The Day Before

I sat under the hot sun, contemplating about all the things that were not real and what was real. End of the world, that can’t be real. Flooding of Florida, as real as it gets. Everybody dead? Not so sure.

I brought my knees to my chest, hugging them against my body and let my head rest on the top of my knees. My best bet was to go back to the library and get the recorder. But, how? The inner tube was popped; gone. And the raft? Well, I didn’t know about the raft. Maybe they still had it. Hopefully, but who was filled with hope, nowadays? I wonder what Charlotte was telling Eli. And what Ruth was doing with Dash. They were probably with Cove, thinking of ways to steal some food for Dash to eat. I shook my head at the thought, all the while smiling.

I rested my head on the wall in back of me, closing my eyes for awhile. It couldn’t have been the end of the world, I thought to myself, Benji had a helicopter. A helicopter! If it was the end of the world then we wouldn’t have durable malls that can withstand the pressure of water. We wouldn’t have so many people living and men voicing their thoughts on tape recorders. It’s just a hurricane, a really bad one, there are still people alive. Dad’s alive, Mom’s alive, Uncle’s alive. They have to be, people rescued them. Yeah, that’s it.

…But, why did they leave me behind? A small voice asked at the back of my head. I opened my eyes, just to have been able to squint. Because I was hidden. I was hiding in the attic, that’s why. I shook my head and scratched it. There had to be plausible reasons as to why everything is messed up… just couldn’t find the answers.



I was down to half a bottle of warm water. The sun was still out, shining brightly, making the day seem even longer. I had stopped at a dead end, thinking of ways of how everything was messed up. After a while of thinking, my brain just went blank at everything that happened before I woke up in the attic. It was frustrating--how I didn’t know anything. It felt like I was brain dead in a way. After a couple of hours in the sun without water or sunscreen, I felt myself become…delirious.

I saw things that weren’t there. Like a gigantic tree, like the one you see in Animal Kingdom, right in the middle of the flooded streets. I saw swarms of black birds and hot spots in the sky, I continuously rubbed at my eyes, trying to chase the images away but they kept coming back.

I once tried to swat at a mosquito (if it was truly there or not, I wouldn’t know) and I felt my skin burn. It ached and it felt like it was about to keep on stretching and rip open. I bit my lip and vowed to never hit or swat at mosquito that was on my arms. I looked over at it, making sure that I hadn’t left a mark, when I saw my skin was the color of a blushing red. Of course, sunburn.

I closed my eyes and licked my dry lips, I didn’t even have a lot of saliva left, but I made use for what I had.

“100 bottles of wine on the wall, 100 bottles of wine, take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of wine on the wall…”

“42 bottles of wine on the wall, 42 bottles of wine, take one down, pass it around, 41 bottles of wine on the ball-- Wait, wall. I meant, wall.” I told myself. I giggled at my mistake and cringed at the movement I made my arms do. The sun was finally setting, making the sky a reddish hue color. The clouds were a cerulean blue and others gray, and green… I shook my head. Not true.

Everything was quiet for a while until I heard a metal door slam. It pierced my ear drums and I stayed still. I couldn’t cringe, that would hurt my arms, I couldn’t cover my eyes…that would hurt my arms…so, I just stayed still.

I heard the pounding of menacing footsteps and my throat made a whimpering sound. A bulky shadow appeared and I saw Eli’s signature frown. His eyes were in a permanent angry squint and his eyebrows were knitted together. His mouth made an ‘o’ form and he shook his head as if what he was about to ask wasn’t important. He came over to me and in a too calm tone he ordered me to get up. I just looked at him, wide eyed and confused. Of course, he was mad at me, even when I just saw him for the first time in probably half a day. I didn’t have time to sigh in relief or even to respond, because he took my arm, gripped it tight and pulled me upwards. I cried out, but he didn’t let his grip falter. “E…Eli! S-sunburn! Ow…” I managed to say in between gasps of pain. He looked down and automatically let go, muttering something under his breath. I let my hand fall limp to my side, glad to not have it squeezed. He took of my shoulder and pulled me away from where I was standing at and led me to the door he had come from. “…Sorry.” I heard him say softly and more clearly. I could only nod my head because my throat was as dry as sandpaper and I didn’t want him to hear me croak out something stupid.

As we made turns at every corner we stopped to a figure standing in the middle of the unlit hallway. Their hands were on their hips and they had feminine look to them so I automatically thought ‘Charlotte’.

“Move. Charlotte.” Eli said in a growl. He pushed me in front of her and I could see her menacing glare. It was full of hate and distaste and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for a hit. But there wasn’t one.

“It’s always about Violet, isn’t it Eli?” I heard her say in a mocking tone. I cocked my head to the side, my eyes still squeezed shut and thought five million reasons as to why this statement was false. Eli hated me, was the only one that stood out. But I kept my mouth shut and slowly opened my eyes, realizing I wasn’t going to get beaten to a pulp.

“Charlotte, now is not the time…” Eli said. Pushing me closer and closer to her. “Now, move.”

“No!” She shrieked, “She’s the one who betrayed us! She was going to leave us behind, to--to let us die!” Charlotte yelled, tears streaming down her face.

“She could have died out there, Charlotte! Under the hot ass sun! No fucking water! Nothing to protect her!” He counterattacked, yelling at the same volume as her. She stayed quiet and I heard her suck in a shaky breath, like that of a one when someone was about to sob. “Now, please…move…” He pleaded softly, calmly…normally.

She stepped to the side and I saw her shadow of a hand cover her mouth. Eli led me to an orange lit room, that was stuffy and hot, but still dark. There was blankets and sheets everywhere; some wet, some dry. We stepped over the wet ones and made our way to the dry ones. The room smelled salty and like ocean water, but I didn’t complain.

I noticed that I yawned frequently and Eli told me to lay down. He sat there, next to me, looking down at the floor every now and then. I licked my lips and with my voice hoarse said to him, “Watch out for the cactus near the door, okay? They can hurt you like a bitch.”

He snorted, and then laughed briefly. He got up, walked to the entrance and picked up something. He brought it over to me and laid it down. It was two gallons of water. “Drink. A lot.” He said, his face was cast in an orange hue of light, and I saw it; his smile. It looked good on him, but I just convinced myself it was the state of delirium, I was in. I thirstily turned the cap and started to drink, drenching my shirt in water.

“Go to sleep…’kay?” Was all I heard after I laid back down, my hand still clutching the now-half empty gallon of water, while sleep invaded my every thought.