees in water!
"It's a disaster!!" He called out desperately, now up to his legs in water.
"The entire city's flooded! Please…just do something, anything Horton!" The water now reached his waist
"Time is running out! PLEASE, HELP!!" He was now up to his neck, barely keeping his head above the water.
"HOOOR- BLBBBFHH!!" He gurgled as the water covered his mouth.
Horton was terrified at how desperately the Mayor called out to him. What should he do?! What should he do?! He wondered franticly.
As he heard his friend suddenly start spluttering, he gasped in horror. He had to act…NOW!!
He couldn't let this happen… there had to be someway to stop it.
Horton desperately needed a solution, so he did the first thing that came to mind.
He turned the sunflower upside-down, praying that no harm would come of it and that it would work.
At once, Whoville was flipped upside-down, with the water now falling toward the sky. The water escaped through a hole in the atmosphere, previously created by the shouts of 'We are here'. As the water drained, the citizens of Whoville, including the Mayor, grabbed desperately onto buildings, which stayed rooted to the ground.
Horton watched the tiny puddle of water drain out of the speck. Jeez, that was one huge flood if it had consisted of enough water to be visible to him.