My Family Escaped the Flood Without Me

I woke to the sound of rushing water when the landline rang.

My backpack was already soaked, and my second-grade workbook had been completely ruined by the water.

“Lily, get out of there! The flood is coming!”

“Mom, there’s so much water in the house! Where are you?”

I burst into tears, too frightened to think clearly.

Mom didn’t answer right away. When she finally spoke, her voice was strangely hesitant.

“J-Just hurry and get out.”

That was when I noticed that every bedroom door in the house was wide open.

My parents’ room had been stripped almost bare, as if someone had ransacked it. Sophie’s room was empty too.

Even the two little turtles she kept on the balcony were gone.

A deafening roar seemed to explode inside my head.

My face went pale as a terrifying thought flashed through my mind.

No... It couldn’t be.

Mom and Dad wouldn’t leave me behind.

“Mom! Dad! There’s so much water in the house! Where are you? I’m scared. Please come save me...”

Clutching my stuffed rabbit, I curled up helplessly in the corner of the sofa, my frail body trembling as I sobbed.

Mom didn’t answer.

Then Sophie’s excited voice came through the phone.

“Mom, Dad! Look! They’ve opened the highway!”

In that instant, my entire world seemed to collapse.

The flood had come, and my parents had taken Sophie and fled.

They had packed up everything they could carry. They had even remembered Sophie’s two pet turtles.

But they had forgotten me.

Dad’s furious voice suddenly came through the phone.

“How dare you ask! You were sleeping like the dead. Who could’ve woken you up?”

I cried even harder.

I had been running a fever for two days before Mom finally noticed. She had asked my homeroom teacher for a few days off, and after taking my medicine, I had been sleeping ever since.

Mom sounded increasingly impatient.

“Stop crying! There’s still time before the flood gets here. Go downstairs and find some of the other neighbors who are evacuating. Your dad and I will come get you once we’ve gotten your sister to safety.”

A sharp burst of static came through the phone.

Then the power went out.

The water kept rising.

Crying, I scrambled upstairs.

Our home was in an old five-story apartment building.

Halfway up the stairs, I suddenly remembered Sophie’s swim ring.

I turned around and ran back to get it.

The water continued rising until it completely submerged the fifth floor.

Clutching the swim ring with one arm, I desperately clung to a wooden board with the other.

I had no idea how long I drifted like that.

All I could feel was the bitter cold seeping through my body.

Eventually, I lost consciousness.