Ever Hayes - Emergency Exit

With it being Thanksgiving, I guessed there was no better time to give optimism a shot. Here goes .

Modern cave life was great. Well, as great as it could be anyway. It helped no one in our group dressed or acted like a Neanderthal. Though Tara probably would have looked pretty dang good. We had discussed what it would be like if “Wooly” had been here. It was hard to imagine.

In any case, it’s a strange process for a human to transition from a sunlight creature to a nocturnal one, sleeping all day and staying up all night. But that switch did have its benefits. The stars were amazingly bright this high up in the mountains. That was always incredible—romantic, euphoric, terrific, all of the above. But it was also quite eerie. We could hear laughter echo up the valley from the troops below us, see the smoke from their fires in the distance, and hear the gunshots from their hunting and drinking games. They were “free to be.” We were trapped. Here in the most openly beautiful state in America, other than maybe Hawaii, we were prisoners of war. It sucked. Hey, stay positive .

At Emily’s initial suggestion we each came up with something we missed from our old lives and something we didn’t miss. Huddled under blankets on our thick carpet floor, we put the lamp in the middle of our circle like a campfire and went around the room.

Emily went first. “I miss my goats. But I’m thankful I don’t have to go to school.”

We got a good but subdued laugh out of that. The padding and insulation of the walls worked wonders for soundproofing our chamber, but we were careful nonetheless.

Tara continued the sharing. “I miss my parents.” Maybe this wasn’t a great idea . You could’ve heard a pin drop. “And Twix…” She offered a half-hearted smile. Could she get any more perfect? “But I’m thankful for new friends and for you all letting us tag along.”

Grandma Ollie volunteered next. “I miss looking through Black Friday ads.”

“Hold on,” I objected. “Mom, you’ve never once shopped on Black Friday.” That drew a little more laughter.

“True.” She smiled. “But I always thought I would. Oh well. At least I still get to spend Thanksgiving with my family.”

“Do you miss anything?” Hayley asked.

“Not yet,” Mom replied, looking at Dad and squeezing his hand.

“What about you, Kate?” Emily asked, moving us on. I think we were all glad she was in charge of the game.

“I miss the smell of turkey in the oven.” Kate smiled. “Green bean casserole, pumpkin pie…” Her voice trailed off. “And my mom.” I could see her eyes watering. Even Danny couldn’t look at her. “But I’m thankful to be alive, and my Vikings won’t ever lose another game.” Another chorus of smiles. Maybe this wasn’t a terrible idea after all .

“Blake?” Emily pointed at him.

“Okay, I’ve actually been thinking about that the entire drive from North Dakota. You’re all probably gonna think I’m crazy, but I appreciate that technology is basically irrelevant now. Phones, social media, all that jazz… it was just too much. I love simplicity. I won’t miss that stuff at all.” Interesting . That truly was a surprising answer.

“So,” Emily seemed unsure how to respond. “Is there anything you do miss?”

Blake smiled and winked at her. “I miss my dog.”

“Aww…” Emily said. “What was your dog’s name?”

Blake laughed. “Dog.” Several of us had to cover our mouths to stifle our laughter with that one.

“Seriously?” Emily asked, and Blake nodded. Emily started laughing.

“My little sister was a big American Idol fan,” Blake explained. “Her favorite judge was Randy Jackson, and he called everyone ‘dog.’ When my parents brought the puppy home, she kept calling it Dog, and it stuck.”

“How old are you Blake?” Dad asked.

“Twenty-seven, sir,” he replied.

“And what did you do before all this?” Tara asked.

“Honestly?” He smiled again. “Not a lot. I hate to admit it, but before my parents died they made a ton of money in the oil business in North Dakota. My sister Kaci and I traveled around the country climbing mountains, river rafting, fishing, skydiving, etc. It wasn’t very occupational, but it sure was fun. I was a volunteer firefighter, if that counts as a job.” He looked around and collected a few nods. “Kaci was into photography, and I just loved to travel.” He looked down. “I always figured I’d do something someday but never had an idea what.”

That was the most any of us had heard him say all trip. “You ever been here before?” I asked.

“No. Never.” He shook his head. “Surprising, actually. It’s amazing up here!” Definitely is .

“Your turn, Ryan.” Emily interrupted my thoughts.

Next to me, Hayley cleared her throat. Don’t worry . “Well…I miss Mongolian Grill buffets.”

“Dude,” Blake groaned aloud, holding his stomach and shaking his head. “That was uncalled for.”

“I know… sorry.” I smiled. “Okay, not really. And I miss golf.”

Hayley gave a loud, drawn-out yawn, then coughed and said, “Loser.”

“Ha ha.” I shoved her over.

“But what are you thankful for?” Emily asked.

I thought about it a little, then looked at Tara. “New friends,” I nodded at her.

“Please,” Hayley muttered, and I shot her a mini glare. She replied with a coy smile.

“How about you, Hales?” Emily asked, poking her. Wow, I wasn’t even allowed to call her that.

“Me? Hmm…” She thought about it a second. “I miss my iPod.” Hayley pointed at Blake. He just laughed.

“Please,” I muttered, and several other people laughed. She ignored me. “And I’m thankful for my new little sister.” She gave Emily a big squeeze, and the little girl’s eyes danced.

“Dad?” I asked.

“I miss my computer—”

“We were all going to say that for you, Grandpa,” Danny cut in.

“I’m sure. And I’m thankful your mom is still with me,” he said to me, looking at her.

“Your mom,” Cameron quipped.

“Dude. How old are you?” Hayley threw a hacky sack at him.

“Your turn, Cameron,” Emily directed.

“I’m thankful Danny and I were home for your tournament,” he said, pointing at Hayley. “Too bad she wasn’t good enough though,” he said to the rest of us. Hayley stuck her tongue out at him, and he threw the hacky sack back at her.

“What do you miss, Cameron?” Kate asked.

“Mexican food,” he replied. “Definitely good Mexican food.”

“Sure glad you can’t get any of that in here,” Danny said with a smile.

“We all are.” Jenna added, drawing plenty of laughter.

We were afraid to ask Sam or Isaac what they missed, the loss of their father still on their hearts, but Emily did anyway. “I miss my dad singing,” Isaac said. “He was always singing. Every dang song on the radio. Commercials. Jingles. He sang all the time.”

“And most of the time it was intentionally the wrong words,” Sam added. “But his words were pretty funny.” He paused. “He had a way with words. He was great at getting people to do what he wanted them to do without asking. You wanted to make him happy…” Most of us could only nod as his words trailed off.

“I’m sure you both did,” Tara spoke up. “He’d be real proud of both of you, you know?”

“Yeah,” Isaac answered. “He would be.”

“He always let us know he loved us,” Sam said. “I guess I’ll miss that the most.”

“Anything you’re especially thankful for?” I asked them.

“I’m thankful Dad’s with Mom now,” Sam answered, then shared a fist bump with Isaac. I could feel Tara watching me, but I kept my face turned towards Sam. “She always made him the happiest,” he continued. I looked down. I knew exactly what he meant.