“Elise! Elise! Wake up!” My eye shot open, my dad was shaking me awake from my nap with an aggression I’ve never felt from him. I searched his face, and all I saw was panic. His eyebrows rose up to where his hairline should be, his eyes wide, his voice booming. My father was a quiet man, a kind man. I could remember a handful of times my father raised his voice, but only ever in joy and excitement. My father was a reasonable man, who thought any disagreement could be resolved through calm conversation, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t defend himself or his family. Even in his 40s, my father towered over people, bulky and broad. To see him here, fear flooding his face, shocked me more than the way he woke me. “What-“ I started, but he cut me off immediately. “Elise, it’s bad. Worse than we thought. The droughts have been too long. There’s no more water left in the stores for us, let alone enough to fight this fire. We waited too long, it’s close now. We need to leave. Pack your things, hurry!” He said, panic biting into his words. The fire was big and spreading fast, the hot, dry winds only making it a more ferocious beast to fight. A lifetime of memories and belongings in this home that we couldn’t take with us. Pictures still hung on walls, clothes still in the dryer, fresh groceries still in the fridge. We packed as much as we could, bartering sentimental with essential. I tucked as much as I could into my bags, the seats, two bags even sat between my legs as we loaded the car. I watched my father’s shoulders sag with a new burden as he took in the sight. The fire was so close now, we could feel the heat of the wave as it inched closer and closer. It wouldn’t be long before it engulfed everything he worked for. Every late night he worked, every overtime shift, and weekend to provide a little extra for us. To make sure we still had money for things like college and school dances. I watched as we drove away leaving the flames behind us, but it seemed that the real challenge, the real fear lay in front of us. We only drove for thirty minutes before we came to a dead stop, when I peeked my head up to investigate. I saw long lines of cars on the highway, some pulled over to the side. People out in some cars, windows down on most, some people were walking around, talking to others. But the situation was clear, everyone was stuck, and they’ve been stuck for awhile. A small women was standing behind the car in front of us as we slowed to a stop. She was heavily pregnant and had an chubby infant in her arms. She stood next to her husband, he was a tall wispy man and he leaned over the trunk appearing to change another child’s diaper. My mother and father exchanged a long look, and then glanced back at me. I was 17 now, only a few months off 18. I was finishing my senior year, which I guess is now postponed? God I hope not, I thought, Ive been eagerly counting the days until college. But now with all of this fire and brimstone, things have felt more scary and uncertain rather than exciting. I knew what that look was, I’ve been an older sister for 12 years now, and everytime that look is followed by a plead to watch Elowyn. But I felt the gravity in the situation today and I didn’t need to hear them repeat it, I nodded my head, foregoing any of the usual argumentative antics I normally deploy. My mom smiled gratefully, and my dad cleared his throat to speak, “We’ll be right back, we’re gonna go figure out what’s going on. Elowyn, you know the deal, behave for your sister.” Elowyn nodded, she too was old enough to understand what was happening and knew today was not the time to dig her heels in the sand. Me and my sister generally had a good relationship, as most siblings do, along with the occasional bickering. Okay more than occasional, but you’d get it if you had to live with her too. I watched Mom and Dad exit the car, and walk up to the couple in front of us. The woman smiled warmly and touched the elbow of her husband to grab his attention. He smiled and offered his hand out to my father. I stopped paying attention, my thoughts turned toward the fact that we are now homeless. I was supposed to start college in the fall, was that still happening? I mean they didn’t have a home anymore, barely any clothes, nothing but a car and themselves. She couldn’t think of a time when she had so little to call her own. Would her parents recover from this? And what would that look like for her family? My sister looked at me, fear prickled her features. “Do you think everything’s gonna be okay, Ellie?” She was looking at me differently than she normally does. I knew that in this moment she saw me as more of an adult than I actually was. Hell, I was scared too, I didn’t know if everything was gonna be okay a month ago before the world was on fire, let alone now! But I knew I couldn’t tell her that. She was counting on me, and I knew it was my job to reassure her while my parents were away. I tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and stroked my thumb across her cheek, “Of course everything’s going to be okay.” I said, “And I bet the hotel we stay at will probably have a pool, ooh and the continental breakfast will definitely have pancakes.” She cracked a smile, “You’ll swim with me tonight when we get there? Pleasee”. “Yeah, yeah. Okay, I’ll swim for a bit but then I’m getting my butt in the hot tub and you can’t stop me” I laughed. She conceded but I knew she’d put up a fight later. Mom and dad reached the car and got back in. They were silent, but didn’t look too worried. Or at least anymore than they had previously. “So?” I asked a little frustrated, “What’s going on?” “It’s nothing to worry about, honey. People started running out of gas, and now the gas stations are out too.” He gestured around to the people, “Most of these people are camped out here waiting for the next exit to get gas when it’s delivered to the stations. Either way though, they said we could go around and continue on.” He said, starting the engine. We continued on driving, on and off the side of the highway to move around stopped cars. Some people had made little camping setups on the side of the highway, complete with a tent and a camping grill. Others it seemed were resigned to walking up to the next exit for some good sleep in a bed. A sight had never felt so apocalyptic before, felt more like a scene of the walking dead than a moment in my life. But it’s just a fire, I reminded myself. We’re getting out, we’re leaving, everything will be okay. I took a long breath and rested my head on the window. When I woke up, the world was dark outside the window. The dash glowed in the night and my sister lay sleeping next to me. I sat up and stretched. “Have a good nap?” Mom asked, noticing I had woken up. “Yeah, good enough anyways.” I yawned, “Where are we anyway? What time is it?” I asked, trying to regain my bearings, the day coming back to me. “Almost to a hotel, we’re about 3 hours from home now. It’s almost 9 now.” I relaxed back in my seat and waited for us to get to our stopping point. By the time we pulled up to the hotel, Elowyn had woken up and was anxiously awaiting the swimming trip I had promised her. The hotel was as basic as any other right-off-the-highway-Inn. Tall, white and lots of parking, but complete with a pool which made it worth it. We stopped by a fast food joint and got some burgers to eat up in the room. As quick as I had taken my last bite, Elowyn had her swimsuit on and was haggling me to get mine on. If I’d let her, I’m sure she would’ve dressed me herself. We walked through the long quiet hallways of the hotel, the gaudy carpet taking so much visual real estate I couldn’t focus on anything else. Elowyn walked next to me bumping me with her hip to lighten the mood. “Hey at least we’re going to grandma Lenny’s and not nonna Rita’s,” she laughed, “grandma Lenny always lets us do whatever she wants, and she has a pool.” She waggled her eyebrows at the pool statement, I snorted. “Elowyn, you and pools, you may as a well be chlorine-water mermaid.” I scoffed jokingly. It was a modest pool, rusty colored tile lined the room, but it had a large pool and even better a nice sized hot tub. I gave in and played mermaids with Elowyn. She of course was a chlorine-water princess mermaid with a pink tail, and I was delegated to being a peasant mermaid with a green tail. More people began to pile in, others who have been displaced in the fire. A little boy cried on his mothers lap for his dad while his siblings played. I couldn’t help but overhear from the hot tub, he was still out there working to keep the flames from consuming more homes, and there had already been injuries, some fatal. We made our way back up to the room, the news was on. It was all I could hear while my parents shuffled around the room preparing for bed. People who had died in the fire, those who were lost in the fire, clip after clip of the fire eating up homes like a monster at sea. “Honey?” My mothers soft voice pulled my attention. I turned to look at her, “Things are going to be okay.” She reassured me. “How?!” I exclaim, it was louder than I meant it. But everything was hitting me now, it was real now. I scoffed as if it hadn’t been real already. Tears began to well in my eyes. “Elise, we will always find a way. We will always take care of you. We are together, and we are safe. That’s more than a lot of people have right now” my father said, taking my face into his hands. He wiped my tears with his thumb and placed a kiss on my head. “We will all have much grieving to do, for our home, our community, for even loved ones we do not know we’ve lost. But we will be okay. You are not alone.” The well broke and Elise sobbed in her fathers arms. Her mother joined in, and she saw that she too was crying. When she looked at her father, there were tears streaming down his face. She knew in that moment that it wasn’t okay, nothing was. It was horrible and tragic, but she also knew that he was right. They would be okay. This next year or maybe longer would be a lot of compromises and going without. She knew this wasn’t the end of the hardship by any means. But the world wasn’t ending today, even it felt like it. Even if her world was ending, it would start again, and again.