America: 50☆Stars (Vol. 4)

Episode 22: Sister Disasters

Once the capital of a royal kingdom and an important destination for whaling ships, the sunny town of Lahaina had since become a peaceful place for over twelve thousand residents as well as a popular spot for whale-watching tourists—until the winds came and set everything on fire.

What remained was the ashen gray ruins of a ghost town, completely silent like the sirens during those disastrous days. Just about every vibrant neighborhood, dense with hundreds of homes belonging to families of many generations, had been burned to the ground within minutes. The same unfortunate fate went for the Lahaina Historic District centered on Front Street, where hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed. That included the Waiola Church, which three months ago celebrated its 200th anniversary, the Pioneer Inn, which had for a long time existed as the island's oldest hotel, and the town's Heritage Museum, which held a collection of items that spanned the town's history. It all went up in smoke, unable to be salvaged from the flames of devastation. The wildfire had spread rapidly with increased intensity to be hot enough to melt granite counters, aluminum engine blocks, and the metal pipes that connected the city's fire hydrants to the city's water system. Worst of all, it made the search for bodies difficult and disturbing. For the entire Hawaiian community—to find little resemblance of their homes, their history, their heritage, their friends, and their family—the dark clouds of despair encompassing the disappearance of their dear town scarred them deeply beyond belief.

They collectively wondered: How can we recover from this?

Molokai thought the same thing in concern for her sister, leaving behind footprints on the ash-covered path leading into the public park by the roofless rubble of the Old Lahaina Courthouse. The long-haired thirteen-year-old girl had spent several hours scouring the charred remnants of the beach town, blinded by the creepy sight of a monochromatic land in contrast to the bright blue sky and the sapphire blue sea. Initially, she was too shocked to make a sound, dreadful of the stillness that permeated her surroundings. However, the moment she reached the massive 150-year-old banyan tree at the center of the park, an immense wave of sadness overwhelmed her laurel green eyes. She started to wet the dusty soil with her tears as the burnt brown crispy leaves on the charred banyan's branches swayed silently in the hot and dry breeze.

"Kai?" A sweet voice suddenly caught her ear, belonging to a face Molokai recognized right away upon looking over her shoulder.

There stood a brown-eyed girl around the same age as her, radiating the colors of a beautiful sunset with her red-and-yellow feather-printed pa'u (skirt) and the damask roses in her short curly hair. Even with bandages wrapped around the burns that covered parts of her body, she continued to give off a glowing aura of assurance that made her stand apart in this gloomy landscape. Of course, just the sight of her alone was reassuring enough for her sister to feel a sense of relief and remove some of her worries.

With tears welling in her eyes again, Molokai sprinted toward her sister and hugged her tightly. She loudly wailed, "Maui! What are you doing here? You should be resting in bed!"

"Ow! Owie! Not so hard. You're hurting me..." Maui winced in pain.

"Not my fault!" She pouted. "This is what you get for leaving the main house while you're still healing." 

"S-Sorry. I didn't want to lay in bed all day, and..." She blushed with apologetic eyes. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"W-Well," she squeaked, "I-I'm glad to see you're okay, but you should rest your wounds."

"Yeah, I know..." Maui turned her attention to the enormous banyan tree behind them. "I should be resting, but I owe a big favor to the beautiful people of this town."