Set in Sand (Sequel to Set in Stone)

I tossed and turned away from my window. Why did the sun always have to have perfect aim right into my eyes each morning? Billions of miles away and I was still cursed. I flipped over so that I faced the wall instead of the window. Just a few more minutes.. I closed my eyes.

“Come on, Dad! I’ll sleep on the couch. Please, it’s the last thing you can do for me..” That was a voice I had never heard before.

“Why did your mom kick you out anyways? I’m not comfortable with you being here, with Ariel and all.”

“You’d take an orphan girl over your own son!?” The boy yelled.

I could imagine Uncle putting his face in his hands trying to think of how to reply. You heard right, I was an orphan. My parents drowned when I was just a little girl. Their bodies were never found.

“Hayley has no one, Caleb. You have Mom.” He paused. “But if you need somewhere to sleep, you can have the couch. Don’t you dare touch that girl though.”

“What kind of guy do you think I am, Dad?”

I crawled out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs to see the two. They were still going back and forth as I sneaked into the hallway that led from the kitchen to the living room and into the bathroom. Locking the door, I peeked at my reflection in the mirror. The fluorescent lighting made me droopy eyes look even worse. I groaned; no makeup made me look like absolute crap, and here I was about to meet Uncle’s son for the first time. He wasn’t actually my uncle. I just called him that since, well.. I have no one else. And Dad was too endearing.

I tried to brush through my frizzy, blond, elbow-length bedhair with my fingers, but it didn’t change anything. In fact, just made the ends more knotty. Uncle said I inherited my dad’s icy blue eyes. He said were best friends, and he always had stories to tell me about their adventures.

I unlocked the bathroom door and walked back down the hallway. In the front room where the sitting room was, a tall boy with brown, wavy hair was opening up the window behind the couch and throwing blankets and pillows on it.

I watched him, and even I admit I looked kind of creepy just standing in the archway observing. He had on a pair of dark blue jeans and a red and white striped t-shirt.

He started walking towards the door. “Oh!” He shouted, making me shout also. “I didn’t see you there..”

I nodded.. It wasn’t everyday that I met a new person. “I’m Hayley..” I watched as he ran his fingers through his mop of hair.

“Caleb.” He smiled, looking past me.

“Ariel,” Uncle came from behind me. “Caleb will be staying with us. Come let me know if he causes any trouble.. I have to go to work..” He kissed me on the forehead.

“Bye, Uncle. Love you.” I said as he walked out the front door. I heard him walk down the porch steps.

“I’m going to go do the laundry..” I said. The silence between me and Caleb was awkward.

He just stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded his head. I can imagine how awkward it must be. I felt like I replaced him in his own family.. I mean, Uncle treated me better than he did his own son.

“Do you need anything.. you know, washed?” I asked.

“No, no, no. I’m fine. I’ll just do it later.” He ran his fingers through his hair again.

I backed away. I walked through the kitchen into the backroom to go up the stairs to grab my laundry basket. I carried the full wicket basket down the stairs and to the front door.

Caleb was still in the front sitting room.

“Our laundry doesn’t work anymore.” I let him know. “And we don’t have a car.”

“Who does anymore?” He chuckled nervously. That’s when I noticed he didn’t have our accent. He must be from up north. “Do you need.. help?” He asked.

I shook my head. “I do this practically every day.” I opened the screen door and it slammed behind me as I started walking down the street.

It’s hard to imagine that 100 years ago everything was different. The streets were filled with cars. The sky with airplanes. And now it’s come to this- horse buggies and bikes.

“Excuse me!” Someone rang their bicycle bell as they passed me on the sidewalk. It was Seth. We barely knew each other, but I did know he lives on the other side of town. That’s probably why I rarely have seen him.

You’re probably wondering what’s happened. I’ve never had to explain what’s happened before. We just lived it and didn’t ask questions. It’s the past, and there’s nothing we could do about it now.

A hundred years ago, there was a solar flare. Scientists said it wouldn’t be that bad, but it was. It knocked all the electricity out. Everything electrical just stopped. And no one could get it back. Everyone was convinced it was the end of the world. No one considered the fact that maybe life would go on even after such a traumatic experience. At least, that’s what I heard it was- traumatic.

People went crazy. They were so dependent on electricity. They couldn’t function, but they had to. They had to start over. Some couldn’t though. A lot of people committed suicide; others died from exhaustion and insanity.

Everyone wanted the newest and best thing, but now, if you had the oldest thing, you were rich. The only cars that would run were the older ones, from from before 1960s. People who had those cars were considered rich, and often they became famous. For the rest of us, the less fortunate, we never even left our town before. I never left Zephyr, Florida. Not even to see another town. That’s why I was nervous talking to Caleb.. He’s seen more than I probably ever will.

Only old washers and dryers worked. Most people washed their clothes by hand. Uncle made enough money to have ours down at the Laundromat down the street. It was only a 30 minute walk, thankfully.

“Need a lift?” I heard horse hooves click on the road next to me.

I smiled, knowing who it was. One of my closest friends Levi was the carriage boy for our town. It had its advantages.

I walked over to the carriage as he stopped it, handing him my wicket basket. He gave me a hand and pulled me up next to him.

“Uncle’s son is in town.” I told him.

“Wow! He must be rich to make it this far. Where is he from?”

I chuckled. Levi always helped me forget the “what-ifs”. He helped me enjoy whatever was in the moment. “I don’t know, but he sure doesn’t have our accent!”

“Mom got chocolates in the mail yesterday!” Levi said.

“Chocolates? Not melted??”

“Of course they were melted! My dad ran down to the grocery mart and got some ice and we just freezed it right back up. I saved a few pieces for you if you want to  come over later.”

“How could I miss chocolate?” Levi knew that my favorite thing in the world was chocolate. I could eat chocolate any time and any day. The grocery mart ran out of it really quickly though. Levi had grandparents in a rich town a few hours away, so he often got special gifts.

Thanks to Levi, the 30 minute walk turned into a 10 minute buggie ride. “Thanks for the lift!” I gave him a hug as he stopped the horse. I grabbed my wicket basket.

“Stay safe, Ariel!”

“Bless you!” I smiled at Levi as I jogged towards the Laundromat.