War

“So, I guess that means we’re going home then?” asks Charlotte Wallace.

“Yeah, I guess, unless we can find somewhere else to go for summer vacation,” Charlotte’s mom, Stella, replies disappointedly.

“No, I refuse to stay home this summer. We can go to, uh, Florida!” proposes Alyssa, Charlotte’s other mom, “We can take you to Disney World sweetheart!”

“Yay!” says Charlotte, “I’ve wanted to go to Disney World ever since my friend went last year, and-”

“Wait a second sweetie, Alyssa, did you hear that?” asks Stella. She turns the volume up once again: “BREAKING NEWS: FLORIDA HAS NOW BEEN DEEMED TOO DANGEROUS TO GO TO; ALL FLIGHTS ARE CANCELLED. TO THOSE IN FLORIDA NOW, STAY SAFE,”. She lowers the volume again and says Stella “Dang, so there goes our plans of just going to Florida instead, home-”

Alyssa suddenly interrupts Stella’s sentence before she is able to finish, “No! No, we aren’t going home. We can go somewhere else, just not back home.”

“But where? We can’t even go to Disneyland in California because it’s being renovated at the moment,” explains Stella disappointedly.

“Mommy, why do you want to travel so badly?” asks little Charlotte, reluctant to answer her daughter’s question and turns to Stella.

“Charlotte, your mom really wants to travel because she has always wanted to see the world. Your mom is very adventurous and staying here is tedious to her,” says Stella. Alyssa is having a harder time dealing with the war than Stella. The current war is affecting large numbers of people and their lives drastically. People are gathering food and supplies for their war shelters. They’re also attempting to get out of The Americas altogether.

“Oh, I didn’t know you wanted to see the world mommy. Where can we go then?” asks Charlotte.

“Paris! We can go to the Disney World in Paris, and while we’re there we can sightsee!” suggests Alyssa excitedly. They agree to travel to Paris for a during the summer. As they’re driving, they pass a building on fire, Alyssa sniffles. Then the news comes on: “BREAKING NEWS: THE WAR OUTBREAK-.” Alyssa turns the radio off before her daughter can hear. She looks in the back and sees her sound asleep.

They reach the airport, take their luggage out of the car, and advance to the front desk. Luckily they are able to buy tickets to Paris, France at the last minute. They proceed through security, which happens to be longer than usual because of the war. Eventually, it’s time for them to take off. They sleep the entire flight due to the fact that it is 2 a.m and they’re all worn out.

Finally, they land, it’s 10 a.m later that day. They get their luggage and take a taxi to a cafe because they’re all hungry, especially Charlotte, after that flight. While they are at the cafe they not only eat but also begin looking for hotels to stay in. As they are looking, they realize all the hotels in Paris are booked as a result of the war. Alyssa and Stella decide not to give up, and they keep looking for hotels. Then finally Stella declares, “I found one! This hotel says ‘Rooms available’.” They then rush out of the cafe to the hotel.

When they arrive, there is only one room left in the hotel and they go to war with a couple over it and don’t end up getting it. The Wallaces leave while they try to figure out a temporary living situation. They notice many people at war for the last room in hotels, the remaining food in stores, and many other items. The population all over the world is growing dramatically, another result of people from the Americans moving and making resources scarce.

Then right then and there, Stella realizes they really have nowhere to go. They stand there on the sidewalk thinking of what to do, where they should go. Then Alyssa remembers that they can stay with her aunts that immigrated to Paris a few years ago. They unexpectedly show up at their house and are welcomed with open arms. They are glad that being around family has been able to save their summer break.

Diamond, Des. War Background. Diamond, Des. War Background.