The shelter worked really well. It was an old building that
was on stilts. At least it looked old. Jason guessed that the hurricane would
continue blowing through until about midnight that night. That would be in
about six hours. Clara laid down on one of the beds in the building. She had to
get some sleep.
Clara awoke hours later. Jason was shaking her. “Get up!”
he exclaimed. Clara looked out the window. It was all calm. Dawn hadn’t
arrived. Lightning flashed in the distance. “Say goodbye to Hurricane Ike,”
said Jason.
Jason and Clara were soon running through the island. There
was major flooding in some spots. Other spots, the water wasn’t deep. When they
were next to the ferries, Clara saw a boat. “Over here!” she screamed.
Hours later, Jason and Clara were on a plane back to
Kansas. The truck had been washed away. The sun shone in the late afternoon
hours. Fireworks were seen in the distance. It was July 3rd. And what an exciting, yet sad trip. Her
parents wouldn’t be with her to celebrate her 13th birthday.
Jason left Clara at her house for the night. He would check
on her in the morning. Clara walked into her room. Everything was so familiar.
But there were so many things wrong. Her parents weren’t there. But they had
only found Mr. Wildewood’s body. Her mom might still be alive; hanging on maybe
just barely.
The next morning, Clara decided that she couldn’t take it
anymore. She picked up the phone. “Jason” she said. “Hi,” replied Jason. “I
really can’t take this,” said Clara. “What about the bills?” she asked. “It’ll
be O.k.,” said Jason. “I have everything under control,”
The door bell rang. Clara hung up the phone and walked over
to the door. Great. It was the police. She opened the door. “Yes,” she said.
The chubby police officer cleared his throat. “You are officially an orphan
now. One parent has been found dead and the other is missing. Now it is off to
the children’s home. You have twenty minutes to get into fresh clothes.”
Clara began to shake violently. She could barely walk up
the stairs. Great way to spend her birthday. In about ten minutes, she was ready.
Clara walked out the door. The police officer escorted her into the car. Clara
took one last looked around her neighborhood. Then Agnes’s voice was heard.
“Don’t worry. Just go with the flow,”
Clara climbed into the car. “So,” said the cop. “What happened?”
Clara thought for a second. What had exactly happened? “We went on a chase with
my deceased sister’s best friend, Jason, down in Corpus Christi. We went into
Port Aransas, and that was where the real trouble started. The storm surge hit,
and washed us apart. Jason was able to climb into a ferry, and found my Dad’s
body. Mom was never found. I ended up on the same ferry that Jason was on. That
was how we found each other. Then when the hurricane was over, we were rescued
and came back here,”
There was a long period of silence. A tear trickled down
the cop’s cheek. “All kids,” he finally said, “that I pick up to take to the
children’s home have a story. But I have never heard a sadder story then yours.
You didn’t do anything, neither did your parents,” he finished. “Oh by the
way,” said Clara,” Today is my birthday,”
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