“You ready, honey?” I heard Leighanne ask.
I sighed, bending over to pick up my suitcases, but made no effort
to move. This was harder than I thought
it was going to be.
It was almost noon on Saturday, June 1, and we were supposed to be
meeting a bus in just a few minutes that would take us to the shelter in
Texas. But I was not ready. Sure, I was all packed; I had been for
days. But mentally, I was not ready to
leave the place Leighanne and I had made our home. I was not ready to leave behind my friends
and family and go off to Texas, knowing I would never see any of them
again.
I suppose I should have been grateful that Leigh and I were
picked. And I was. But sometimes, I thought that being the one
who got to live was going to be even harder than the ones that had to die. I kept wondering, What will it be like
once the asteroid has hit? Besides
Leighanne and Nick, all of my family and friends would be killed. And we would be left alone in the world,
along with rest of the small group of people that would join us in the
shelter. The thought was devastating.
“Brian. Are you ready?”
Leighanne repeated. “It’s ten till,
sweetie, we need to get going.”
“I know,” I said, swallowing hard.
“Let’s go.”
I wanted to take her hand, but our hands were both full with heavy
suitcases. So we walked along without
contact, through the kitchen and towards the back door.
Hanging on a hook beside the door, I spotted two small leashes,
one light blue, the other pink. A lump
rose in my throat. My “babies”, Tyke
and Litty, were not coming with us.
Even though they were tiny and good-natured, the government would not
allow any animals in the shelter besides the ones they had recruited
themselves. And so, my dogs were just
two more loved ones I was going to end up losing.
Leighanne saw me looking at the leashes and smiled sympathetically
at me. “We’ll get another dog someday,”
she said softly, as if that was going to help anything. I didn’t want “another dog”. I wanted my dogs. But I didn’t say that. I knew Leighanne already knew that, and she
felt the same way. She loved Tyke and
Litty as much as I did. But we had to be
practical.
I cleared by throat and blinked my eyes a few times to clear away
the mist of tears that had formed. I
couldn’t break down, not in front of Leighanne.
I was her husband; I had to be the brave one. And so, I led the way out of the house. And I never looked back.
***
Nick parked in the driveway and followed me as I quickly ran
inside.
“Mom? Dad? Hello?
Is anybody here?!” I called out in a panic. Frightened with tears in my eyes I
frantically ran in the house looking for someone. I didn’t notice Nick stopping at the dinner
table reading a piece of paper.
“Sammy!” he yelled for me.
I came back into the room not finding anybody.
“What?” I asked trying to hold back my tears.
“They left to the shelter,” he said showing me a note that my
father had left for me.
“Oh, God. They left! They left without me!” I yelled out. “I can’t believe they left!” Tears were streaming down my face, and I was
on the floor sobbing.
“Sammy,” Nick said sitting down next to me. “Shhh, shhh, it’s alright.” Rocking me back and forth, stroking my hair.
“They left me. They left
me,” I kept repeating.
“Sammy, we’ll be getting there, okay?” Nick said taking my face
and looking me in the eyes.
“How?”
“Drive. Grab your stuff and
let’s get going,” Nick said getting up.
I looked at him curious about how he could keep his cool when he had
also missed the bus.
Not wanting to be rude, I got up and walked down to the
basement. I looked around the room I
would never have again. I looked at the
different posters on the wall. I looked
at the collage I had made on my closet, things I loved. Things I probably would never see, touch, or
have again.
Glancing behind me to make sure Nick wasn’t in here, I opened my
closet door and grabbed the box I kept hidden away in a hole in the wall. It was a box of different trinkets, pictures,
and letters I had kept over time. No one
knew about it, not even Julie who knew pretty much all of my secrets and
everything I owned.
I reached into my pocket and placed something inside the box. Another thing no one would ever find. I quickly closed the box and placed it in one
of my bags. Taking one last glance at my
room I walked back upstairs.
“Nick?” I called out not seeing him in the dining room.
“In here,” he called from the living room. When I walked in I saw him looking at the one
picture that was left on the piano.
“Why was this one left?” he asked handing it to me. I looked at it. It was an old picture of the family. Sort of.
In this picture mom was pregnant with Breanna, and Julie couldn’t have
been older than two. I was four,
standing next to Julie, holding her hand.
It was when we had moved into the house we were leaving behind.
“I don’t know,” I said confused about why they had left it. “Maybe there wasn’t enough room for it. I’ve got room though, so I’ll take it.”
“So are you ready?” he asked me.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go then.”
I knew Tom was talking to me, but I didn’t hear anything he
said. I was too busy worrying about what
was going to happen to Sammy. My oldest
daughter, the little girl that I loved so much.
I lost her once, and I didn’t want to lose her again. But I guess it was going to happen again.
“Tom,” I said interrupting him.
“Yes?”
“Sammy’s not going to be able to get into the shelter.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked me, quietly making sure
Julie and Breanna didn’t hear.
“Do you remember when she left?
What we did?” I asked trying to shake his memory.
“Oh my God. You don’t
think…” he trailed off.
“She wasn’t officially back in our household yet! She’s didn’t get a letter!” I exclaimed a
little too loud. Julie looked over at
us.
“Who didn’t get a letter?” she asked.
“Julie, sweetie,” I began trying to look my daughter in the
eye. “Sammy didn’t.”
“Yeah, she did,” Julie laughed.
“We got one, so that means she did too, right?”
“Julie, after Sammy left for New York, your father and I weren’t
sure if she was ever going to be coming back.
We still had legal custody over her.
So we went to the District Attorney’s office and filed her as an adult. She is no longer an official member of our
household anymore,” I said, finally breaking down.
Julie looked at me, stunned; Breanna, behind her, hearing the
conversation, began to weep silently.
“Mom, Dad? How could you do
this to your own daughter?” Julie asked us with disgust.
“We had to! Who knows, if
this stupid comet didn’t come, she may have never come back!” Tom yelled.
“Now she’s going to die!” Julie screamed. “She’s not going to get into the
shelter! She’s going to be alone when
she dies! How could you do this!?!”
Tom sat back, upset, Julie brooding, Breanna and I crying. My little girl was not going to be with us at
the end of the world.
***