Our Melody // HIATUS

•Prologue•

Disclaimer: This story will get better. Right now, I'm just trying to get the introduction out of the way. Just give it time.

Callie:

It was a great day. The sun was shining high up in the sky, and everything was perfect.

Okay, that was a lie. It was storming, and I was huddled in between my two brothers, Lennon and Sawyer, in a tiny storm shelter behind the house. My parents and little sister, Abbey, were still out in this mess, driving back from Walmart, as far as I knew. We should've noticed this storm coming, and they should have never gotten inside of that car to get food. We could have lasted one more day on what we had. Now, there was a chance of them not returning, and I wouldn't be able to live with that.

There is nothing you can do, Callie, I thought to myself. They wouldn't want you to worry. Just stay in the storm shelter until it passes over. They'll be fine.

Lennon kept looking at me every few minutes, making sure I was okay, while Sawyer was acting out all of my thoughts. I could feel his shoulders shaking against me as he silently sobbed and prayed for our parents and little Abbey to be okay. Even though Lennon was putting up a protective facade, I could see the worry in his eyes. He's trying to be tough for our sake, but it was not helping.

It's amazing how much things can change in so little time. Five hours ago, it was sunny outside, and everything really did seem perfect. Everyone was smiling and happy. Everyone was with each other. There was nothing to worry about.

Fast forward a few hours. It became windy outside, but none of us were too worried. This happened all of the time during spring in Tennessee. Nothing particularly bad ever happened during these storms, but they were just big enough to scare people. We didn't expect anything crazy. Sawyer was looking through the fridge, complaining about having nothing to eat. Then our parents volunteered to go to the store, and none of us opposed. Once Abbey announced that she would go with them, they were all off to the store. We were all oblivious to the events that would take place soon after they left.

Maybe that's why Sawyer is so torn up about it. He was the one who mentioned needing groceries in the first place.

Then I returned to reality. I didn't want to think about the past, but I didn't necessarily want to think about the present, either. The future is bound to be pretty messed up, too.

Sawyer's cries were getting louder and louder as the time passed. He began muttering venomous words to himself, saying it was all his fault. It hurt so much to see my twin like that. We were always like two peas in a pod, but I couldn't help but feel hopelessness while seeing him like that. I didn't know what to do.

Before I could dwell on what I would say to soothe Sawyer, Lennon's voice broke through the almost-silence. He said, "Come on, Sawyer. They're going to be fine. You don't need to worry about it right now."

"B-but," Sawyer began, "they've b-been gone for over three hours, a-and I'm the one who wanted them to go in the f-first place." A new set of tears was streaming down from his eyes.

"Look, Saw," I intervened, "nothing good will come out of you blaming yourself and worrying. All it'll do is give you unattractive wrinkles, and I know you don't want any until you reach your thirties." His eyes, shining with tears, widened a fraction. "And even if something did happen to them, they wouldn't want us to act like this. They would want us to worry about ourselves right now. You know this."

He knew I was telling the truth. He had to. Our parents would never want us to worry about them, and Abbey doesn't really care at her age. She probably had no idea what was happening.