Sparks

Chapter 1

“Haha! In your face!” I scream at my brother Max. Max and I have this bond this odd bond. “Ok, fine, you win. So what do you want to play next?” Max asks. I brush off dirt from the pants. “Ok, I guess we can play ball tag?”

“Ok, but I get to – woah, WOAH.” Max gasps with surprise. There was a huge black cloud. At first we just thought someone was doing a campfire. But then we smelled the thick black smoke. It smelled like burning rubber, But stronger. My lungs felt like they had a heavy brick in them weighing them down. 

The cloud was huge and moving fast. We ran inside and yelled, “Mom! Dad! Come look!”

As we go outside with the dogs following at our feet, the cloud gets bigger and bigger and blacker and blacker. Even my parents were surprised. Everyone knew it was smoke but only my parents knew where it was coming from but we didn’t. They told us in a dark tone “guys, its from fires. We have to be careful because they could be nearby. That’s a lot of smoke.” I looked toward the trees on the mountain nearby and hoped I wouldn’t see any flames.

Chapter 2

That night we were eating dinner on the couch since the news was on because we wanted to see if the fires were getting closer. Max and I were getting bored, really bored. We weren’t interested in the news. All we wanted is to go outside, we decided to play a game until the fires come on. We played Monopoly, uno and blink. After playing for a little while, the fires came on the news. I did not think it was so bad. “ finally” max snapped sharply. “WHAT, DO YOU EVEN CARE?  we could be in danger!” I scream with a tear in my eye. I hear the word fires on the TV. I start to shake, I felt sick. I Blocked off everything in my brain so I could focus. We sat down locking are eyes to the screen. “ the fires are bad this year.” The reporter said. My mind was confused. My head could not think straight. The floor started to turn, then the walls, the furniture. The room shifted around me like my brain was Circling around me.

Chapter 3

I was in bed and my dad walked in. “ good night sweetheart” he said as he kissed me good night. As he walked away, i asked trembling “are we going to be ok?” He turned and smiled “ yes, yes we are” i sank in to my bed feeling relieved. Only just a few minutes later, I heard a scratch at my door. At first, I wasn’t going to get it. But it kept on coming. And coming. So finally, I got up and there were my dogs, sitting there waiting. “Buzzy! Rocket! I should be asleep. Go to mom’s room!” I said in a grumpy way. I walk back to my bed. I jump on it, thinking about how we are going to be okay and how I think my dogs are adorable.

“Amy!” My mom said at 7 in the morning. “Come down here! You too Max!” As I slump out of bed, I go to see if Max is actually awake. And, to my surprise, he was. As I go downstairs, I see Max following behind me. I hear the pitter patter of my dog leaving my mom’s room. “Oh good, you guys are down. I made you eggs and bacon.” My mom says, surprised. I look around and realize that my mom and dad were about to tell me something. They always have this look on their faces when they are about to tell us something. “Uh….what’s wrong?” Max groans. Me and my brother look at each other knowing that something is about to be wrong. Mom and dad look at each other and finally, “okay, we got tickets to go to New Hampshire on Thursday. Which is soon.” 

“But, that is in 2 days!” We say.

“We know, we know.” Mom says.

I already knew something like this was going to happen. But in two days! That seems too soon. I was both excited and nervous. 

Chapter 4

“Ah” I scream shooting up from my bed. I was covered in sweat cold sweat. I turn to my clock hoping it was morning.it read 5:00. “Nnnnnooooooo!!!!!” I sigh smushing my face in my bed. “Hi hun, good your awake where leaving soon so get ready.” My mom gushed out . I did not want to get up, but I wanted to scare my brother. I hoped up with all my strength. I rolled down the Stairs hearing Max’s footsteps. I curve around a corner. “BOO”I scream. “AAAAAHHHH” my brother screamed a girly scream. Mom and Max gave me the death stare. I grab my backpack and packed my iPad, headphones, stuffy, gum, snacks, masks (for the smoke) and a book. I grab a bagel my mom made for the car. It was hot like a blazing sun.

 I was in a taxi. It was a dirty yellow. My face was covered in wet sweat. What if the smoke is to thick and we cant see the plan would crash. My mom always said “don’t what if it will only make it worse” I hold on to those words going through my day’s. The taxi sputtered away.

In the airport it was big enough that it was scary. I always worried when going through security like is was bad and i was going to get caught but I never did. That did not stop my worries.the plan was small but little people so it felt bigger. I was bored and felt sick. All I watched was 80’s movies.

Chapter 5

When we landed it was night, about 9:00 o’clock the air was cold. We waited for the car so we could go to my cousins house. The earth  around me was clean no smoke but clear skies. The trees were green. “Wow” Max said amazed. “I’ve never felt so alive”. Like that was true. I could hear the whistle of the wind, it sang a song like the sun was on me like I could hold the earth in my hands. I felt powerful. “ can you hear the song” I whisper under my breath.

The home was big. I couldn’t hold the light in my heart it burst out sending me spinning. The room I got was pastel blue, red, yellow and green. As I fell asleep I dreamed about the home. In the morning I had yogurt. My cousins are coming at 10:00 am. The sky was blue. The air smelled like mint sweet mint the mint that you  have when you’re sad or in your tea. The house was on a lakeside. The water was swaying back and forth slowly. It was also a tree filled  place, even a treehouse. One time when I was young my dad made tow swings on a tree it’s still there today. “Hi so good to see you” a voice said out of nowhere. “COUSINS!” I scream at the top of my lungs. I ran past the bathroom, kitchen into the mud room. My family and I all hugged each other. “Amy how’s my bug” my cousin Olive asked. I pulled her down looking into her eyes the stare of my bright green eyes that looked as if you were in the ocean, they dig down in her blue eyes. She threw me into the air and I landed on the floor in front of my cousin. Another hug. Oh it felt great to see them but I couldn’t bear another hug. My cousin’s loved theater, every time I see them we make a play. 

“Cannonball!”I scream jumping off the deck into the water. The splash rows over me. The water was cold, my toes touched a rock scaring me half to death. Everyone laughed except for me. I swam to the deck floating in the lake. We got some water on a one of those laying things floating on water, we arched the float on the deck to make a slide. I slid down into the water. “Wee” I scream. Day after day we swam, practiced the play, played games, and finally did the play. The play was Rapunzel. 

Then came the day going home. My blood swilled around in my body. My hands were shaking. The what-if’s came crawling back. By the time we got to the airport, I was already almost crying. The thought of going on a plane, with that much smoke, made me shiver. We went to the food courts to get the food for the plane. My brother, of course, ran to the candy store. I went too. We both got one piece of candy and one bag of chips. Then we got an actual meal. 

The plane was cold. It felt like the icy air was circling around me again. Over and over. As the plane lifted off, I hugged my stuffie. We rose over and over New Hampshire on our way to California. 

Chapter 6

We drove up the road to our house, seeing burned down buildings and trees. My head felt woozy. My body felt shaky. I didn’t know what to do, except for hope. 

The house was fine, but a little bit burned. A couple of repairs, everything else was fine. I felt cheerful, happy, the dogs were barking and I knew that meant they felt good. 

About the author

Micah Flynn grew up in San Francisco. She was inspired by the earth. She grew up with her mom, dad, brother and her two dogs. She went to school at live oak school. She had lots of friends. Her favorite color was purple.