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There was no scientific explanation as to why Exit Glacier decided to surge forward as suddenly, and as powerfully, as it did That first day they calculated that it was ht not seem fast, but when a wall of ice a quarter of ain its path: trees, buildings, bridges Everything In a single day it had pushed forward nearly half a hway on its relentless push toward Resurrection Bay And we all knew there was only one way it could get to the bay:

Straight through Seward

If the glacier kept on , it would reach the city in three days and co that couldn’t ht since Dad was off on an ee

"If I clilacier from here?" Sammy asked me

"No, but if you climb up on the roof, you’ll fall off and break your neck, and I’ll get to have your room"

He threw a pea fro more about it I’ his neck or s went on as usual--at least at first We had school that day, and although everyone talked about the glacier, we all went about our business, frolacier’s approach was soh, reality hit Dad had spent the day flying a tealacier, so he knew more about this "pheno up all our belongings in his pickup truck

You have to understand, this was more than just an evacuation for us, because to Dad, his home was very much his castle See, after Mom died, Dad fixed up the house He patched the roof, and painted the porch, and put up a white picket fence around the yard so that our house was the envy of Seward It looked like the model of hometown America--but with one problem Our household was one member short Still, Dad kept up the house, the yard, and that perfect picket fence religiously, like they were the only things keeping us together But the truth was, he was the only thing keeping us together

So you can is in that prepanic kind of way ain

"There’s not s you really care about"

He tried to co us that Seouldn’t be hit for twoshaken loose froe If that road got taken out, the only ways out of Seould be by sea and sky--and there sih boats or helicopters to rescue everyone After the initial nu to leave town any way they could

We couldn’t go yet, though; Dad needed to fly the geologists around, so that night he took our overpacked pickup, and we all went to stay with Rav and his dad, since they lived on higher ground that was out of the glacier’s path Our fathers were good friends because they had found a co birth to Sait, and one of her brothers had said it was punishto do with that side of the fao She was an ecologically conscious wo to save nature--but nature didn’t save her She wrapped her Prius around a tree one rainy night

"When I can drive," Rav had once told as like there’s no toot issues

Late that evening, while Saie, Rav and I sat on his porch Even fro up the earth and hear the fracturing of ice and the o of trees

"Do you think you’ll leave Seward for good?" Rav askedto tell him that there’d be no Seward to come back to--that it was the end of life as we knew it But instead I said, "We’ll have to see how bad it is"

A breeze blew across the porch Cold air out, warlacier’s breath I shivered, and as I wrapped ht the clasp on my charm bracelet, because it fell and slipped between the wooden porch slats, disappearing into the darkness below

"I’ll go get a flashlight," said Rav When he ca into the low, muddy crawl space draped with the abandoned webs of spiders long dead and a few old, cranky spiders that should have been dead but for so

But I wasn’t going to think about that The charift from my mom, so I’d deal with the spiders Rav had a vested interest, too, since he had bought me a few of the newer charht spot under the porch, the bracelet was gone

"Maybe it’s still stuck in the slats," I said

We looked up; it wasn’t there

That’s when I felt soasped and dropped the flashlight, and it went out