Didactic Magazine

“It has been six years, six months, and six days,” said my sister. I asked her what she was talking about, but I already knew, She has been keeping up with this drought like kids count down their summer vacation. As I listened to her nag about the drought, I peered around the blinds and out of the window. All of a sudden a dark mood came over me. I felt as if something bad was going to happen. I recalled my sister saying in slow motion, six years, six months and six days. The number 666 was, I yelled the devil’s mark! The overwhelming feeling that I got sent me to my parents room to let them know what I observed. My mom laughed, “The devil is invading California!” I didn’t find this humorous. Exactly six seconds after my mom said that, an alarm went off in my mind; and I immediately turned on the television. As I approached the news channel we heard the news reporter say, “Breaking News! In the middle region of California we have a sandstorm forming up. I suggest that you immediately get into your crawlspace with a shovel, or leave California immediately!” We didn’t have a crawlspace, so our only option was to leave. As my other nine siblings and I are gathering a few of our essential necessities, my mom is going over her Natural Disaster Checklist. As the read off the list my dad packed. Toothbrushes? Check. Deodorant? Check. Clothes? Check. Go to Hawaii? My dad said not quite. They laughed. After four minutes we were on the road. All of us were hoping and praying that the storm didn’t pick up speed. As we listened to the radio, the more we prayed the faster the storm got. Once we stopped praying the storm began to move at a more rapid pace. “Maybe we should continue to pray,” said my little brother. Once we realized that the storm was one mile behind us my dad began to put the petal to the metal! As we looked out of the back window, the storm was approaching our car rapidly. As my dad pulled the car over, he whispered something to my mom. He yelled, “three!” All I could remember seeing was my mom’s bosoms and my dad’s foot. They were laying across all ten of us hoping to protect us from the storm. It was a complete silence except the sound of the roof tearing in half. As the sand began to fill our car, my mom yelled to my dad, “Hey boy hey!” he replied, “Hey girl hey!” This was how my family communicated in a crowd or loud areas. The sand drifted both halves of the car in different directions. We floated with the sand for about two days. Once we reached Texas, the sand began to spill out of the car and onto the ground. We all got out of the half of the car we drifted with. Once we got out we began to look for my dad and the guys, but they were nowhere in sight. We began to do our family calling, “Hey boys hey!” We didn’t hear any replies. My mom said, “look” as she pointed to a green sign about a mile down the road. She said, “are y’all hungry? That could be an exit sign.”  We all nodded. She said we’ll make a stop at the gas station right off the exit; then we will catch a ride of a plane to Florida. My mom’s best friend stayed in Florida. My little sister, Hannah fainted as we were walking to the exit. My mom said she is probably just too tired and hungry. We took turns carrying her, until we finally made it. As we approached the gas station, I could smell everything from the hot dogs to the candy bars on the shelves. My mom made a checklist as we walked to the station. When we walked in she began to read off the list. Get something to eat, wash up, call Ashley, call the airport, go to Florida, and look for the other half of my family. She told us we had five minutes to gather up our snacks, and twelve minutes to wash up. I grabbed two hotdogs for me and one for Hannah. My other sisters were capable of getting their own. I grabbed each of us a bag of chips and two sodas for each of us. I was sure to let my other sisters know to get something to drink because it was hot outside. I also grabbed enough water for all six of us. I asked my mom if she wanted me to get her a hotdog, but she was two steps ahead of me. She had already got what she wanted and she was cleaning up in the bathroom. When she came out she paid for everything and we washed up two by two. My sister, Gabriella, took a wash up by herself. She thought she was too grown to wash up with somebody. We left the station in less than twenty minutes. My mom said we didn’t have enough money for plane fair, so we hitched hiked. We caught a ride to the Florida airport. Ashley didn’t live far from the airport, so she met us there. That night my mom watched the news in hopes of finding out about my dad and brothers, but she didn’t hear anything. We rented a car the next day to go buy some clothes. I remembered when we were packing up to leave my mom and dad were laughing about Hawaii. My mom said we don’t have Hawaii money, and I’m sure that your dad doesn’t either. I told her I remembered when I was little and we used to talk about going on vacation to Hawaii. As we reminisced my mom looked for a job. My aunt Ashley, that’s what we call her, told my mom we can stay there as long as we needed to and we didn’t have to pay any rent or bills. My mom didn’t argue with that, but she still needed a job to save up money so we didn’t need to stay there a long time. My mom worked and saved money for five years. In between those five years we looked for the other half of our family. We put up missing flyers, called several hotels, and we even called the police stations in California in case  they were still there looking for us, but we had no luck. After those five years we gave up looking for them. My mom and I waitressed together in Florida. Sometimes I took her shift because she had to go to her other job. I was a fast learner so I worked and I was home schooled. My other siblings went to school, and they enjoyed it; they just missed their friends that they had back in California, and we all missed the other half of our family. After about two more years, at the end of April, my mom said we could afford to go to Honolulu, Hawaii after my sisters get out of school for their summer vacation; we were all so excited. I called it a vacation, but my mom said we were moving there. I worked over time to make sure we had enough money to go. The end of May came as fast as day and night. When I work up I just knew something great was going to happened, something we would never forget. It has been seven years since the accident, seven years since my family had been separated. We made it to Hawaii at about two O’clock in the morning. The next day we woke up at twelve, and went to the beach. At about eight O’clock that night, after exploring the beach, we got hungry. So we were getting ready to leave. As we were leaving the sun set on the side of us, and the faintest sound of three claps and a choir of voices that said hey girls hey! The voices sang again, “Hey girls hey!!” We turned around as the guys were two feet behind us. We all cried and hugged each other. My dad said how did y’all get here, mom said we have been saving money for seven years to come to our family paradise and it seemed as if my dad had been doing the same thing. My dad asked if we were hungry, all eleven of us nodded. I thought to myself seven is the number of completion and my family was reunited after seven years. Once we made it back to our house we ate dinner, and caught up on what’s been going on. My dad had been working three jobs and one of his jobs offered him a job in Hawaii. He quit his other two jobs and transferred to Hawaii. He accepted the job because this was our family’s paradise. We all joked and laughed about the past, and took seven pictures to put in our new family album.

By Chelsee