The Hard Times Diaries, Jane, Day 9
The sleepover at Alice’s was more normal than you might have thought. We slept in a “tent” in the living room that her father made out of bed sheets and stayed up telling scary stories and gossiping about boys. Alice got a lot more talkative the more you knew her, and she was pretty funny too. Eventually we both fell asleep, the sound of our breathing dominating the silence of the house. We both woke up a little later than usual. Her father was already awake and had gotten breakfast together for us. It was dark outside, and when we looked out the window, it looked like it was snowing.
When we went outside though, we found out that it wasn’t snow. It was ash. Ash was raining down from the sky. Alice’s father told us to stay inside and that he was going over to Mr. Homitzers to try and find out why. We played board games and watched the street. Nothing was going on outside. It was like some terrible snow day, one you couldn’t play in. Everyone just shut themselves indoors. Eventually, her father came back home. He told us that the wireless radio that Mr. Homitzer had was reporting that a volcano had erupted a few days ago and the ash from the ploom was just reaching us now. That was a pretty big shock. A volcano in America? It just didn’t seem real. I learned later that it wasn’t as far fetched as I thought then, that there were several volcanoes in the U.S. before the Vanishing.
Eventually, I went back to my place. I was only going for long enough to grab food, and then I planned to head back over the Alice’s. When I had just finished crossing the street, a car pulled around the corner and charged down our street. I ran and hid behind a nearby tree, which was good, because the people in the car started screaming and hollering, and then I heard the gun fire. To this day, I don’t know who shot at who first. I like to think the gangbangers shot at us first, but I’ve never been completely sure. I sunk to the ground, keeping close to the tree with my fingers in my ears and my eyes closed tight. It was over pretty fast. The gunfire didn’t last long, and the car they were in reached the end of our street and made another sharp turn.
I was on the ground and hugging the tree for a while. I finally got up and I took my fingers out of my ears. I heard talking in the street. It was some of the neighbors talking about what happened. I was expecting shock, but they sounded excited, like it had been a baseball game and not a shooting. I slunk back to my house, trying to keep out of sight so they wouldn’t question or talk to me. I just wanted to get back home. When I got back, I found that the front window had been shot out. I had no idea how to fix that, but at the time, I didn’t really care. I just crawled into my bed and laid there, letting the ash slowly drift into our living room. It got dark, and I headed back outside. I met Alice there and told her and her father what had happened. We talked some about how we could fix the window.
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