| General Fiction posted January 9, 2017 | Chapters: |
...7 9 -10- 11... 
|
  |
Where are my children?
A chapter in the book The True Test
Desperation -
by jusylee72
Katie wept inconsolably. There was nothing we could say to make her stop crying. Both of her children unreachable because of the chasm in the road, her two-year old's daycare 10 miles down Culebra, Her 6-year-old daughter in an elementary school on the other side of 1604.
"I picked that daycare because it was on the way home, just 15 minutes away. Straight down the street. Now you are telling me there is a chasm, a physical chasm, between me and my children. An indentation in the earth that is slowly filling with the water. How am I going to get there? Who is taking care of them? What can I do now? Where do I go? It was a fifteen-minute ride from here. 15 minutes. Billy had a fever one month ago. They called me. All I had to do was go to Tommy and say I had to leave and he said, "That's fine. We'll cover your class."
"Now it is half way across the world. My daughter's school is another three miles down the road near our house. I have no way of helping them. Are they hungry? Cold? I can't do this. I have to find them."
As women, we went to her. How do we help? We have no answers either. One of the history teachers told me that a wagon train in the old days would travel between 10 and 20 miles a day. We only knew modern times, where we left our children with others and picked them up after school or called our husbands and Mother-in-laws if there was a problem.
I had to say something.
"We can't see that far now. A few miles down the road it may be intact. It may be normal. It may be fine. Your husband may have them. We have no communication but I want you to have hope. They want to have a mother to come back to. You can't fall apart. You have to stay strong. I have no answers but we won't give up we will find a way. It may not be tomorrow, but we will find a way."
I saw in her eyes that she believed me. I stopped talking and bowed my head. I wasn't much of a church person but they always say "There are no Atheists in Fox Holes." I definitely felt as if we lived in a deep little pit that some random Fox had lived in. I know Fox Holes for the military are dug out by troops. This one was made by nature and right now inescapable.
It was about four O'clock now. I'd been working on getting my choir room in order. There was so much space. The main classroom, a smaller ensemble room, five practice rooms, two closets, one with Christmas Decorations, one with more useless electronics. It still smelled bad but I found some pine cleaner in the closet. I Poured it on the areas I knew the raccoons had pooped in. I found a pack of cards and some other games I kept in my closet.
Outside, we had a fire going. Earlier in the morning, some of the group made another trek to the cafeteria and found some large pans and cans of Chili and Cheese. I was thrilled when I saw hot dogs on the make believe grill they made. Some one's car grill was now providing us with dinner. We stood around laughing and enjoying our little barbecue
One of the home Ec teachers had found the sewing kit in the uniform room. She had been sitting beside the fire sewing something by hand, I wasn't sure what. The material looked like some of our band's concert tuxedos Later when she used it as a pot holder to remove the hot pan of chili from the fire, I had a small personal chuckle. "Well Mrs. Irvin, meanest Girl Scout sponsor in the world, you would be proud of what Elissa made today." I guess pot holders are part of survival.
Katie wept inconsolably. There was nothing we could say to make her stop crying. Both of her children unreachable because of the chasm in the road, her two-year old's daycare 10 miles down Culebra, Her 6-year-old daughter in an elementary school on the other side of 1604.
"I picked that daycare because it was on the way home, just 15 minutes away. Straight down the street. Now you are telling me there is a chasm, a physical chasm, between me and my children. An indentation in the earth that is slowly filling with the water. How am I going to get there? Who is taking care of them? What can I do now? Where do I go? It was a fifteen-minute ride from here. 15 minutes. Billy had a fever one month ago. They called me. All I had to do was go to Tommy and say I had to leave and he said, "That's fine. We'll cover your class."
"Now it is half way across the world. My daughter's school is another three miles down the road near our house. I have no way of helping them. Are they hungry? Cold? I can't do this. I have to find them."
As women, we went to her. How do we help? We have no answers either. One of the history teachers told me that a wagon train in the old days would travel between 10 and 20 miles a day. We only knew modern times, where we left our children with others and picked them up after school or called our husbands and Mother-in-laws if there was a problem.
I had to say something.
"We can't see that far now. A few miles down the road it may be intact. It may be normal. It may be fine. Your husband may have them. We have no communication but I want you to have hope. They want to have a mother to come back to. You can't fall apart. You have to stay strong. I have no answers but we won't give up we will find a way. It may not be tomorrow, but we will find a way."
I saw in her eyes that she believed me. I stopped talking and bowed my head. I wasn't much of a church person but they always say "There are no Atheists in Fox Holes." I definitely felt as if we lived in a deep little pit that some random Fox had lived in. I know Fox Holes for the military are dug out by troops. This one was made by nature and right now inescapable.
It was about four O'clock now. I'd been working on getting my choir room in order. There was so much space. The main classroom, a smaller ensemble room, five practice rooms, two closets, one with Christmas Decorations, one with more useless electronics. It still smelled bad but I found some pine cleaner in the closet. I Poured it on the areas I knew the raccoons had pooped in. I found a pack of cards and some other games I kept in my closet.
Outside, we had a fire going. Earlier in the morning, some of the group made another trek to the cafeteria and found some large pans and cans of Chili and Cheese. I was thrilled when I saw hot dogs on the make believe grill they made. Some one's car grill was now providing us with dinner. We stood around laughing and enjoying our little barbecue
One of the home Ec teachers had found the sewing kit in the uniform room. She had been sitting beside the fire sewing something by hand, I wasn't sure what. The material looked like some of our band's concert tuxedos Later when she used it as a pot holder to remove the hot pan of chili from the fire, I had a small personal chuckle. "Well Mrs. Irvin, meanest Girl Scout sponsor in the world, you would be proud of what Elissa made today." I guess pot holders are part of survival.
"I picked that daycare because it was on the way home, just 15 minutes away. Straight down the street. Now you are telling me there is a chasm, a physical chasm, between me and my children. An indentation in the earth that is slowly filling with the water. How am I going to get there? Who is taking care of them? What can I do now? Where do I go? It was a fifteen-minute ride from here. 15 minutes. Billy had a fever one month ago. They called me. All I had to do was go to Tommy and say I had to leave and he said, "That's fine. We'll cover your class."
"Now it is half way across the world. My daughter's school is another three miles down the road near our house. I have no way of helping them. Are they hungry? Cold? I can't do this. I have to find them."
As women, we went to her. How do we help? We have no answers either. One of the history teachers told me that a wagon train in the old days would travel between 10 and 20 miles a day. We only knew modern times, where we left our children with others and picked them up after school or called our husbands and Mother-in-laws if there was a problem.
I had to say something.
"We can't see that far now. A few miles down the road it may be intact. It may be normal. It may be fine. Your husband may have them. We have no communication but I want you to have hope. They want to have a mother to come back to. You can't fall apart. You have to stay strong. I have no answers but we won't give up we will find a way. It may not be tomorrow, but we will find a way."
I saw in her eyes that she believed me. I stopped talking and bowed my head. I wasn't much of a church person but they always say "There are no Atheists in Fox Holes." I definitely felt as if we lived in a deep little pit that some random Fox had lived in. I know Fox Holes for the military are dug out by troops. This one was made by nature and right now inescapable.
It was about four O'clock now. I'd been working on getting my choir room in order. There was so much space. The main classroom, a smaller ensemble room, five practice rooms, two closets, one with Christmas Decorations, one with more useless electronics. It still smelled bad but I found some pine cleaner in the closet. I Poured it on the areas I knew the raccoons had pooped in. I found a pack of cards and some other games I kept in my closet.
Outside, we had a fire going. Earlier in the morning, some of the group made another trek to the cafeteria and found some large pans and cans of Chili and Cheese. I was thrilled when I saw hot dogs on the make believe grill they made. Some one's car grill was now providing us with dinner. We stood around laughing and enjoying our little barbecue
One of the home Ec teachers had found the sewing kit in the uniform room. She had been sitting beside the fire sewing something by hand, I wasn't sure what. The material looked like some of our band's concert tuxedos Later when she used it as a pot holder to remove the hot pan of chili from the fire, I had a small personal chuckle. "Well Mrs. Irvin, meanest Girl Scout sponsor in the world, you would be proud of what Elissa made today." I guess pot holders are part of survival.
, Teachers have to stay after school for mandatory Standardized Test Training. Many of them sense something is wrong. They want to go home. They stick to their obligations. When the explosion comes they have no idea that an earthquake, the largest ever recorded, has ruptured the gas lines outside their building. Most of Texas is destroyed. All around them is devastation. The Auditorium is damaged. They are able to get to the band hall across from the auditorium. They have no idea how much damage surrounds them. They are a group of about 70 teachers and administrators, custodians, etc. They have so many different talents and skills. How will they survive?
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