My name is Dana Delania Cusak. I was sitting in the lawn
swing on a beautiful summer day. It would have had a certain beauty even if it
were raining. This was the first day of summer vacation from school, Friday,
June 13. People say that Friday the thirteenth is an unlucky day. How could the
first day of summer vacation be unlucky in any possible way?
We live in Victoria, Arkansas. It’s on the map, but I
can’t see how it can be called a town. There are no stores, no post office, no
gas station. It is Wesson Farm. Wesson Farm is huge, 8,200 acres. The office
buildings and equipment buildings in Victoria are all Wesson Farm buildings.
There is even an air strip for the planes that spray the fields with herbicides
and insecticides.
There are two beautiful brick houses in the town occupied by
the farm manager and the
accountant and their families. There are about a dozen
old wooden houses that once were nice houses but now are run-down. These are
occupied by field hands. Most of the houses have a half dozen field hands or
more living together. A few of the old houses have families.
Our family moved here last year. We live in a mobile
home.
My father is a “cracker-jack” mechanic as he describes himself. He keeps
the equipment and vehicles of Wesson Farm running. We moved here because my
mother’s mother died last year. Her father is now alone in his A frame cottage
in Whistleville. He has a bad heart and has had several episodes this year. Mom
checks in on him every evening.
Whistleville is just several miles down the
road from Victoria. All that are there are a cotton gin, an old mobile home,
and Grandad’s home. Grandad built the A frame cottage himself in the woods
behind the cotton gin.
This morning my Mom went to Luxora to a beauty salon to
have her hair styled for the weekend. We go to church every Sunday in Lepanto.
Mom says she wants to look as well-groomed as the ladies who live in town. My
Daddy went to Blytheville this morning to pick up a number of parts that he
needs for different machines and vehicles. He will have to go to several places
because no dealer carries parts for every type of truck, tractor, and farm
equipment used on the farm.
Swinging back and forth in the warm air was about to put
me to sleep. Suddenly the ground heaved up and the swing went backward. I
crawled out and the ground kept shaking and heaving. I saw the office
buildings, the brick houses and the metal buildings collapse with a roar. Trees
began to fall. As they broke there was a sound like a bomb or a heavy rifle’s
report.
There were explosions down the road in the vicinity of
the metal buildings. There were large tanks in that area. The air was filling
with dust and smoke. I could see tall flames of fire. Trees were continuing to
fall.
I ran away from all the calamity. I ran into the fields
where there were no buildings or trees. The ground was no longer level. It had
“wrinkles”, gullies, and cracks. Occasionally, the ground would rumble or
shake. I turned back to look at the town. The cloud of debris and smoke was so
thick that I couldn’t see a thing. I continued on my way, walking in the field
but following the road. I wanted to get to my Grandad.
I walked until I came to SR 181 which crosses SR 158
which runs through Victoria and passes the road to Whistleville. I could see
that the field beyond that road was filling with water. I decided to walk on SR
158. There wouldn’t be any traffic coming from Victoria because the road was
blocked with trees and maybe other debris.
As I was walking along, suddenly I was overcome with what
was happening. I looked for someplace to sit down, but I couldn’t find
anyplace. In the end I sat down in the road and started crying. I don’t know
how long I sat there. Then I thought of something my Grandad always says,
“Crying doesn’t fix the bucket.” I don’t know what it means and he has never
told me. I started giggling. I got up and started back down the road reciting
over and over, “Crying doesn’t fix the bucket.”
It was dusk by the time I reached Whistleville. I went
behind the cotton gin searching for Grandad’s cottage. It was dark and the door
was locked. I felt around under the steps for the key hidden there, Inside the
cottage it was dark. Gradually my eyes adjusted and I could see the outline of
objects. I heard a gruff voice,
“Dana, I’m so glad you have come. I was expecting your
mother. Come here to my chair and I’ll give you my flashlight. I want you to
look for water and two aspirin tablets. I think that I have had a heart attack.
The water will be in a shiny metal bucket. Never use it for anything but water.
If there is no water in it, the well is outside.”
I found the bucket of water. There were tin cups in a
“Hoosier” cabinet and that is where I found a bottle of aspirins. I took the
water and aspirins to him. Then I returned to the bucket and greedily drank two
cups.
He called me back to him.
“Pull that chair up beside me so you can turn the
flashlight off and save the batteries. Tomorrow, you will have to look around
to find where everything is located. There are oil lanterns to use so you won’t
use up the flashlight batteries. I expect that you felt that earthquake. You
can tell me more about it tomorrow. We may be cut off from the rest of the
world for weeks or even longer. Life out here is pretty primitive. You will
have to learn a lot in a short period of time just to survive.
“For right now, turn the flashlight on again and help me
walk out to the outhouse. I am awfully wobbly since that attack.”
He held onto my shoulder heavily. I was afraid one of us
would fall on the steps. On the ground he directed me to the outhouse. I waited
outside and when he came out I supported him while he walked back to the
cottage. When he was back in his chair, I returned to the outhouse. When I came
back into the dwelling, I asked him,
“Do you have a bucket of water for washing?”
“Yes, it’s under the sink. There is a bar of soap and a
towel by the sink. Tomorrow morning first thing, fill both the buckets out at
the well. I usually make oatmeal for breakfast. You’ll have to bring in some
wood for the stove and build a fire in it in order to cook the oatmeal or
anything else.
“Tonight, I am going to sleep sitting up in this chair.
That is what you are supposed to do if you have a heart attack. You can sleep
on my bed over there. Tomorrow, go up in the loft. You remember that when Maud
was alive, when you came to visit, you would sleep up in the loft while your
parents camped out in a tent outside. Maud had a different stuffed animal for
you every time you came to visit. She kept all of them up in the loft for you.
You’ll have to take the bed clothes from the bed in the loft outside and shake
them out. They really should be washed, but that will have to wait until you
have learned to do other things. My guess is that we are going to be cut off
from the rest of the world for weeks or more.”
I went over to his bed, took off my shoes and socks,
jeans and blouse and laid down on his bed. The bed smelled of sour sweat, but I
was so tired that I fell asleep almost immediately.
When I awoke the next day the sun was shining brightly
into the cottage. I could see the interior clearly. I put on my clothes and
shoes, picked up the two buckets, and went outside. I stopped at the outhouse
first, then went on to the well. Filled with water the two buckets were too heavy
for me to carry, I carried them into the house one at a time. Then I went back
outside to get some wood. I had built campfires so I knew to pick some small
pieces to get the fire started.
I found wooden matches in the Hoosier and started a fire
in the cook stove. After it was hot I put what seemed to be the right amount of
water in a pan. When the water was simmering, I “guess-stimated” the amount of
oats to put in. I found some raisins and added a dozen or so to the oatmeal.
Grandad did not seem to have awakened. When the oatmeal
was ready, I put some in a bowl and took it to him.
“Grandad, I made some oatmeal. See if you can eat some.”
I put a spoonful of oats to his mouth. He opened his eyes
and grunted. He ate that spoonful and I lifted another spoonful to his mouth.
With patience I was able to get him to eat the half bowl I had taken to him.
After a while he seemed to revive.
“Outside is a large wooden chest the size of a freezer.
Inside there are jars of food that Maud canned from our garden. If you use any
of that food, remember that it must be simmered or boiled for at least twenty
minutes to be sure of killing all the germs. I haven’t felt like cooking the
last several weeks. Your mother would bring me something to eat when she came
in the evenings.”
When I went up into the loft, I saw all the stuffed
animals that Granny had given me. I immediately grabbed the teddy bear and
hugged him to me.
“Hello, old friend, do you remember all the conversations
we had when I was supposed to be sleeping? I need someone to talk to now.”
I gathered up the bedclothes and pillows and carried them
outside. I found places on fence rails and tree stumps to air out the sheets,
blankets and pillows.
In the loft I also found some of Granny’s clothes. She
was a small woman. I think some of them might fit me. I will need a change of
clothes, if only to wear when I am washing my own clothes. I’ll ask Grandad if
it is all right with him for me to wear some of Granny’s clothes.
I remembered the lanterns. I went looking for them and
for lamp oil. I found them together in a large metal tool box. Evidently
Grandad was afraid of their fire hazard.
For lunch I found a package of dehydrated chicken noodle
soup. I fixed it and took it to Grandad. He took a long time but he ate all I
gave him.
After lunch I walked out to the road. I looked toward
Victoria and saw nothing. I listened for a long time but I heard nothing. If
there were still fires or smoke it must be blowing in the other direction.
I tried to straighten up Grandad’s home. When I was
finished it looked much better. I thought that it might lift Grandad’s spirits.
He did seem to have gained some strength. Maybe it was eating the food. I still
had to walk him out to the outhouse but he did not lean so heavily on me. He
partly supported himself.
I brought the bed clothes inside, took them to the loft,
and made up the bed. It felt good to have my own bed. I made a point of putting
my teddy bear on the pillow. I had asked Grandad about using Granny’s clothes.
He said that it was all right with him. So I tried on some of her clothes that
I could use and they fit me comfortably.
For supper I opened a jar of sweet potatoes and cooked
them for twenty-five minutes to be sure. There was only one clock in the house.
It wasn’t running when I found it. There was no way of setting it to the
correct time. I wound it up and just guessed at the time. It’s usefulness was
for knowing when I had cooked the canned food long enough.
I tried to stay busy because, when I was idle, the memory
of what had happened yesterday would take over my thoughts. I saw the buildings
crumbling and the flames shooting high into the air. I was glad that Dad and
Mom weren’t in Victoria when it happened. Where were they? Had the earthquake
also been in Luxora and Blytheville? When would I see them again? How can I let
them know I am alive and that I am at Grandad’s?
When night time came I went up to the loft and Grandad
slept in his bed. I wore one of Granny’s nightgowns. As soon as I was in bed, I
hugged my teddy bear. I started talking to him just like I used to do. I told
him how scary the earthquake had been. If I had not been out in the yard swing,
I would have been in the mobile home when it rolled on its side and crumbled. I
thought of all the people who were in those buildings when they collapsed or
were in the area of the tanks that exploded and burned. It was so horrible and
the horror became greater every time the memory returned. I told teddy that I
wondered how my parents would know how to find me. Of course, that is if they
are all right.
The teddy bear answered me!
“Have you told all these things to God? Have you prayed
for His help for your Grandad, for your parents, and for yourself?”
“No, I haven’t prayed a word during all these troubles.”
“You pray every night at home.”
“How do you know that? How can a teddy bear talk?”
“Teddy bears generally cannot talk. Angels can make
themselves appear to be human so they can just as easily make themselves appear
to be a teddy bear. I am an angel whom God has sent to help you when you need
help. So I think the first order of business now is for you to pray before you
fall asleep. Thank God for all the ways He has helped you so far. Pray for your
Grandad’s heart condition and for your parents’ safety. Ask Him for your own needs.”
“I will. Thank you.”
I got out of bed and knelt down to pray.
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