Part One

The stores had been running out of water since Friday. We were never going to have enough. "We can drink this water", Dad had said, pointing down to the swimming pool,"I'll drain it, refill it with the hose, and put the cover over it". There was a chance this could work if we could all get it out of our minds that there had been chlorine compounds filling the pool's water prior. "Hose water is the same as tap, right? It's ok to drink?", Brother asked, aiming the hose to his mouth. I didn't have any questions going through my mind-I was haunted by the neighbors shadows showing partially through their screened window. 

The day we waited for the pool to drain, Mother and I walked to the bookstore. She wanted to make sure I'd have something to read to take my mind off of the hunger she feared would come sooner then later. Fortunately for us, not many people were considering the entertainment that literature would bring them during the days ahead. I had reached to grab one of the thickest books I could see on the shelf when an overpowering woman knocked me out of the way with her knee. "That's MINE!", she yelled, looking around to make sure Mother wasn't nearby. I wanted to let out all the cursing that was going through my head, but all that came out was, "I wanted to read that you BEAST!" Mother found me with a heavy load of books stacked next to me, and a smirk that said, I know we can't afford these, but I want them all! Mother pulled out a large duffle bag from inside her backpack, "Here, throw them in. Quick! People are starting to realize they can use books for fire." Tossing the books into the bag, I glanced around at all the books and wondered which ones would survive to prove that we had once existed. 

(I'm ending this here for now, but I will definitely pick it up again. There was something about this piece of writing that was really engaging to write. I'm slowly putting together these characters in my mind as I write this, so check back later for a part two!)