This is as far as I am in this story so far, I have a couple more sections to add. I wanted to get some sample of my writing up here for now. Hope you guys enjoy!
Sunset
It
was just before sunset and, like most summer evenings, it was warm and the sky
was a clear blue. My family and I sat on the patio and waited for the sun to
set while the smell of smoke still clung to the air. We were having a barbeque
at my mother’s house. We heard the sirens after coffee but before dessert.
They
demanded we head to the nearest shelter immediately.
We
were prepared. The news had been warning us for months this could happen. So,
we had practiced. The plan was for me to grab the first aid kit, stuffed in a
backpack full of necessities. My father would carry the larger bag of supplies,
and my mother would be responsible for my little sister.
Now
it was really happening. My mom’s screaming bled together with the wailing
sirens. I snatched the backpack I was responsible for and raced out the door,
my father at my side. We were ushered in to a neighbor’s car without, I
realized, my mother and sister. They were left somewhere behind and as I grew
hysterical, another neighbor outside the car shouted a promise that he would
get them to the shelter too.
Numb,
the car ride, became a blur of sounds and shapes rushing past me. I hardly
noticed when we arrived at our destination. My dad and I got out of the car and
were instantly swept up in a crowd of terrified, panicked people. They were
pushing us into the school gym and I rode the current of that rushing, human
river far stronger than I.
The
gym of our local high school was our neighborhood’s designated emergency
shelter point. I looked up at the old thing, my hopes bleak. This was to be our
safe place. This building that was losing the battle to time was to keep us
protected from whatever it was that waited outside its doors.
Someone
in the crowd took me by the wrist and my heart leapt into my throat. I spun
around with a shout, only to see my tear-stained father.
“We
have to find [MC] and [MC],” he said. His hand, still on my wrist, began
trembling. “We have to find them, [MC]!”
I
scanned the crowd with a pit in my stomach. What if we couldn’t find them? But
after a few minutes, my father announced that he spotted my mother in the crowd
and tugged me over to her.
When
we got to her, my father embraced my mother and kissed her. I looked for [Sister]
and the pit in my stomach turned into nausea. My sister was missing and somehow
my mother was unnervingly calm. It was as if none of this had shaken her; as if
her screams to get out of the house were for the benefit of our neighbors and
not her own panic-stricken frame of mind.
“[Mom],
where is [Sister]?” my father asked. The distress in his voice was hardly
contained.
Mom
didn’t respond. It was like she couldn’t even hear him. Out of anger, or maybe
annoyance, my father walked away to go find my sister on his own.
“Mom…where
is she?” I quietly asked, unsure if she could hear me or not. My mother met my
gaze, but not with eyes I knew. The loving, devoted mother, the one who spoiled
me and my sister and would do anything for us, wasn’t standing in front of me.
This woman looked like her, sounded the same, but her eyes… They were someone
else’s eyes staring back at me, as if through a cold and unfamiliar mask.
This
person wasn’t my mother. It wore her face but it was something else entirely.
Timidly,
I asked again: “Did you bring her with you?”
“She
wouldn’t have made it anyway.” Her cool response hit me like a slap in the
face. I even took a step back, mind reeling, and hot tears began to fall from
my eyes. Whoever this was had left my sister behind to face what was happening
alone. My arrival was a blur but my exit was sharp and clear. I pushed through
the people blocking the doorway, I fought the current of civilians trying to
get inside, and I was the only one trying to get back out. I would face
whatever was out there, alone if I had to. But I was going back for [Sister].
I
was going to find my sister.
Orange
The sun had set, and the dark exodus
of terrified strangers continued to push into the building. Many yelled at me.
“No!
What are you doing?”
“Where
are you going?”
“Get
out of my way!”
“Get
back inside! You’ll die if you stay out here!”
I
ignored them. I had no idea what was waiting for me but I had to get back home.
I finally pushed my way through the edge of the crowd and darted toward a tree.
From
my new position, I noticed men in strange suits were shepherding people into
the building. I hadn’t noticed them before, when my father and I had arrived.
Once
they had funneled the rest of the crowd inside, they shut and barred the double
doors to the gym. Something metallic caught my eye. About half the men wore
strange things on their backs. I squinted.
They
were steel backpacks, each with a hose attached to a pole.
Everyone
without a backpack retreated. Those with them used the poles to spit fire all
around the building. Flames poured through the nozzles and splashed over the
building. They were burning the building down with everyone inside.
Equal
parts horrified and shocked, I turned and ran.
The
heat from the fire and the screams from everyone inside clawed at my back and
ears. Tears streamed thick down my face as I made my way home. The night was
cool but my ears rang and my back burned with the guilt that I had escaped
whatever was going on. I ran past people fleeing their homes and dodged more
men in suits.
By
the time I made it home, I was surprised my legs were still connected to my
body. I stepped on the lawn and collapsed. My stomach ached and my eyes were
red. I tried to catch my breath then forced myself to get back up, to keep
moving. I had made it, I just needed to go inside.
The door hung open on its hinges,
but it looked anything but inviting. My heart pounded heavy in my chest and for
all my drive, I stopped and stood on the front stoop. Someone had come through
and destroyed the interior of my childhood home. Chairs were flipped, books and
knickknacks were strewn across the ground, and the contents of drawers had been
cast everywhere.
I
swallowed my fear and walked inside. I peeked into the kitchen. The fridge hung
open and pots and pans decorated the floor. I listened but heard nothing but my
own labored breathing. Softly, I called my sister’s name. Initially there was
no response, but then there came the faint sound of something moving inside the
cabinet that once housed the pots.
I
quietly made my way over and whispered her name again. The cabinet door creaked
open and I caught a glimpse of my sister hiding inside. I opened it a little
further, relieved to see her. I did my best to smile and then I reached for
her, but as I did, I noticed there was something sitting next to her. I
couldn’t make out much of its shape, but it was staring back at me with cold
dead eyes.
Terrified,
I ripped my sister from the cabinet and slammed the door shut. I took her into
my arms and rushed out of the house as fast I could, back in to the unforgiving
night.
