Gen Three- Chapter Twelve

Mom couldn't have told a less funnier joke. Then, I glanced around again at the mostly empty house, and I made myself stop being stupid. I didn't want to move, but the storm raged with extra fury outside in that very moment and I understood why we were.

     "Moving? Why?" Merlot went ahead and asked anyway.

     "There's no other choice. Berrybrook has dealt with flooding before, but never on a scale like this. The last time a hurricane made its way all the way up here was over seventy years ago, and it was only a category two. This one now is at its full strength, and with how badly it's been raining all year I'm not exaggerating when I say a good portion of the city is going to be underwater. That includes this neighborhood as well. We're incredibly close to the ocean, and we're settled at the bottom of a small valley. I wouldn't be surprised if the flooding made it up to the second floor. In any case, if the city doesn't start ordering mandatory evacuations by tonight, they'll have to by tomorrow."
     "And that's why you've started packing everything up." I spoke.
     "Exactly. Amaranth and I have been working hard all day here while your father has been calling in whoever was willing to come in to help him take care of the store. We hired some trucks and movers, and we've already gotten two full trucks on their way. The majority of our things are going to be placed in a storage center much further in state."

I had to take a deep breath. This all felt way too surreal. Part of me had known listening to all the reports talking about how bad the situation had gotten that something had to happen, but I somehow thought things wouldn't come to this extreme.

     "Where are we going to move? Further in state then?" Gilly wondered.
     "No, we're actually going much further than that. We'll be staying with Prism for the time being." mom revealed.
     "We're going all the way to Tinseltown?" I questioned, my mouth hanging open.
     "For the time being?" Gilly added after me.
     "He has enough room to hold us in his house for a little bit, but there's no way we can all cram in there indefinitely. We'll have to find a separate place to rent once we get down there." mom explained.
     "Isn't it fine if it's just a few weeks though? The hurricane isn't going to last that long." I pointed out.
     "Remember what I just said though, so much of where we live is going to be underwater. I wouldn't be surprised if we'll have to rebuild the house entirely. That's just us too. Even once the storm passes, it can and probably will continue to rain like it has been. Everything's going to be chaotic for months. There's very little chance we'll be able to come back in any timely manner. Maybe by Christmas things might be more stable, but I'm guessing staying in Tinseltown will remain the better option."

Mom gave us the best sympathetic smile she could muster. This was a lot of disheartening news coming on quickly, and I'm sure that was incredibly apparent on our expressions.

     "Is Aunt Desi coming with us too?" Merlot asked.
     "No. I thought going to stay with Prism would be her first choice, but she and Jasper decided to go with his parents and stay with their relatives instead. Wisp and Papaya are also moving closer to where Papaya's extended family live. Both Cerise and Glade are going to take their families and move with each other to Apple Fields down south. They've always wanted to go there."
     "So everyone's going to be really scattered." Gilly noted sadly.
     "Unfortunately, yes." mom nodded.
     "Where are we going to go to school?" Merlot wondered next.
     "I'll be enrolling you in the same school system that Canary and Crescent attend. It's a private institution that goes from pre-k all the way to the affiliated college. Zenith Peak, I believe it's called. I was actually just about to call them before you three walked in."
     "What's wrong with staying in public school?" I asked.
     "A lot of the students at Zenith Peak are involved in the entertainment industry, so they're much more flexible about enrollment and attendance. It will be easier to transfer you all there. Plus, it makes no sense to have you attend one school while Canary and Crescent go to another. It'll be too much work getting you all where you need to be when things will be chaotic enough as it is."

My desire to whine overwhelmed me then.

     "But...but a stuffy private school? Don't they have uniforms and everything?" I moped.
     "Canary and Crescent both love it there. It'll be different than what you're used to, but it's not going to be like all the private schools you see exaggerated in movies. Yes, you will have to wear uniforms, but think about how much easier it will be to get dressed in the morning."
     "We can save more money by not having to worry about buying new clothes to wear either." Gilly pointed out in her attempt to be optimistic.
     "I suppose," I relented somewhat, "Mom, we have a bunch of money now. How much more do we have to save until we can get a pet? Surely we've shown we're determined enough by now."
     "Coal and I were discussing it, but all this hurricane business has made it a firm 'no' at the moment. That's too much on top of everything else."
     "Mmm..." I whined with a deep pout.
     "I'm sorry, baby. This isn't pleasant for any of us." mom comforted.

She pulled us into one big hug before bending down and placing a kiss on each of our cheeks. Instinct almost had me pulling away as I wasn't happy in the slightest with what mom had told me, but I knew it wasn't right to direct my feelings on anger her way. It wasn't as if this was her fault.

     "Maybe this might be a bit of good news, but don't bother with your homework," she instructed, "We'll be heading out tomorrow afternoon for the airport. You won't be going to school. In the meantime, we're going to try and do as much packing as possible. Pull out what you want to take and throw everything else in boxes. It doesn't have to be pretty or neat. It just has to be done. Another truck should be here soon to take the next batch away."
     "Are we really going to be able to pack everything up by tomorrow morning?" Gilly questioned.
     "We should be able to get most of it. If not, Coal and Amaranth will deal with the remnants. They're going to be staying behind to volunteer with the rescue efforts."
     "What?" I exclaimed in disbelief.
     "We'll talk about it in a moment. I really do have to call Zenith Peak before the movers show up."

Mom gave us no chance to slip in an extra word. She walked away, pulled out her phone, looked at a number written on a piece of paper she grabbed from her pocket, and made the call.

     "Hello. My name is Hollyhock Vivid. I hope I've called the right department in order to discuss the transfer of my children to your school system. You see, we live in Berrybrook, and..."

Mom went quiet for a moment, and I dared to get my hopes up. The person on the other end could be telling her they were all filled up. That we would have to stick with public education instead. However, I didn't get my wish.

     "Yes, that is the city about to be hit by the hurricane, you're correct. My husband's brother lives in your area, and we'll be temporarily moving in with him before finding our own place nearby. My brother-in-law currently has his own two children enrolled with you, Canary and Crescent. I have my three children and..."

Mom was interrupted a second time, and there was no denying the more famous side of our family was working its magic just by name alone.

     "Yes, Prism is indeed my brother-in-law. I...yes, thank you. Oh, are you sure? I could easily...well, alright. That would be most helpful. Yes, my husband and I have three children together. We have our twin girls, Gilly and Dianthus. They're in seventh grade. Our son, Merlot, is in first. There is one more that we might enroll as well. My husband's oldest daughter, my niece. We're going to ask her when she gets home if she would like to come with us or go with her mother. I'll make certain to have Coal call you as soon as we know. Uh, well, we intended to give the children a few days to adjust, so we were thinking of having them start next Monday. I'm not sure if that's too soon or if...oh, yes, if that's no problem that'd be lovely."

The conversation continued much the same way. Mom paused briefly every now and again when she was asked a question, she would give her answer, and the person on the other end sounded highly accommodating. I thought it a bit strange that a school that probably had a bunch of famous children or children of famous parents would seem so star-struck over the not known relatives of some of its students, but perhaps I doubted how much influence Uncle Prism had. In any case, mom finished the call shortly after. She got Gilly, Merlot, and I packing alongside her, and minutes after the next truck came and left once filled with items did Ember make it home from the high school. The truth of our situation was explained to her, but her look of disappointment and reluctance vanished in an instant as soon as the offer came for her to come with us to Tinseltown.

     "I mean, unless mom was really adamant that I come with her, I totally want to go with you guys." Ember put her opinion out there.
     "Mimi said she would leave the choice up to you. Mom, dad, Papaver, Rosey, and her are moving to Wind Valley."
     "Wind Valley is nice, but there's no comparing it to Tinseltown. I want to come with you."
     "Well, alright," mom smiled at my sister's determination, "I'll let Mimi and Coal know."
     "Thanks, Aunt Holly. I'll go get to packing my stuff right away."

Ember grinned wider than I had ever seen her, and she crushed mom in a giant hug before rushing up the stairs. Mom shrugged at us, and we continued with our work.

Seeing how empty the house became as we shoved everything into boxes welled up several emotions within me. First, I never realized how much stuff we truly owned. I couldn't believe how many boxes it took just to get everything out of the small, downstairs bathroom. The more that was loaded into the trucks, the more gigantic the building itself became. The place seriously was huge. I also couldn't believe how much junk we had. The place was well kept and clean, but so much of what was packed I never recalled us using or needing. An eternity passed before the downstairs was all set save for the basic necessities we would need in the afternoon and tomorrow morning. The work moved upstairs, and when I came back downstairs to get a drink more bad news awaited me. Grandpa and dad had come home, and talking to each other they revealed something I never wanted to hear.

     "It's the right choice, Coal. Once a dog stops being able to stand, it really signals the end." Grandpa spoke sympathetically before he pet Doodle's head only to place a comforting hand on dad's shoulder.
     "I know. It just does feel like I'm betraying him. He has a little fight left, and I don't want to take that away." dad said sadly despite trying to smile, cuddling Doodle close.
     "It's better for him. Button faced very nearly the same struggles, and Ethereal let her fight. It didn't do anything but make the both of them miserable."

I dashed the way down the rest of the stairs, which obviously caught grandpa and dad's attention.

     "What are you two talking about?" I questioned with dread even though I easily guessed the answer, "Something about Doodle?"
     "I had dad bring Doodle with him when he met me at the store, and the vet was kind enough to talk with us after we took him in for a walk-in appointment. He agreed with us that Doodle's health has deteriorated far too much."
     "You're going to put him down?" I asked with horror what dad struggled to say, "Why can't we just take him with us? If he can't walk, I'll carry him around wherever he needs to go."
     "If the answer was that simple, I wouldn't have made this choice," dad replied with a sad smile, "Even without our intervention, Doodle has...a week, maybe? Possibly a week and a half. Not long. That week would be nothing but lots of pain for him as well. It's kinder to let him go. Then there's the fact that it'd be impossible to take him with us. He wouldn't survive either a long plane ride or a multi-day trek across the whole country in the car. I obviously can't leave him here, and I can't place his medical problems and massive amounts of care needed on our family who aren't moving super far away."
     "I understand." I mumbled dismally.

Grandpa gave me a hug, and dad gave me one as best he could while still holding Doodle. I bit the inner corners of my lips to keep them steady. Dad looked miserable enough. I would need a good cry about this, but that had to wait until I got upstairs. I reasoned this was, in a way, a good experience for me as well. When I became a doctor, there were going to be many situations I couldn't fix. There would have to be people I'd have to let die, and I would there would be no choice but to keep my composure.

     "When are you going to take him in?" I asked with a quieter but calm voice.
     "Tomorrow morning."
     "Is it alright if I come with you?"
     "Of course. I know Doodle would love that."

An awkward pause passed. None of us really knew what to say past that.

     "How is the store?" I spoke the first thing that came to mind.
     "All packed up and mostly all shipped out. I'll have to go back in a bit to finish up. We're surrounding it with what sand bags we can get, but I'm probably going to have to rebuild it all over again..."
     "At least we have flood insurance." grandpa did his best to joke as he placed another supportive hand on dad's shoulder.
     "At least we have flood insurance." dad repeated with a dry grin.

By the time dinner came around, the house was nearly stripped to its bones. The loss of many lamps cast a darker atmosphere over the place, and there were only the three bar stools to sit on for dinner, which was ordered pizza, as even the dining table and chairs had been whisked away. A pile of boxes began to grow by the door for the things we were initially taking with us, and a separate, smaller truck took the stuff that we couldn't bring on the plane.

     "At least you guys are all moving together." I said as I spoke with Apple.

Her family, Malachite's family, and Rosemary's family were all going with Aunt Deny to live near where her ex-husband and children from that previous marriage were while Berrybrook was out of commission.

     "Yeah. Uncle Mal thought about bringing him, Light, and Aunt Lav down to live with Mant and Beryl, but when he heard how separated everyone else is going to be, he thought it best to stick together too." Apple replied with a long sigh.

She and I talked for a while, but the conversation wasn't overly long. With us not going to school tomorrow, there were a lot of people I had to call and say goodbye to in my limited time with mom's phone.

     "That'll be nice, I'm sure, going back to your old hometown." I spoke to Timber this time.
     "I guess it kinda works in a way. Dad and I had been wanting to visit our friends and stuff down there, but we didn't get the chance over the summer."
     "Tell everyone I say hi."
     "Will do."

It actually grew lighter around bedtime. The storm cleared up somewhat right as night began its takeover of day. Not surprisingly, I couldn't fall asleep. I tried my best, but my mind wouldn't shut up. There were too many terrible things to think of that drove spikes into my chest, and about a half hour after lying there fruitlessly the tears came.

     "You okay, Dia?" Gilly asked almost instantly, and that made it clear sleep wasn't finding her either.
     "No," my voice quivered as I rubbed at my eyes, "Everything sucks. We have to leave, everyone is going to be far away, grandpa and dad are going to be here when it's really dangerous, Doodle's going to die, and this is probably the last time we're going to spend a night in this house. I don't want us to have to build a new one."
     "I know. I wish I could fix it all, but there's nothing any of us can do. It does suck beyond belief." Gilly replied slowly with a grimace of reluctant defeat.

We both lay there in almost total silence for a moment. My sniffles and gentle sobs were only overpowered by the rain still hitting the windows. After blowing my nose, I made the best decision I could make at that moment. Gilly and I couldn't offer any real advice or comfort to each other since, as Gilly had pointed out, there was nothing we could do, but I knew one way we might feel a bit better.

     "Mind if I sleep with you?" I requested when I shuffled over.
     "I think we're both still small enough to fit us both on one of these beds. You still like the spot closer to the wall?" Gilly wondered, a small smile breaking onto her face.
     "Mmhmm." I mumbled with a tiny nod.

She cast back the covers, let me climb over her, and there we cuddled together as that was the only way to fit until moonlight streaming in signaled enough of the storm broke away to free it, which granted us enough of a relief in order to find sleep.

Waking up started in a semi-acceptable manner. Mom came in our room to gently shake us awake, although by the poorly contained massive smile she wore I felt it safe to assume she'd first snapped a few pictures of Gilly and I sharing a bed for the first time in a while. A hearty breakfast of endless bacon and scrambled eggs met us, and the rain being little more than a light drizzle meant it would actually be possible to get on our plane.

Then things grew somber again. Ember used up some of her allowance to hire a taxi so she could personally go say goodbye to her friends, and neither Gilly nor Merlot chose to join me in going to the vet with dad and Doodle. Both would be blubbering messes the whole day long if they were there when he passed, and that wasn't what we needed right now.

     "Bye bye, Doodle." Gilly scratched him behind his ears.
     "Have fun running around again." Merlot added, placing a kiss on his nose.

The two held back tears already, and it made it difficult to hold back mine. However, I was determined to see this through as strongly as possible.

     "Ready?" dad asked me, and the kind of sadness I'd seen in his eyes when mom and Uncle Eden died clouded them now as well.
     "Yeah." I answered despite it being a strong lie.

One was never ready for this kind of thing.

In the end though, I came out of the vet's much more dry eyed than expected. I think a lot of it had to due with the kind of shock that I also experienced with the cats, or at least something similar. There the vet had Doodle lay down in a room before a needle injected the drug into him. Doodle, still breathing, closed his eyes as he grew sleepy, and I couldn't tell you at what point he was gone. His last breath wasn't obvious. I sat there petting his fur thinking he could pop back up at any moment. The vet picking him up to take him away seemed strange as nothing appeared different about Doodle. There was only the knowledge he was gone.

Dad drove me home, and it became time to say goodbye to him. I shared two big hugs with him, one from me and one from grandma, before doing the same with grandpa. The whole front near the door was chaotic as everyone had too much they wanted to say to each other. Everyone wanted one last embrace. Mom in particular had to be comforted more than the rest of us by dad, which contrasted grandpa and Blaze as they showed their affection by letting the quips fly with extra fervor. The whole thing was a mixture of laughs and sadness, and I didn't know which emotion to latch onto.

Mom, Blaze, Ember, Gilly, Merlot, and I piled into the car stuffed full of our luggage and carry-ons. A twinge creaked my neck as Gilly, Merlot, and I stared at our house until we turned a corner and it became completely out of sight. There remained a chance the structure stood fast enough for it to be saved, but a sinking feeling told me this would be the final time I ever laid eyes on the home my family had known for almost three generations. My head continue to turn this way and that as I took in the familiar sights of Berrybrook. Lots of car on the road slowed us down as mandatory evacuations were indeed beginning to be put in place, so I got lots of time to look. What would be the same when we got back? What would be different? I hoped the city I loved would come out of this strong.

We made it to the airport with enough time to not be overly stressed about whether or not we would make our flight. A whole twenty minutes was all we had before they started boarding. Merlot was super excited as this was his first time on a plane. The six of us got settled into our first-class seats, and within the hour we were off. I shared in my brother's excitement for a bit before I fell asleep. It had been a long twenty-four hours, and it was going to be a long afternoon.

My eyes couldn't believe themselves at how bright and sunny it was when we reached Tinseltown. Not to mention how warm it was. Ember lovingly teased Gilly and I at how we gravitated towards every window to take in the glorious rays coming from above. After a bit of time we got our luggage, were picked up by Taffy, and drove through one of the most famous places in the world.

The majority of my eagerness from before returned. I could accept that this experience had a high chance of being pretty cool. Living among the rich and famous wasn't an opportunity many people got. Taffy drove us past fancy home after fancy home, and a familiar one finally came in sight. I'd only seen Uncle Prism's house in pictures. Mom and dad had taken us to visit him at his old house when he was married to his ex-wife, but he was so busy we hadn't ever had the chance to visit again after he married Taffy even though they'd been together for a good while now.

I loved the effect of the house. The mainly white exterior got broken up by a plethora of colors on the inside. It seemed to be a rainbow explosion hidden away behind something blank and stagnant. Uncle Prism's family did have a lot of colors to go with. Red, green, yellow, pink, and blue to go off of the white- it really made the place stand out compared to the other houses we passed, a lot of which were stark white.

     "That's a text from Prism," Taffy spoke when she pulled out her phone as we approached the front door, "He's really not able to get out any earlier today. He won't be home until incredibly late, unfortunately."
     "That's alright. Tell him not to worry. I'm really looking forward to this sequel he's making, so I'd like more for him to work hard on it than rush things to come see us a few hours earlier." mom lightly joked.
     "Well, he was just really looking forward to pulling some kind of prank when you arrived, jumping out at you or literally putting a bucket of water above a doorway or something like that. It's more for that reason he was doing what he could to be here now." Taffy laughed.
     "I didn't realize he'd become such a prankster." Blaze smiled in amusement.
     "He caught the bug after his last production. The cast and crew really got into pranking each other then, and now it's sort of become habit for him."
     "That's interesting," Blaze mused, "I'll have to teach him all I know."

Although Uncle Prism wasn't around, that didn't mean the house was empty. Our cousins, Canary, and Crescent, came rushing to meet us. Crescent had apparently been very adamant about meeting us at the airport with his mother, but with how many of us there were and how much stuff we had there simply hadn't been any room in the car for unnecessary people.

     "How are you guys doing?" Canary asked as she pulled Gilly and I into an embrace while Merlot and Crescent excitedly reunited.
     "I mean, a lot of this is rough, but I suppose it hasn't been all bad. It's good to see you again." Gilly replied for us.
     "You too," Canary grinned, "Sorry about everything. Hopefully we can make it a bit better here. We've got beds for you two all set up in my room, and Crescent and I have been working on creating the best poolside dinner you've ever had."
     "I am really hungry." I stated as even first-class airfare food hadn't been overly appealing.
     "We even went out and got some ice cream from the Sweet Lilac Creamery." Crescent added with enthusiasm.

I'd never heard of that Sweet Lilac Creamery, but I assumed it was a nice shop in the area. Crescent bounced around about all his favorite flavors, and it took Canary rolling her eyes in amusement and prompting her brother on to actually get the ice cream. He pulled out several small tubs of gourmet flavors, and not a single one of us had a complaint in taking a cone, piling up what flavors we wanted, and milling about as us visitors took a look around the place. My attention quickly got caught by the large windows at the back of the house. The winding hills and roads took a decent amount of time to travel on, yet from those windows down at the base of the steep hill lay a populated area of the city. There were all sorts of shops, businesses, houses, and attractions to behold. Better yet, there was an ocean glittering merrily under that bright sun in the sky. We could go swimming once again.

A proper tour came after the ice cream. Canary led Gilly and I to her room where we would be sleeping. Blaze and Merlot were with Crescent, and mom and Ember were in Uncle Prism and Aunt Taffy's room. It was a large house and the rooms were properly spacious, but it didn't take much to see how cramped we would all feel before long. Hopefully, we could find our own place soon.

     "We put your bed by the wall, Dia," Canary explained as Gilly and I shoved our suitcases in the least intrusive spaces as possible, "I heard you like being against a wall whereas Gilly doesn't care."
     "Yup. Thanks." I grinned.
     "I really like this painting you have." Gilly complimented as she took everything in.
     "Thanks. My friend from school gave it to me, mostly for safekeeping. His mom freaked out when she saw the girl had black hair. It really upset her when she saw he gave an albino girl such an offensive appearance, so she threatened to throw it out. My friend told her the girl wasn't even supposed to be albino and there was a point to the black hair, but his mom wasn't keen on listening."
     "That's really awful. I can see why people do still find black offensive for some things, but at this point everyone really should be getting over it when it's artistic or whatever like this, shouldn't they?" Gilly put it out there.
     "I know, right? It's ridiculous. I'm glad you see it the same way."
     "Well, we grew up with dad being good friends with Raze, so..." I reminded her merrily.
     "Oh, that's right." Canary laughed.

Canary took us out on the balcony connected by both her and Crescent's room, and she continued to laugh at our absolute delight over the warm weather. She suggested we change into our swimsuits so we could use the pool, which prompted Gilly and I to rush inside, tear through our suitcases, and change before our cousin could so much as take another breath. Down the stairs we flew, and into the pool we jumped. The heat water greeted us like an old friend. Neither of us cared about the plethora of barbecue food being cooked until half an hour later, at which points our stomachs grumbled so greatly for proper sustenance that we could resist the call no longer. A massive and delicious dinner was had, sunbathing cooled down our energy levels while heating our skin, and back into the pool my sister and I returned for the better portion of the afternoon.

It felt like the day was twice as long as normal. Going through such a big move from Berrybrook to Tinseltown was only a part of that sensation. We had gained more time flying west, and the complete lack of rain meant the sky stayed brighter for far longer than we were used to. The remnants of its rays still lingered by the time mom forced us into bed. I bid everyone goodnight, crawled into my space, and glanced out the nearby window for some time. Like the previous night, I had no idea what thoughts my mind should settle on. However, this night, when I closed my eyes to let it all slip away, I found myself dozing off without issue.