Page 5 of Everything Under the Sun

“Hurry, Sosie! No—leave it!” I grabbed her walking-stick and tossed it aside. “We’ll get it later!”

A booming shot rang out, stopping my heart and my running legs. For a moment, we couldn’t move; I looked back through the thick trees that now hid the view of the town, waiting. But for what? What do I do? Why can’t I move?

Another shot. Shouting. More shots. Screams.

Sosie lost control of her bladder; the smell of urine rose up between us; tears streamed down both our cheeks.

“Come on!” I said, pulling Sosie’s arm.

We sprinted clumsily through the woods toward the cave.

2

THAIS

Many exhausting minutes of nonstop running seemed to fly by as we made our way deeper into the woods. Out of breath and my lungs burning, I refused to stop even though it felt like my heart might give out if I didn’t.

But Sosie could go no farther.

She snapped her arm from my grasp and let her weight drop, falling against the ground. She gasped for air, her hand pressed to her chest.

“We can’t stop here,” I said, standing over her. “Please, Sosie, just get up. We’re almost there. We’re almost to the hill.”

Sosie put her hand out and shook her head argumentatively. “I can’t breathe, Thais,” she snapped. “The cave won’t do me any good if…I’m dead before I get there. Just let me…catch my breath.”

I gave in, even if only for a moment.

I heard crickets and frogs and a breeze brushing through the trees, but nothing else, not even the call of the Whippoorwill. There were no more gunshots or people screaming. But I didn’t hear leaves rustling, or the bushes shaking, either. This gave me some comfort, hopeful we had not been followed.

Then I caught the distinct scent of smoke on the air—and it was getting thicker.

I peered through the darkness, expecting to see the moving light of torch fires any moment now, but all I saw was blackness fringed by moonlight.

“We have to keep moving, Sosie.” I reached down, hooked my hand underneath her arm and yanked her to her feet.

A few more minutes and we came to the rocky hill. As we ascended, Sosie expressed relief for having to leave the walking-stick behind: the rocks were precarious, and the hill steep, and we needed both hands to feel our way over them, and for grip.

“Careful right here,” I cautioned. “Put your foot here.”

I stayed behind my sister, practically on top of her, to make sure she didn’t fall backward and go tumbling down the incline.

When we made it to the top, the rocky ground leveled out, replaced by dirt. The mouth of the shallow rock cave was dark and empty. We fell against the ground and tried to catch our breath. We didn’t speak for a long time; still, only the sounds of nature made any sound, ever-singing, ever-bickering, as if the world went on all around us and nothing devastating had just happened to everyone I knew.

I stayed awake into the early morning hours, fueled by horrific images of what might have happened to the town. To my friends. To my father. I wept into my filthy bloodstained hands—I had cut the right one somewhere between the house and the cave.

Sosie did nothing, said nothing, she hardly moved.

I rolled onto my side and curled up next to Sosie’s back the way I always did when we slept. Sosie never stirred; only the rising of her shoulder as she breathed indicated that she was still alive.

I looked beyond her at the stars flickering in the clear, dark sky; I watched the tops of the trees sway in the wind, and the moon as it moved through the sky slowly, hour by hour it seemed, until my eyes got so heavy I couldn’t keep them open anymore and a restless sleep finally claimed me.

The smell of choking smoke woke me the next morning. I opened my eyes to a slate sky, not colored by clouds so much as the thick layer of smoke that hung in the air. Every bone and muscle in my body ached. Sleeping against the hard ground only added to the discomfort. I moaned, and reached around, kneading my lower back with my fingertips.

“Daddy’s dead,” I heard Sosie say from behind. Her voice was listless, deadpanned; her face, when I turned to see her sitting with her back pressed against the rock wall, was lifeless and broken.

“You don’t know that.” I resented her for such words. “Don’t say things like that. He’ll be here to get us.”

Sosie’s head, pressed against the rock, shook side to side. “No, he won’t be here to get us.” She stared emotionlessly out ahead, her knees drawn up toward her chest, her hands were hidden behind them, tucked between her belly and her thighs.

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