“What does your mom have in the way of medications?” Sam asked.
“Why do you ask?”
Tears shimmered in her eyes. “I’m tired.”
“I’ll check, but I’m sure everything she has is expired,” I said, taking the candle from the table as I walked into the kitchen.
The cabinet nearest the sink was where she’d kept all the prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs she’d gotten over the years. She’d also kept all the papers and receipts that came with them. Perhaps if Sam was curious, I’d be able to look up the side effects for anything I found.
I took out the bottles one by one, holding the label up to the flickering flame. It wasn’t long before I found a strong pain reliever.
“How about this one,” I said, tossing her the bottle with five remaining pills. “It’s from six years ago. I think it was probably from when I sprained my ankle.”
“This is perfect,” Sam said, tapping the top of the bottle. “Could you get me some water?”
“Sure,” I said, offering her a comforting smile.
I grabbed a glass and blew into it, even though it had been placed upside down on the shelf. I turned on the water, watching as the stream of water came out at half of what it should.
“Oh, crap,” I whispered.
“Did you say something?” Sam asked from the other room.
“No,” I lied.
She didn’t need to worry about the water right now. I wasn’t even entirely sure what was happening.
It would be okay, though. We’d be able to boil water from the bay, and my mom likely had tons of containers we could store it in. It just wasn’t something I wanted Sam to concern herself with during the thunderstorm.
I filled the glass halfway and brought it to her. She popped two pills into her mouth and swallowed them down with one big gulp.
“Are you going to want to sleep out here or the bedroom?” I asked.
“I really think I need a bed,” Sam said, stretching her arms over her head. “My mind and body need proper sleep so I can think clearly.”
“Need help getting set up?” I asked.
Sam shook her head and gave me a quick hug before taking the candle. She looked around the room and met my eyes.
“You’ll be okay?” she asked.
“Of course. I grew up here. In a way, it feels like home.”
It was true, except even when I lived here, the place felt more like a home to the junk than to me. Still, it was the place I felt the safest when I was young.
“Good night,” Sam called over her shoulder as she walked down the hallway.
She didn’t even make it to the bedroom before she let out an ear-piercing scream.
11
Sam was hopping from foot to foot back down the hallway. Her eyes were glowing orbs reflecting the candlelight.
“What happened?” I asked as she bolted past me and stood on the kitchen chair.
“There was something on the ground,” she said. “It was moving!”
“Oh,” I said, biting my lip. I never liked them, but I knew what happened. “They sometimes find a way in when it’s raining or in winter.”
Sam’s eyes burned with anger. “They?”
“It was probably just a mouse.”
“Oh. Just a mouse.” Sam balled her hands into tight fists. “Mice is something you should have warned me about.”
I laughed. “Are you kidding me? You were the one that wanted to come. I warned you about a lot of things.”
“But not rodents. You didn’t once warn me about rodents.”
“I forgot. It’s not like it’s a common occurrence,” I said. “We can find the traps in the morning.”
Sam’s nose crinkled. “I might sleep in the SUV after all. Where are the keys?”
“They don’t jump up onto beds,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Fine,” Sam said, covering her yawn. “If I wasn’t so tired and didn’t want to get soaked, I’d go out there, though.” She fluttered her eyelids. “Come with me to the bedroom?”
“Sure,” I said.
Sam wouldn’t let me leave the room until she was on the bed. I wasn’t sure what she expected me to do if we saw the little mouse again, assuming that’s what it even was.
There was little doubt that Sam’s scream had sufficiently scared the poor thing off. It was probably hiding in a corner, waiting until she was gone.
I never liked seeing them in the house either, but I was used to it. There were things that were far more scary to me than mice, such as bad people. Getting locked up. Fearing for your life.
I laid down on the couch, pulling one of the old afghans over me. My head rested on a flattened square pillow with a faded floral pattern.
I watched the flashes of light until I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
When morning came, I sat for a long time staring at the floor. Every five minutes or so, Sam would snore and rustle for a bit.
I wasn’t mad that she wasn’t getting up… I was mad that I wasn’t sleeping too. The pale light coming through the window made the room too bright, even though I could tell it was a cloudy day.
The storms had ended at some point, but it had left a dreary day behind it. I got up and started working on clearing the table.
The garage was stacked with junk, but I’d take what I could out back and burn it. It wasn’t like I would get in trouble.
As I worked, our situation started to sink in. What if we were trapped on the peninsula for the unforeseeable future?
