“We are now on the descent to Pakyong Airport Sikkim, India, everyone please remain seated.” I looked over at the foggy window and cleared it with the palm of my hand. I could see the hills of the Himalayas until Aaron shook me blurry.

“Ahhh! we’re here!” he shouted with eagerness.

As I pushed his sticky hand away, I exclaimed, “dude, Kanchenjunga is huge!” Aaron was so excited that he crushed his lollipop between his blue-stained teeth.

“Yo, you think Kaechaejenga is where they made Jenga, you know, the ga...” Aaron’s voice faded as the turbulence of the plane roared, and I watched all the passengers shake with the plane in their rugged seats.

I then peered through the window, watching the wings of the plane direct towards the sideways world as we began to approach it. Behind the wings, I noticed the sky; it appeared dark as if there were rain-clouds in the sky, but there was no definition in the continuous sheet of the stratus clouds. I didn’t remember if this is what the sky looked like back at home in Westminster, but looking out from the plane up close, their featureless composition really captured my attention. I’d never been away from home as far as I was there– I haven’t even left America before without my family. I felt bad leaving them, especially Jess– Jes has always looked up to me.

When I placed my bag into the car, Jess trotted sloppily to me as Mom opened the door.

“Whea ah we goin?” she asked excitedly, her words jumbled together.

“I’m going on a field trip for school.”

“What a fiel tip?” she questioned, gazing up at me in confusion.

“Well, a field trip is where you go somewhere with your class from school to learn about something.”

“I go on fiel tip too.”

“No, honey”, Mom jumped in, “Avery is going with his class from school on the field trip. You’re not in school yet. We can do something special while we wait for him. It will only be a few days.” Jess didn’t seem to understand and hopped into the car.

“Fiel tip, fiel tip!” she chanted. Her voice was hard to stand after hearing her chant that all the way to the bus. I figured I shouldn’t say anything knowing that she’d be devastated that I’d have to leave her soon...

When we got to the bus, she started unbuckling her booster seat.

“No, Jess”, I sighed as I freed myself from the seatbelt and slid open the door, “you have to stay here.”

“I come too.” She looked up at me with determination. In the front seat, dad peered at the reflection of Jess in the mirror.

“Avery is going on his own. Sorry, sweetie.”

She whined, “No. I come too!” Jess grew upset as she started to finally understand that I had to leave her behind with Mom and Dad.

“I come too. I COME TOO!” She reached out and grasped my arm so hard that it pinched. Dad got out of the car and helped release Jess’ hands from my reddened arm. What a fit she thew, a fit just because of me. When I finally wiggled loose, Mom handed me my bag front the trunk of the car. Normally I’d be embarrassed if Jess did something like this with my friends watching, but it crushed my heart to leave her behind like this – she just wouldn’t calm down.

“I love you”, I whispered to her as I headed for the bus. I don’t know if she heard me over her tantrum, but I’d be back soon enough.

I woke up from my day-dream when I felt the plane hit the ground. I felt a rush of excitement wash over me when I realized I had landed in another country. I looked out the window and saw the plane slowing down to the speed of reality on the runway.

“We have now reached our destination. Please remain seated until the plane comes to a complete stop, and the ‘buckle light’ goes out. We hope you had pleasant travels, and thank you for traveling with American Airlines…”

I could hear the pilot start coughing right before he hung up the speaker-phone. I reached under my seat for my bag, then the ‘buckle-light’ went out just like the pilot said. Reaching over, I clicked my seatbelt and put my bag on my back as I stood up. I followed behind Aaron as we walked down the aisle towards the front of the plane. The pilot stood by the exit, thanking us for picking his company. Exiting the plane, each step was closer to the ground of India. When I had reached the tarmac, a warm breeze of air kissed the entire length of my body.

I had finally gone off on my own, without Mom and Dad. I took a deep breath of the Himalayan air and released it with a sigh. I then felt the ground shake beneath me, or maybe it was just my stomach growling – I hadn’t eaten in a couple of hours. I took off my bag and zipped it open, searching for some food. I came across my bag of lollipops and pulled it out. Popping one into my mouth, I felt a slap on my back; it was Dylan with Aaron by his side.

“Dude, you gonna share those?” I handed him cherry-flavored, and Aaron his favorite blue-raspberry. With a pat on my back to signify gratitude, Dylan started off with Aaron and me by his side. We jogged off on the cracked tarmac to catch up with the rest of the class.

I stepped into the large, white and green bus, which smelled of diesel and old rubber that corrupted the remaining sweetness of my lollipop. Revolted by its scent, I sat down onto the rugged seat next to Eli, with Dylan and Aaron right in front of us. Kneeling on his seat, Aaron turned around giving me and Eli a gesture of disgust.

“This bus reeks!” Aaron muttered. I made a look of disgust back at him as I pinched my nose.

“Hey” chimed Dylan, “we’d better be getting food soon, I could eat a whole horse.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna eat when we get off the bus,” I replied as I held my stomach as it grumbled with sounds of hunger.

“Jeez, Avery, are you really that hungry?” Eli questioned in concern.

“Dude, I could eat two horses!”

“I would rather eat a whole large pizza all by myself!” Aaron responded, but was interrupted before any of us could say anything else. I looked up, and hovering over Aaron was Mrs. Burnes, and I realized that she had been trying to talk to us.

“Boys!” she yelled. The bus grew silent. “I’ve been calling your names, and you were too busy talking to one another to pay attention.” Her voice was crackly, deep, and harsh. “I need you all to pay attention on this trip, that is very important – we’re in another country now. You can’t be getting lost, especially when we’re on Mt. Kanchenjuhemhemmmhem…”

Lost in cough, she turned towards the front of the bus, using the top of the seats on the sides of her to help her walk back to her seat, slowly. Pointing one finger out, she slurred softly, “now, quiet down so we can be on our way.”

She crept down the aisle towards the front of the bus, carefully sat down, and let out a sigh loud enough that I could hear from the back half of the bus.

As soon as she buckled herself, taking out her clipboard and pen, the bus, with the shift of gear made the bus roar, spitting out a cloud of smoke behind us that we trailed in the dust as we drove off towards the mountain. Turning my head forwards, I saw Eli in the corner of my eye, and I cocked my head at him. He was looking down towards the floor, pulling at his index finger.

Putting my hand on his shoulder, I softly murmured, “hey, you okay?” He didn’t bother to look at me.

“I guess. It’s just hard sometimes, you know? I can’t help thinking about my uncle when I’m around people like Mrs. Burnes.”

I can’t understand what it would be like to lose someone in your family, especially someone you’re really close to. My grandpa died before I was born, so I never met him. My dad says he was very distant in the family, but he never told me why. Anyways, a lot of people these days have a shorter lifespan. My grandma died young too; she died from inhaling smoke all her life. That’s the same reason that Eli’s uncle died.

“I don’t want to talk about it though. Sometimes I just need a minute to let everything pass.”

“It’s cool bro, just let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help.” I gave him a gentle smile as he looked up with grateful eyes. Our conversation ended as the bus jumped.

The whole bus screamed and laughed over the thud and vibrations that slightly jolted everyone up in the air from their seat.

Hiking up the mountain with my journal in my hands when I heard a branch snap suddenly to my side, and I slowly turned my head to see what was there. With shortness of breath, I realized what the hairy beast was. Slowly creeping forward, I hid behind a dead bush and laid on my stomach. Tossing my journal out in front of me, I was worried I made a sound loud enough to scare away the herbivorous animal. It was difficult to remain still and quiet after discovering an extinct– well, not exactly extinct– animal. Taking out my pencil, I wrote on the next empty page in my journal.

Himalayan Tahr

Found: May 9th, 2161

Color: Mostly grey, dark brown down back and tail

Location: Mt. Kanchenjunga, Himalayas– uneven grounds; grassy, yet rocky

Behavior: Eating tall, parched grass

Looking down at my paper, I noticed the pebbles on my journal started hopping and I felt the ground shake. Looking up towards the tahr at the cliff above it, the cliff started to crumble and fall to the ground in a landslide. Standing up behind the bush, I realized that the tahr had already run off out of sight. I ran in the opposite direction from the landslide, jumping over the rock-like obstacles. I didn’t dare look back, knowing how far landslides could travel. As soon as the vibrations in the ground ceased, I looked back and saw that I had run twice as far as the landslide had gone.

Heavily breathing, I clasped my hands behind my head. I paced back and forth as I tried to catch my breath. During my pacing I noticed a small figure prancing away, hoping it was the tahr. I had been grateful to encounter this “12-year extinct” herbivore, not knowing whether to tell someone about this creature. There aren’t many other wildlife conservatories that I could call– most of the businesses nowadays are relevant to building, electricity, technology, and in my opinion, anything having to do with damaging the environment. That’s why the population of tahrs declined so dramatically over the years. They’ve depopulated from hunting, loss of shelter and food, which also makes it hard to survive alone. They used to live in groups up to 80 tahrs hundreds of years ago. After finally catching my breath, I looked down the mountain little ways, and I saw Nate not too far off in the distance.

Nate and I have been partners since college, and we both share a passion for wildlife. On Friday’s after our last class, we would always grab a bite to eat at Bennett’s Burgers.

By the time I had reached Nate, my legs were scraped and slightly bleeding from running past all the dead bushes and branches. Next to Nate were some yarrow plants, still green. Stepping over the small trunk of a fallen tree, I joined Nate and his examinations of a small Blue Pine.

“Cora! How’s it going? Find anything interesting?”

“Tahr!” I couldn’t say anything else. Taking a sip of water from my cantine, I cleared my throat.“I found a Himalayan Tahr!”

“Haha, very funny.”

“No, I’m serious! I was able to take some notes before it ran off – there was a landslide.”

“No way! That’s incredible! Did you take a picture?”

“Oh no! I totally forgot!” With much regret, I scrambled through my bag. Journal, pencils, clothing… “Ughhh! My camera must’ve fallen out at the base!”

Hands on my head in frustration, I saw the cuts on my legs, blood dripping down. I reached for a cloth in my bag and wiped the blood away, then put pressure on the scrapes.

“Wow, that doesn’t look good. Did you get in a catfight?” Nate chuckled, examining my scraped legs.

“Oh, this?” I lifted the cloth from my leg. “I was just running through the grass and the bushes.” I reapplied pressure and reached out for the yarrow in a nearby bush.

Nate grabbed scissors from his bag and chopped the piece of yarrow in my hand so I could put it on my legs.

“Thanks.” I tossed the cloth aside and poured some water from my cantine on my legs, then applied the flowers onto my scrapes. Sometimes my job can be tiring and a little bit painful, but what I learn from it comes in handy, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“Finn Clarke”, the secretary called my name. “Mr. Grant will see you now.” I rose from my seat and put my bag strap over my head. I walked across the waiting room and entered Mr. Grant’s office. I felt excited for this interview and start a new chapter in my life.

“Good afternoon Mr. Grant,” I spoke clearly and confidently.

“Take a seat, Mr. Clarke.” The chair squeaked as I sat on the old desk chair. Pulling out a clipboard from the drawer in his desk, Mr. Grant read: “Finn Clarke. Age 28, male, previous employment: Clarke Farming Services…” He took a pause and tapped the desk with his pen. “Clarke. A family business I presume?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, why do you want to become employed in my business? RIL is fast-paced, and we can’t be making any mistakes, as we are one of the world’s greatest conglomerate companies.”

“Yes, Mr. Grant. I am applying for this job for something new. I have always worked fast, and I am very interested in what this company does.”

“I see. Now, what are some of your special skills? How did you exceed in your previous job?”

“Well, as I said before, I am quick-moving with my hands. I am also resilient, a leader, and I follow orders.”

He stroked his chin in thought. “Uh-huh. Alright, I’ll take a look at your file and we’ll let you know.”

“Thank you, Mr. Grant.”

Walking out of Mr. Grant’s office made me truly understand that I would be starting a new chapter of my life. I never thought my own family would get rid of me. After all, it was our family business. While I didn’t have to move so far away, I needed a change in my lifestyle– I couldn’t tolerate them any longer.

The farm life was foul-smelling, dirty, and boring. The family business, founded by my great grandparents, was a difficult life for me. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, just Ma, Pa, and me. Pa had always been tough on me, and Ma had ‘decided’ my future from the moment she was pregnant: I would take over Clarke Farming Services with a wife and kids. Into my teen years, she was always saying, “think of what you and your family can do to fix up the farm and add expansions once it becomes for profitable!” and “your children will love the animals!” She conditioned me into loving agriculture and whatnot as a kid. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t dislike the animals or anything, but having to go out to the barn each day to shovel scat or harvest beans in the garden as I dug through dirt and worms wasn’t my idea of what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I actually wanted to become an automotive mechanic – I’d always been fascinated with cars and how they work, but Pa said that I could never do that for a living because of all the exhaust and oil I’d be breathing in and getting all over me. Although I might have to turn on a car to test it, it would be off a lot of the time I’m working on it. He doesn’t understand engineering, he doesn’t understand me. All of this pressure from my parents heated up tensions that were finally set off on one fateful day…

“Finn, I need you to go milk the cows. Mrs. Evans down the street needs a pint for baking cookies.”

“Yes, Ma,” I replied lifelessly. Drying my hands after washing the dishes, I started towards the door.

“Oh, you know she has a granddaughter? She’s 3 years old and visiting with her parents all the way from Ireland!” I paused for a moment.

“That’s nice, Ma,” I responded. About to leave the house once again, Ma spoke.

“Oh, Finn! By the way, I also need you to restock the hay in the barn, and your father wanted to talk to you about something as well.” I became so frustrated, I couldn’t respond without lashing out at her. She’d asked me to wash the dishes, milk the cows, restock the hay, and now I have to talk to Pa on top of the list of work chores that I have to get done around here. Nothing good ever comes out of talking with Pa. I gotta say, I really feel like a slave working here, much more than the other workers – they only have to work in one or two parts of the property each day, and they get two 20 minute breaks! It’s really tough being the son of the company owners. Simply walking out the house, I headed for the barn to milk Rosie.

As I entered through the barn doors, I walked over to the washing station and grabbed a tin bucket. I took a step back and turned towards Rosie. Walking over to her, I examined her appearance.

“How we doin’ today girl?” There was no reply, of course, but her tail whipped back and forth as it always did. I kneeled down next to her and placed the bucket under her utters. “Just going for a pint today.”

I probably should’ve just milked her all the way, but I didn’t see why I should. I never get any respect around here anyway.

I reached for her utters and pulled down alternatively. The milk entering the bucket made a deep “shhht shhht,” sound each time I pulled on Rosie’s utters, slowly getting higher pitched as time went on.

By the time I’d finished, Pa entered the barn.

“Hey there, son.”

“Oh, hey, Pa.” I stood up with the bucket that measured milk up to the one-pint line.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”

“Yeah, that’s what Ma told me.” I walked over to the counter and set the milk bucket down, grabbing a funnel and a glass pint bottle from the wooden crate. I began to fill the bottle.

“So here’s the thing. Rob is no longer with the company– for personal matters. So we need someone to take his spot.” I knew exactly where this was going and I became angered, starting to spill some of the milk out of the funnel. “Long story short, your Ma and I have decided to promote you to manager.”

Called it. I put the bucket and funnel down, and faced him. I tried to shoot daggers from my eyes, but he couldn’t see them since he was looking down at his notebook. I grew furious about how he just decided to make me manager, and I didn’t have any input on it.

“What makes you think I want to become manager?!

“This is a great opportunity for you. You can start talking with other customers and businesses that you will be working with, in the nearby future.” Still no eye contact.

“I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to do all of this!” Gesturing all around me, Ma walked into the barn.

“Hank, what’s going on?”

Pa finally looked up from his notebook. “Our son doesn’t want to become the manager.”

“I work hard enough as it is and now you want to overload my life?” I questioned in anger

“We aren’t overloading your life, son.”

“Yeah”, Ma interrupted, “we are just getting you ready to become the owner of this business.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to become the new owner, or be a part of this business at all! I do more physical labor than anyone else here and I don’t get a shred of respect for it – I’m treated like a slave here!”

“Bu-” I interrupted Ma.

“No one has ever considered what I want to do with my life!”

Ma and Pa looked at each other in confusion.

“But what is it that you want to do?” Ma questioned.

“You would know if you ever paid attention. I want to be an automotive mechanic!”

Pa put his hand to his forehead. “Not this again. We’ve already talked about it – It is bad to be working under a car like that for long periods of time. Besides, your future has already been planned out and started. This has been a family business for four generations.”

I began to take a few steps back, slowly. “You don’t understand, you will never understand. I don’t even care if I’m a mechanic anymore, I just have to get away from all of this. This isn’t the life I want.”

“Excuse me? This is what we’ve been planning for you since you were born,” Pa protested, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Well, I don’t want to be in this business anymore, not with you two ordering me around every step I take.”

“I’ve had enough of this. I won’t stand to have an employee with this much disrespect to the owners.”

“Disrespect?” I questioned. “Don’t even talk to me about disrespect– you’ve been disrespecting me all my life.”

“That’s it, I’m done with you and your behaviors on this farm. Get out of the house, off the property and don’t think of coming back anytime soon.”

“I don’t care, I wanted to leave anyway.” I left without listening to anything else my parents had to say to me. I bolted out of the barn and headed for the house. I stuffed a bag full of all the essentials as I thought about where to go. I’d always wanted to go to the Himalayas, so as I finally packed my bags I left Ohio to journey across the globe without any last thought.

“We’re here!” Some kid at the front of the bus yelled and others followed. I looked over Eli and out the window and saw the monstrous mountain. Remembering the view from the plane, I found it didn’t even compare to this view from the base of the mountain. I was speechless. It was so tall that I couldn’t even see the top of the mountain from where I was sitting. I no longer felt my stomach growling in hunger, I couldn’t possibly want to eat at a time like this. Once the rotten tin can of a vehicle had stopped, everyone in it jumped from their seats, eager to run over to the mountain.

“H-hold up class!” Mrs. Burnes roared with lack of patience. Everyone still standing, the chatter softened with some light noise still continuing.

Another teacher chimed in.“We’ll have lunch ready in a few minutes. Be sure to grab all your stuff and stay close by.”

Everyone scrambled to get into the aisle, and as soon as the bus doors opened, we all flooded out like a waterfall, then we dispersed freely. I followed Aaron who was beside Dylan, and Eli right by me. We caught up with some of our other friends; Alex, Sean, and Jonah. Gazing up, we all stared at the giant heap of earth like nothing we’d ever seen before.

“Look how big it is!” Jonah was the most excited out of all of us.

Aaron chimed in. “Dude, you can’t even see the top.”

The peak of the mountain was hidden in smog that covered the sky like a sheet of paper. Alex set his bag on the ground and pulled out his camera. He snapped quick photos of the mountain left and right with the shutter sound of capturing clicks.

I’d been wishing I had a camera and walked towards the mountain a little bit to get a closer look at its makeup. As I took one step closer, I felt something by my foot that I accidentally kicked. It was a camera! Not just any camera, the type that professionals use. I picked it up and ran over to my friends.

“Hey, look what I found!”

“Woah!” Alex gasped in astonishment. “That looks really expensive.”

I held the camera up to my face and examined it more. “Yeah, someone must’ve dropped it just a little while ago, or else they would’ve come back for it.”

Soon after, the smell of lunch grabbed my attention and brought back my hunger.

A teacher called out. “Lunch is ready!”

I stuck the camera into my backpack and raced over to the collapsible tables that were set up with food. All kinds of sandwiches and subs covered the table; peanut butter and jelly, Italian, roast beef, meatball, and probably three other kinds. I quickly grabbed an Italian sub, knowing that kind would be gone in an instant, taken by students that resembled wild animals fighting over prey. I ran back to where my friends were before and sat down, devouring the sub as my friends joined me one by one.

Finishing up lunch, I got up to use the last restroom that I’d be able to use for a while since there weren’t any on the mountain. I entered the port-a-potty, and when I was in there, I heard the sound of heavy, wind-like breathing in the distance. After I left the port-a-potty, I went to go figure out what was going on. Just around the corner, I saw Mrs. Burnes blowing out a puff of smoke, then she had a coughing attack. As she coughed, she might’ve seen me, and in fear, I bolted for the site where everyone had eaten lunch. Mrs. Burnes doesn’t suspect that anyone knows she’s a smoker, she just thinks that’s what happens when you grow old anyway; she talks about that when naïve kids ask about her coughing. Although, almost everyone knows the truth. I was afraid that she saw me because she is so secretive about her smoking even though it’s obvious: she had yellow stained nails and teeth, cobblestone-shaped wrinkles on her face and neck, and a strong scent of cigarette smoke on her clothing.

The hike up the mountain started in the early afternoon, around 2:30. We were all wearing bug-spray, backpacks, and were fully energized for the long hike ahead. Although we weren’t going to hike up all the way– and I’m not sure how far– it was still going to be exhausting.

After nearly 10 minutes of hiking, one of the teachers– I think his name is Mr. Anderson– stopped the hike to talk about something just off the trail.

“Everyone listen up!” He shouted. “If you look around, it’s likely that you’ve seen a plant called rhodundorun. They naturally grow in the mountains, but some people like to put them in their gardens at home.”

I looked around for the plant. “Mr. Anderson, which plant are you talking about?”

“Good question.” He walked over to the edge of the path. “This here is rhodunderun. It is often pink, but it looks like its flowers are still trying to bloom– late for the season.” He put his hand up to the dry plant. “Okay folks! Let’s continue on.”

The first hour was interesting. I’d been really excited to hike around and see new things, but the next two were long and tiring. Although, we did get a few breaks in between, and a long one after the first three hours to have a snack, go to the bathroom, or just relax. Once we were told about the long break, a grateful sigh hummed through the group. I dropped to the ground using my backpack as a pillow, and I closed my eyes.

“Hey, guys!” Dylan chuckled, “I think Avery is dead.” He sat down next to me.

I let out a moan. “This hike had me beat. I felt like my legs are gonna collapse out beneath me.”

“Dude, same,” Dylan replied. I think some other kids came over to talk to him but I actually passed out cold before I could hear anything else.

I woke up to a nice breeze that picked up in the air. I started to sit up and realized how bad I had to go to the bathroom. Dylan’s stuff was next to me but I think he’d gone down the edge a little bit with some other kids– I heard them talking. Uncomfortably, I walked up the mountain a little ways so that nobody could see me.

After setting my bladder free, I felt the wind pick up a bit, and it felt good in the warmth. I let the wind take the hair out of my face as I glanced up the mountain. I then sighted an animal-like figure that looked like a dog and quickly but quietly walked up the mountain to get a better look.

When I had reached it, I found that it was just layered pieces of logs and branches that were resting on a flat surface. At that moment I felt a rumble, thinking it was my stomach or just me shaking from being tired after the long hike. I decided to walk up all the way to it anyway and take a picture of the view with my new camera.

Approaching the flat ledge I started taking my camera out of my bag but didn’t look up yet. I turned the camera on and pointed it outwards at the cities that laid below the mountain. There was a weird line or something on the little screen that you look out through the camera, thinking that the camera had a cracked lens. Then I realized that ‘line’ was moving. I moved the camera out of my face and saw the most prodigious wave eating up the world from the edge and moving inwards right towards me.

I’d gone back up and past to the original landslide, leaving Nate to search for other life forms on the mountain. Suddenly, the parts of the earth began crumbling away and taken by the waves that started crashing down. This was the day our planet shook into pieces, the day my heart crumbled away– all of my studies had been wiped out by the waves, all of my values. This day was the result of what society has created. I’d always paid attention to the evil in the world to which puffed out clouds of smogs that traveled to stay put in the atmosphere of our earth. This evil– the majority of our population– created this monster that started eating away at everything we’d come to know about our home.

When I first felt the earthquakes, it took me by surprise. I knew exactly what to do; I quickly looked around my surroundings to see if there was a more appropriate place to shelter. I saw an already fallen tree with its stump about three feet tall. It was only a couple feet away from me on a flat area. I quickly hid underneath there and put my hands clasped on the back of my neck. Although, something seemed wrong; there are often earthquakes but this one seemed much different, much larger. The ground was shaking so substantially, it was as if the Gods were screaming in extreme pain.

Something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention when I was scrunched up beside the tree stump, and I glanced up. A tsunami. It was a tidal wave that was enclosing the towns below and reaching up the mountain. At the same time, the sides of the mountain were crumbling down and fast. I had to move or else I’d be swept away with the landslide too. I moved backward out from under the tree and beside the stump. I headed for higher grounds.

I wanted to run, and I did for about 20 feet up the mountain, but I soon fell from the quakes arising from deep within the earth. My hand scraped the side of a rock, but I wasn’t hurt much anywhere else.

I crawled up the mountain and couldn’t help but to look back. The wave was getting closer. I turned my head forwards and crawled as fast as I could, knowing I’d fall again if I stood. I moved from my knees to my feet, and like a four-legged creature I galloped up as far as I could when I heard a big crash. I didn’t know if it was the tsunami or a big chunk of the mountain– it was hard to think when my heart was beating so rapidly. But I kept going.

I’d been speeding up the mountain for what I thought was 20 minutes from when the earthquakes started until it finally stopped. Although I really couldn’t tell since I was in a life or death situation– I had to focus everything I had on getting up the mountain. I stood on my own two feet and ran a few more steps before I dared to look back.

When I finally did, I saw everything, but it was nothing. I flopped back onto the ground. The towns had been swept away by the water. The hickory brown water churned threateningly, drowning the litter of the streets. I couldn’t believe a tsunami that big occurred! I’d probably say the earthquake caused it, of course, but the earthquake also created major landslides that all went into the ocean, bringing the wave up even higher.

I was shaking– I had no idea what to do. I thought about Nate, wondering if he made it. He was right around the area where the tsunami crashed onto, but maybe he saw and ran up the mountain. I think I blacked out after that, but I woke up shortly after.

I stood up, picked up my bag, and looked up the mountain. I figured there’d be some survivors on the mountain that I could help. I started walking further up the mountain, searching for anyone who might be around.

“Hello?!” I shouted out. “Hello?! Is anyone out here?!”

I saw a figure running just up ahead of me, past a small tree.

“Hey!” I tried to get the attention of whoever it was.

As I started running towards them, they looked at me and tripped over a rock. I heard a squeal. Approaching them, I found that it was a boy; a boy that remarkably reminded me of my brother Hunter.

I didn’t hear her calling out to me until I’d fallen over. My face was covered in tears, my knee in blood, and I no idea what was going on.

“Hey hey, it’s gonna be okay,” the lady said as she approached me. I’d been rocking back and forth with my hands holding my leg.

She set her bag down, grabbed out a bottle and said, “take a deep breath, this is going to sting a little bit.” She put her hand on my shoulder and poured the water on my knee. I screamed.

“I’m sorry, I know it hurts, but it’s going to feel better soon.” I wasn’t sure exactly who she was; all I knew was that she was a young adult, seemed smart, and she was really nice.

She then set her bottle down, taking her arm off of me. Sticking out her other arm, she ripped off her sleeve. Tearing it down the long side, she tied it around my knee. It hurt a lot, but I knew that it would feel worse before it got better– just like that time two years ago, when my hand was scraped after I fell off my bike. Mom put some antibiotics on it which made it sting, but it healed pretty fast.

“You okay?” she inquired with concern hinting her voice.

Sniffing, I nodded. I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.

She then asked me, “Are you out here all alone?”

“I think so,” I replied. “I was on a field trip and wandered up here when the wave hit. I don’t know where everyone is.” I knew she could understand how upset I was.

“It’s okay. I’m alone too. We will stay together to help each other out.” She looked at me with empathy.

I nodded my head, gave a grin, and looked out off the mountain. “What just happened?”

She glanced at the ground as she sat in an unfolded criss-cross position, her feet stuck together. “Well, I don’t know exactly what happened, but I think it all started with a major earthquake.” She looked down at the water that flooded the cities below. “The earthquake caused a tsunami to hit us.”

I interrupted, “but why was it so big?”

“Well, I think the earthquake also created massive landslides that slid into the ocean, making the tsunami even bigger. And now the water level is really high because all the land taken away in the landslide has filled in the oceans and whatnot. It’s just like if you had a full glass of water and dropped something solid into it, like a rock. The water would overflow out of where it originally was.”

Her explanation of this disaster frightened, yet astonished me.

“How’s your knee feeling?”

“Um, it still hurts,” I answered, “but it’s feeling a bit better.”

“It looks like you scraped up your knee pretty bad. Pressure should make the bleeding stop. It will feel better in no time.”

“Are you a doctor?” I asked. She’d been so quick with helping me, she knew exactly what to do.

“No. I’m actually a wildlife biologist.”

I raised an eyebrow at her, tilting my head– however, she had been looking at the scenery off the mountain. “What does a wildlife biologist do?”

“A wildlife biologist studies animals and their behaviors, or a working ecosystem as a whole. Personally, I work with animals.” She looked down and softly touched the growing leaves of a sapling. “But I had a colleague who studied more plant-life; he was a friend.”

I could tell she was sad. “Was?” I questioned.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know. Nate was further down the mountain than I was, and I was cutting it close to surviving. I don’t know if he made it.”

“I’m so sorry.” I looked at her with sympathy, but she then darted her gaze away.

“Anyway,” she continued, “my name is Cora.” Her gaze returned to me and I shook her hand.

“My name is Avery.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Avery.”

“Same here.” I grinned at her. “Hey, if you’re a wildlife biologist, how’d you know how to help me with my knee?”

“Umm,” she spoke softly, her face starting to turn pale.

I think I touched a soft spot, although I grew curious.

“I’d rather not talk about it.” She crossed one arm.

What was she hiding? I couldn’t figure it out, even after we sat there in silence for some time.

“It’s getting dark, we should probably get ready to sleep before everything is blacked out.”

I nodded my head and started taking stuff out from my backpack. I remembered the stories that grandpa used to tell me about his grandpa, great great grandpa Carl. When he was a kid, he spoke of sleeping under the stars that lit up the night. He actually couldn't sleep because it was so bright out. I’d never seen a star before, only a planet that could vaguely be seen through the layer of smoke in the sky. The planet is said that it can be in seen once a year, but I only saw it at three years old. It was a small dot that failed to shine its way through the smog.

I woke up to a canopy of pine in my face. Confused, the memory came back from where I was and what had happened; a disaster had occurred, so I sought shelter under the leaves of fallen trees. I sensed a rumble deep within me. I was hungry for breakfast.

I took out my satchel in the hope that I might’ve packed food. I found no such luck. I kept moving forward, of course, because there was nowhere else to go since water surrounded the mountain; upwards was my only hope.

Gathering my things, I set out. I thought to myself, ‘Man, I’m glad I moved here.’ Even though I’d been angered and grew far from my parents, I didn’t wish for anything bad to happen to them– I hoped they were alright.

In my travels up the mountain, I found that I could help but to keep reimagining what had happened the afternoon before. I’d just barely managed to escape.

I’d just walked out of Mr. Grant's office when I headed up a trail a little way to grab a late lunch at the ‘Himalayan Sub Shop’– one of multiple in a food chain. The man at the counter serving me wasn’t friendly. I’d asked for a veggie and chicken sub combo, but my sub was missing tomatoes, so I asked for some. He replied by giving me a whole squishy tomato without any eye contact or responsive conversation.

After getting into a huge argument, I left the shop and headed upward to find a good spot to eat my sandwich. After eating the majority of my sandwich, I felt the ground shake, and I saw parts of the edge tumbled down the mountain right in front of me. I was about to run away from the edge when I saw the tsunami. It was massive, and for a moment I was so astonished that I couldn’t even move. I probably wouldn't have made it if a nearby rock hadn’t fallen next to me and snapped me out of my trance. I went inwards and upwards, away from the collapsing cliffs and above where the tsunami would hit.

When the wave hit, I was above it, thankfully, but I wasn’t necessarily safe. The tsunami made the mountain crumble more due to impact, with rocks and branches flying outward. I was hit, but only by some small rocks, sticks– which gave me splinters– and a mist of water.

After hiking for a mere 30 minutes I heard the conversation of two people in the distance. My hopes grew and I sprinted towards the sound. Reaching the two people, they turned out to by a girl, maybe my age, and a little kid that’s probably in early middle school.

“Hey!” I called out at them.

They both looked up. “Hey!” the girl replied. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“My name’s Cora, and this is Avery.” She gestured behind her.

“Are you two siblings?” I wondered.

“No, we just met last night. I found Avery here with a hurt knee. I surprisingly didn’t get hurt from the, what should I call it... incident.”

Huh, I contemplated, they look incredibly similar. “That’s good. And yeah I didn’t get hurt either. Thanks for asking,” I whispered over my shoulder in sarcasm. She heard me and knew that I was being sarcastic. I could tell by her expression when I looked over my shoulder.

I asked, “You guys got any food?”

“No, just lollipops.” The lady shrugged back to the kid behind her who was sucking on one. My stomach growled so loud that the kid, yards away could hear.

“Want one?” he asked, his words muffled by the stick hanging out of his mouth.

Without a word in response, I walked over and grasped a butterscotch lollipop from the endless bag. I thought to myself, what kind of parent would give their kid access to that much sugar?

The lady… Clara? I didn’t recall what her name was– nor did I with the kid’s name for that matter– was out looking for food.

Before she’d left, she tried to get me to go with her.

“I’m heading out to look for food,” she said. “It may be difficult to find some for all of us on my own,” she hinted.

“Okay cool,” I said. “Knock yourself out.”

She crossed her arms and looked at me with an evil eye. “Aren’t you coming?”

I had thought about it for a moment. “Nah, I’ll stay here.” I held my ankle. “Now that I think about it I actually did hurt my foot yesterday.”

We both knew that I was lying, although it did ache a little bit.

“Uh huh,” she said and walked away with her hands grasping the straps of her pack near her ribs.

Later thinking about my decision, Clara would probably come back with food for her and that kid who was ‘hurt’. He was a little kid, he had to be exaggerating. Even so, Clara would probably return with bark and some acorns or something. She didn’t seem very smart, and as I thought about it, I figured I should go out with her so I could go hunting for some real food, like meat or something.

I stood up and brushed the dirt off of my legs. “Hey kid,” I said, “you know how to make a fire?”

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Okay then, get to work!”

He looked at me as if I was officious, which maybe I am, but I didn’t care– that’s what has to happen if we want to get food or figure a way out of this mess for that matter.

After making sure the kid started working, I ran off in search of Clara. “Clara!” I called out. “Clara!” I couldn’t figure out which direction she’d gone in the first place– I hadn’t been paying attention. I didn’t want to waste my time looking for her, so I decided to go hunting. First, I’d have to find something to kill with. I had to kill some of the animals every now and then back home when we were getting an order ready for one of our bigger customers. Although, we had axes in the shed. All I have are clothes, papers, a pocket knife amongst other essentials, and money. Unless there’s a store up on the mountaintop, money can’t solve my problems.

As I walked around some more, I found a smooth stick with a dull point. Rustling through my bag, I came across my pocket knife. “Bingo,” I whispered to myself. I popped it open and began to slide it across the bottom of the stick, turning the stick into a skewer– shavings flew everywhere.

In the middle of my carving, I heard the rustling of leaves and twigs snapping. I raised my head and within 7 meters I spotted Clara approaching, holding a bundle of something.

“Clara!” I called out, putting my hand in the air.

As she got closer, I realized she was carrying a pile plants or something.

“What the heck is that?” I pointed my knife towards the bundle. She looked down in her arms.

“Breakfast. And its Cora, by the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, Cora. Got it.”

“May I ask what you are doing?”

I held up the stick. “Making a spear,” I said.” If we want real food, we have to have something to hunt with. I can’t eat leaves. They’re probably poisonous.

She put one foot forward. “I’m a wildlife biologist. I’ve studied plants, so I think I know what I’m doing.” She gestured to the left grouping of her so-called ‘breakfast. “This here is Indian Kudzu– perfectly safe for people. And..”

I interrupted her before she could continue. “You expect me to eat this? It probably tastes like dirt.”

“Well, you don’t have to eat it,” she spoke. “Avery and I will go have breakfast on our own.”

“Sure. Go eat your leaves. I’ll go find my own food!”

Standing up and stabbing my spear towards the earth’s surface, I realized how dull my spear was, still. It would take forever to sharpen it at this speed. I didn’t want to eat her bushes, but Cora was having better luck than I was.

“Hey, wait up,” I said. She turned around as I started towards her.

“You know, those shavings you just made would be great for a fire,” she gestured towards my past presence.

“Yeah, I guess. But I already put the kid on it.”

“Avery? But he can’t walk around on his own!”

“He’s fine. If he’s here, he’d better be of some use.”

“Oh yeah? And what have you done?” She walked away from me before I could respond, heading towards him.

When we had gotten there, I smelled the smoke coming from the fire. That kid is smarter than he looks, I thought to myself. He was sitting on a rock and waved at us, or Cora, at least.

As I continued on, I realized that Cora had stopped a few feet behind staring straight ahead.

“What’s wrong?” I muttered. No response. It was like she’d been sucked into her own fantasy and couldn’t be wakened.

Dropping some of the breakfast to the ground, she pointed straight ahead. “Water.”

“Huh?” I didn’t know what that meant until I turned my head. The water had risen. Not just from the original tsunami, but on its own.

“Woah woah! Why did the water rise?!” Avery was panicked, but so was I. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t focus.

Finn walked closer to the water. “I can see the water moving. It's coming up the mountain!”

Collecting my thoughts, I walked and stood next to Finn.

“You’re the smart one,” Finn said to me. “Why is this happening?!”

Honestly, I didn’t know for sure. I hadn’t studied this subject very much. Although, I did have some basic knowledge about the oceans from when I was in junior high. “I think it has to do with pollution.”

Finn gazed down at me in confusion.

“Greenhouse gases are poured into the atmosphere like nothing I had ever seen before. The gases give off a lot of heat, and much of this heat is absorbed into the ocean. The heat fills up the ocean more and more, as people emit these gases. The sea levels have been rising over time ever so slightly, increasing more over the years.”

I realized Avery had limped his way over to us. “But why is it rising so quickly all of a sudden?” Avery questioned.

This stumped me. “Well, I don’t really know. But I do think that the earthquake and tsunami acted as a trigger that set off this catastrophe. Part of this might have had to do with the heat that these disasters created.”

I looked down at my boots. The water had reached them. I was nearly a foot away before; it was rising rapidly.

“We have to move,” I said, looking at Avery. How would he be able to hike up? “How is your knee feeling, Avery?”

“It still hurts.” He reached down and rubbed his knee. “But I can try.”

I was a little concerned, but we didn’t have a lot of options. I didn’t know what was going to happen, what we could do. All I knew was that we had to move away from the water, which was advancing speedily. Maybe other survivors would be up there too– maybe they will know what to do.

“Let’s get to it,” Finn said.

We all started forwards, grabbing our stuff from our camp-out site.

“Finn,” I called out. “Put that fire out– if heat and gases are what causing this rise we have to reduce what we do, even if it isn’t much.”

With a paranoid sigh, he walked over and stamped out the little flames that remained, then coated it with water from the mix of what was rising.

After picking up our bags and breakfast for the hike, we started our ascent up the mountain. He headed in the direction Finn and I came from when we searched for the breakfast. I felt bad for Avery; he was limping and moving very slowly.

“Here,” Finn said to me. “Hold this.” He handed me his satchel. Now he’s making me carry his stuff? I thought to myself. But then he surprised me.

Faced his back towards Avery, he said, “Hop on.” As Avery struggled to jump onto Finn’s back, my feeling towards Finn changed a little. Maybe he’s not so bad after all?

As the hike went on, I felt as if this kid on my back was like one of those creatures you see in the movies that grow to full size within a day or so. He started out light as a feather, but as time passed, he weighed a ton. I felt myself becoming weaker.

“Hey,” I said, calling to Cora. “I’m taking a break.”

I set Avery down on a grassy patch and fell to the dirt that covered the mountain. I let out a sigh, putting my heads beneath my head and looking up at the drab blanket of the sky.

Throughout the years, I’d only seen the sun peak every now and then. The contributions of man had created this heat, and it has become a monster that has taken over. I honestly didn’t care. From what I’ve heard the sun is like a monster too. It burns through your skin, it can give you cancer, and it hurts the people from below it. I didn’t want that right now; I didn’t want the sun adding to the heat that charges towards me.

I then felt my stomach grumble. I hadn’t eaten for a while, not since dinner from last night (the first full day after the end of the world had started). I couldn’t stand whatever Cora had foraged, but it was food, so I ate it anyway. I crawled across the dirt, and reached out and grabbed a handful of Kudzu. Leaf by leaf, I placed them into my mouth. Oh, how I wished I had saved half of that sub from the day of my interview!

I rose up when I heard the sound of an animal; a goat-like sound. I must’ve fallen asleep! I looked around to see where the noise was coming from. It was a weird, hairy, goat. It was running up the mountain. I stood to see why it was running, and what I found was unbelievable.

“Cora!” I called. “Cora!”

I looked back and all around, but she wasn’t there. In fact, neither Cora or Avery was in sight.

“Avery!” I yelled out to see if he was around.

I can’t believe it! I thought. They had left me!

Their bags were gone. I grabbed my bag and took off in shock and anger.

Soon after, I saw a bright blue color in the woods.

“Hey!” I screamed at the familiar figures in anger. “Why did you ditch me?!”

“We didn’t,” Cora replied. “We just didn’t want to wake you. We left to go find a walking stick for Finn.” She turned and looked at Finn. “How does it feel?” she questioned.

In a shy voice, he replied. “It’s good. It still hurts a bit but I’ll be okay to walk.”

“You still shouldn’t have done that.” I thought back about when I woke up.

“It’s fine. You’re a grown man you don’t need a babysitter. You’re probably older than me anyway.”

I felt a rush of anger fill my body, but I did my best to push it back out. “Just… come with me.” I reached my hand out to both of them. First I helped Avery over a big rock, then I reached out for Cora. When she touched my hand, I felt something, something similar to an experience in my early teens.

I led them over to the area around where I was sleeping and showed them exactly why they shouldn’t have left. Before reaching there, I told them about the hairy goat that woke me so that I had the chance to escape. I showed them the water, the devil, the rise.

It was the third day after my world and research crashed down in front of my eyes. The Earth was flooding– I see it as God’s punishment for destroying our planet. The water is chasing us to drag us into a lifeless world of dark. The sea level was rising steadily, unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Honestly, I didn’t know if it’s ever going to stop. It had to stop eventually, didn't it? I didn’t think it was possible for the water to reach high enough that it fills all the way to the Earth’s atmosphere– but how could I know for sure? If it did stop, when would that be? I had a bad feeling, one of solicitude, and made me feel sour to my stomach.

This was a chase, and we had to move quickly to avoid the rising water. Avery was working hard to keep up on his injured leg, but we were all tired from hiking in general. Avery is a pretty tough kid– I can’t even comprehend how he is able to fight through this. My brother Hunter was a fighter too. He worked so hard to help out at home and he wanted to be just like me.

Anyway, were we about three-quarters of the way up the mountain and we had stopped for a break around lunch-time. I knew everyone was sick of Kudzu and other plants, especially Finn. If I had still felt the same way about him as I did from at the beginning, I would’ve let him find his own food. I decided to drop my bag and grab my journal. I looked through and tried to find something that was edible in the Himalayas– anything but the common Kudzu. I went off in search of anything– just no greens. Although I wasn’t going to bring back meat since I’m a vegetarian.

I walked around for maybe 10 minutes before I found anything. Although near the 10-minute mark I discovered some blackberries. Blackberries! I was so grateful to have something that wasn’t bitter. This should perk Finn and Avery right up!

Walking back, I did my best to try not to look over at the water from a distance because it made my heart race. This was, in fact, one of the most difficult things to do. This earthly-mixed water reminded me that I needed to refill my cantine again. I also remembered hearing the sound of a small river or a stream nearby, but I decided to return to Finn and Avery before I became lost.

“Where’d you go?” Finn asked.

“I went to go find some food.” They both let out a sigh.

Finn chuckled. “I used to like eating food.”

“I know, I know. But this might raise your spirits.” Grinning, I held out the cloth sack of blackberries that I collected and watched the instant gratification on their faces as they both raced over to shove them into their mouths.

“Mmmmmmm!” Avery let out a big sigh of pleasure.

The two of them were like vultures devouring their prey.

After they had eaten ¾ of them from the sack that I placed on the rock, Finn put his hand out in front of Avery and looked up at me.

“Wait!” he said. “Did you get any?” He stood up and handed me the rest of the blackberries with soft eyes.

This isn’t the Finn I remembered from the beginning– he has changed. I wonder what happened to him before? As his hand touched mine, I felt butterflies start to fill my heart.

I didn’t know how long we’d been hiking at this point but I’d been scared for my life. I haven’t really said much unless I’m spoken to directly. I often thought about my family, an how I wish I’d been with them. I was kicking myself for going on this field trip and leaving them behind.

As we hiked along, I was the first to feel the oxygen deplete from the air, or so I thought. It was harder to see too– something fog-like filled the air and I couldn’t see very far. I just looked at the ground to watch my footing and made sure I was right with the sounds of Cora and Finn walking and talking next to me.

“The air,” Finn finally said, “is getting harder to breathe.”

“We are getting further and further up in altitude.” Cora looked then stopped for a moment. “Hang in there, it is going to get worse.”

Nighttime came quickly, and we found a flat area where we could sleep.

“Let’s crash here,” Finn said as he dropped his bag off to the side.

Cora set her bag down next to Finn, and I put my stuff down on the other side of Cora. Finn started spreading out my sleeping bag for everyone to lie down on. Ever since we all caught up to each other, I have been sharing my sleeping bag by unzipping it all the way and making the ground more comfortable. Whenever it was time to sleep, I found it hard for me to get settled because it hurt to bend my knee too much. Slowly getting down to the ground, I covered myself with one of my sweatshirts and faced myself out into the openness of mountain.

“Avery!” I heard a familiar high-pitched voice call out to me. I stood up. “Avery!” The voice grew louder, and I knew exactly who was calling out to me: Jess. I felt like I couldn’t control my body. I wanted to run out to her and scoop her up, but my legs wouldn’t listen; I just stood there with my legs glued to the ground. “Avery! Why didn't you come back?” I wanted to call out to her, tell her I was sorry, but I couldn’t manage to unzip my lips. I heard a deep evil laugh approach– it was the tsunami. The tsunami, what prevented me from seeing my sister. It was as tall as the mountain, and it reached out for my sister. Its arms grabbed her legs and it tried to drag her away. “Avery, help me!” I could reach for her hands that were gripping the plants in the ground. The wave took her away in a scream and I was only able to rip myself from the earth to try and run after her, but she had disappeared.

I screamed as I flung my torso into the air. I immediately put my hands to my mouth, worries that I woke Cora or Finn. Looking over at them, I realized I woke Cora. She raised up and rubbed her eyes, moving Finn’s arm off her stomach.

“Hey, you okay?” Cora asked.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry for waking you up,” I replied. I laid back down and faced the other way.

“Bad dream?” She asked. “I’ve been getting them a lot.”

“Yeah, about my sister.” I felt tears invade their way into my eyes. I haven’t cried all year.

“I miss my family too.” Cora laid back down to the ground and put her hand on my shoulder. “I haven’t seen them for a while, and I’m really missing my brother. His name is Hunter.”

I faced the sky so I could tune in. “Where does your brother live?”

“Umm…” She removed her hand from me. “Well, he used to live in California, but he… well, passed away two years ago.”

I faced her. “I’m really sorry.”

Cora sighed. “That’s actually how I ended up here. I had the choice of staying in California or moving to India for work, but my parents… we didn’t have a great relationship. But I imagined what it would be like to live with another family– although I do still miss them.” She stroked my forehead. “We’d better get some sleep…”

I woke up mid to early morning to the sound of a branch snapping. I stood up and saw Finn coming in from the woods, carrying something. It looked like he was getting us breakfast. Cora wasn’t up yet, so I carefully got up and limped over to Finn using my walking stick.

“Oh, hey kid!” He smiled at me.

“Hi,” I replied. “Do you need any help?”

He took a glance at me. “I think I’m good, but thanks.” I knew that he knew I wouldn’t be much help. Although I could tell that he appreciated the offer.

I stepped forward towards a clean-cut stump where Finn was putting out breakfast. There was a huge variety! Leaves, berries, nuts, and water. It took all my might not to take a handful and gobble it down instantly. I knew I should wait until Cora woke up, but I was sure it wouldn’t be too much longer.

Cora woke up about 15 minutes after me, probably to the sound of Finn scrambling around. When she saw the food that was prepared for us, she was speechless. She walked over and asked who made breakfast.

“I did,” Finn said.

Cora walked over and hugged him, and then we all started fueling up for the hike. The hike shouldn’t be much longer, I can see the top clearly now.

“Day five,” Cora said as we started off for today’s hike. The top part of the mountain had fewer trees than the bottom which also limited the air for breathing. As we climbed, my chest began to hurt. My knee was also hurting because I had to bend it. Cora tied it up tighter which helped with the pain, but it felt a lot worse when I had to lose my walking stick. I had to leave it behind when the mountain became a lot steeper, harder for me to worry about placing my stick in the right place.

The last time I could clearly see the water was right before we entered the cloud-like region. Here, it was warm, condensed, and humid. The clouds made everything worse, everything but the view. I was thankful that I didn’t have to see the water catching up, but it also scared me knowing that it could flood up unexpectedly.

It was the fifth day after the world flooded, and we were approaching the top of the mountain. As I could see the mountain’s peak, I found myself reflecting on how grateful I was to be there. I was grateful that I had met Cora and Avery, for if it were not for them I probably would not have made it. I definitely wouldn’t have made it, or so I thought if I hadn’t left home. Who knew that being fired would save my life? I thought about how my anger for my parents had faded away as I hiked up with Cora and Avery.

I’d have to say that the end of the world has changed me, changed my views towards life. I used to be uncaring, or at least that’s how I was when I was working with my parents. The end had brought me back to my true self– the one who is caring, hopeful, and honest. I try not to blame my parents, but I despised the person they turned me into.

Each step I took in the clouds was harder and harder. I didn’t know if I was going to make it up, but I had to try. The water hadn’t stopped rising, not yet– it was gaining on us. At this point, I had collapsed to the ground along with Avery.

“Hey!” Cora ran over to be between us. “Are you guys alright?” She started coughing. Cora was having a hard time being optimistic. “Just take it easy. We have a little more ways to go.”

Then out of the blue, I felt something wet– it was by my foot. I looked down and there it was: the water was trying to drag me down into its body and drown me.

“Ahh!” I screamed. Both Cora and Avery looked down too.

“Oh my gosh! It’s coming!” Avery was panicking.

I knew we had to keep moving. I stood on my knees and crawled my way up the mountain with Avery and Cora behind. At this point, the ground was very steep. It was hard to stay balanced, but I did my best knowing that it was the only way that I had a chance to survive, or at least for a little longer.

After nearly 10 minutes, I took a few more crawls forward until I started going downhill. Backing up a little bit, I said, “We’re here.”

I laid down on my back and took in a deep, useless breath.

When I saw the water from the very top of the mountain, I knew it was the end. We were all panicking, trying to come up with a plan for what to do.

“We could make a boat!” Cora explained.

“It’s too late. Even if there was a tree in sight we wouldn’t have enough time.” I looked at her in sadness.

“But there has to be something!” Cora was frantically moving around. I stood up, put my hands on her shoulders, and she sighed.

“Wait! We can swim to something floating in the water!” Cora looked at Avery. “Can you swim?”

“Yeah,” he replied. Avery was still very frightened. “But my knee– I don’t know if I can.”

I then looked away, removing my hands from her body. “I… I can’t swim either. I never learned.”

I then looked down and saw the water reaching my feet. I was so afraid; I knew it was only water, but, well, I couldn’t swim. Avery couldn’t swim either, and it might take a lot of strength, too much even to swim in this altitude.

The water was like a virus, taking over all life as we know it. I couldn’t even believe how fast it was moving. As the water was rising up and keeping me stuck inside of it, I thought about the biggest mistake that was created throughout all time. Only, this mistake created by our ancestors was not prevented in modern society. It is the fault of the human race, that innocent creatures on the planet have been gobbled up by the water and it’s mother wave.

I held the hands of Avery and Cora, forming a triangle to face the end together. As the water reached my neck, I let go of Cora and Avery– maybe they could swim and save themselves. I knew that Avery was hurt, but it was his only chance to live. I looked up at the grey sky, knowing that I had figured out who I am. I didn’t know if Avery and Cora will make it, but at least they had a better chance than I did. And then I was engulfed.