No Place Like Home

The Storm

Ahi woke up to the rumbling of her stomach. When she opened her eyes, she could see no sun and the sound of the water crashing beneath her sent a chill down her spine. Her mother was still holding her but this time they were back on the hanging bed. But their bed seemed to sway more, causing the ropes and poles to moan in agony. And the wind seemed to push and pull more violently. And the branches around them smacked into each other. Fear tinged in Ahi's chest. She shook Roealeen,

"Ihno, wakeup!" Then Roealeen got up on her elbows.

"What is it?" Roealeen lazily asked then the clap of thunder answered. Roealeen turned her head to the horizon. The terror that flashed in her mother's eyes made Ahi tremble. Wasting no time, Roealeen beckoned Ahi to climb on her back. Once she did, Roealeen snatched their sack that was lying next to them and began climbing toward the top of the tree.

The higher they got, the stronger the storm brewed with force so strong, it ripped the leaves off the branches..

Roealeen looked down to the water, the waves slashing like knives. Bobbing in the waves, was their canoe. She needed to figure out how to get that canoe to the top before it disappeared in the ocean. Their only way to find a home.

"Ahi, look at me," she held her daughter to her face, big brown eyes glaring into hers.

"I need you to do something very important; and I don't want you to argue," tears began to roll down her baby's cheeks,

"Take Nohno Sue's stuff and climb to the top of the tree and hold tight until I get to you. Understand?" Roealeen's voice rung stern and clear in Ahi's ears. Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision. The tense feeling in her chest swelled. Her body shook but it wasn't because of the gusts of wind and rain. Roealeen wiped her daughter's tears away. Her face turned from stern to heart breaking. They embraced and broke into sobs.

I wished the world was okay. I wish we didn't have to live in a tree. Ohsa, God! Why do You do this to us? Why do You do this to my mother who has done so much for You- who has done so much for me? Ahi Mour squeezed her mother, silently begging her not to let go. But her mother broke the embrace and her face was back to stern,

"Do as I say. Ke rohng? I'll be there in a flash," her words came out calmly but Roealeen was all but calm. She used all the will power she could conjure to keep herself from trembling. She frantically wrapped the bag around Ahi's trembling shoulder.

"Ahi."

"Ihn," Ahi Mour locked eyes with her mother who was sending a secret message: Ih poakpoak ehu uhk.

"Don't leave," Ahi Mour cracked, but her mother's arms slowly slipped out of hers. She watched as her mother tumbled her way down to their canoe. Ahi Mour blinked away her tears and forced her frail body to the top, never daring to look down.. The bag weighed heavy on Ahi's shoulder, considering it only contained polaroids and papers. Meanwhile, the wind tugged on her limbs, causing her to take more than one wrong step. The branches that held her creaked threateningly. She needed to move fast. Above, she could see the clearing. The dark sky, whirling. The rain stabbed her skin and eyes like tiny daggers. Her body was failing to hold onto branches and lean against the trunk. Until she finally reached the top. She gripped the top so tightly, her hands began to bleed and turn white against her copper skin. In the heavy sheets of the shower, light flashed across the ocean. In that second, she saw a picture of waves that were too big for Ahi to fathom, towering over her. Horror crippled her body. That's when she spotted a dark wall of ocean that was rising over the tree she was grasping on. She swore she could've heard it roar. She looked down. Yards below, she saw the chopping black sea but no sign of her mother or the canoe.

"IHN!" No answer to relieve her throbbing chest. The wave was just above her head as she gripped the tree tighter. The next second, all she could hear was the wave's roar and the world turned pitch black.