"Meredith, open the curtains and let some sunlight in," my mom told me.

It's been seven years since the giant super cell attacked our city Philadelphia, but I still can't get over it. I lost my father to the storm. I could still remember that day crystal clear. After the storm had ceased, my mom and I gathered our belongings and went in search of my father. We tried to call him, but it was no use. Since the telephone lines were torn down by the storm, there was no reception. We went around asking if anyone had seen Alexander Jones (my father), but we had no luck. We looked for him for hours, but still no Alexander Jones. I still remember the look of realization on my mom's face, she looked overcome with grief. She slowly crumbled to the ground, tears running down her cheeks. I stood there in disbelief. This can't be happening, I thought. He said he was safe!

He's not dead, I told myself over and over again.

To this day, I tell myself that. It feels as if just yesterday he took us fishing, and I caught a bigger fish than he did. He's gonna walk through the door any minute carrying our groceries, I thought. Then he'll take us all to the movies because he's alive. He's not dead.

"Meredith Amber Jones! Did I not ask you to open the curtains?!" my mom yelled waking me up from my daydreams.

"Yeah, I'll open them," I replied.

After that, my mother and I traveled to New York by foot. It was the closest city that still had electricity. We weren't the only ones that traveled to New York, many others decided to join the journey. We met another family on the way there. The woman's name was Jill and she had a son named Joshua, he was about 4 or 5 and a daughter about my age.

"Where's your dad?" I remember asking her.

"We can't find him," she replied with sorrow.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "I know how it feels. We can't find my father either,".

By the time we reached New York, I had become good friends with the daughter, Casey. We had many things in common, and we both knew how it felt to lose someone you loved dearly.

They set up tents in New York for people who were in need of medical attention. Half the beds were already filled with people. Some had broken a leg or foot, others weren't so lucky. One man had a huge chunk of the left side of his face ripped open. Someone had put a bandage on it but the blood kept seeping through.

There were too many patients, and not enough doctors. My mother volunteered to help since she was a nurse.

"How did all these people get hurt?" I asked to no one in particular.

"Earthquake." a man standing nearby said.

"Earthquake?" I asked surprised.

"Yes, but it's not so bad compared to the other natural disasters occurring around the world," he told me, gesturing to a T.V nearby. It had videos from cities all around the world. One was hit by a hurricane, another had an enormous wildfire.

"Pretty weird huh?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied puzzled. "I thought we were the only ones hit,".

Then the ground shook.

"DROP DOWN!" the man yelled. I was too scared to move.

"Meredith! Drop down!" Casey repeated. Finally I dropped to the ground shielding myself. The ground shook again, this time much more violently. The earth began to crack near the tents. All those people were helpless and couldn't save themselves.

"Joshua!" I heard Casey scream. I looked towards her and saw that her little brother was on the verge of falling. Casey grabbed on to his hand and was slowly being pulled into the hole along with Joshua.

"Help!" Joshua screamed.

I managed to grab Casey and started to pull. Many other people joined and helped me pull, but the ground shook too much. Many more people were falling into the hole. My hands began to sweat and they got slippery. Gravity was pulling Josh and Casey and I was no match for it. The struggle was too much, both my friends were getting closer and closer to falling into the hole.

"Let go!" Casey finally yelled.

"No!" I replied.

"Please let go!" she repeated. "If you don't you'll fall in with us!"

"Never!" I said tears running down my cheeks. I knew that I wouldn't be able to pull them but I needed to try. I couldn't lose anyone else. My hands had become more slippery, and finally I could pull no more.

"I'M SORRY!" I screamed, as Joshua and Casey plummeted down. And then I broke down.

After that everything was a blur. I could remember my mom rushed towards me glad that I was safe.

"What's wrong?" she had asked.

My only reply was, " Casey and Joshua," . That was enough for my mother to have realized what had happened.

Thanks for reading chapter one. If you liked the story please vote and comment below ,feedback would be much appreciated. I will be adding the next chapter in about a week.
-chihiro_07