Hunting Starla
Starla clutched her iPad, fear making her reach for her sister Aurora.
She sat in the back of her dad’s Tahoe with her seventeen-year-old sister while her parents sat up front, driving through a storm.
Although they were ten years apart, many who saw them together assumed they weren’t related because of how different they appeared.
She wished she looked more like her sister with her straight, black hair and bright blue eyes.
But she looked more like her dad with blonde hair.
Her mother leaned across the console toward her father. The long curtain of her dark hair obscured her face as she kissed his cheek. She whispered something that made him laugh. Starla let out a sigh. If they were laughing, then it couldn’t be too bad outside. She hated storms, though.
“Mommy kissed Daddy. That’s eleven,” she chirped.
“Are you keeping count, Biddy Bee?” their dad asked, looking at her through the rearview mirror.
Starla scrunched up her nose. “I’m not a bee, daddy.” She glared at the front of the SUV rather than the iPad in her lap until their father lifted his hand in surrender. He never called her sister silly names.
Aurora returned to listening to her playlist, nodding along to some song Starla couldn’t hear. She glanced back at her tablet, focusing on the birds on the screen.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the water looked higher. It reminded her of large hands reaching up as if they wanted to pull them into the scary depths. “Mommy, the water looks really scary,” she cried.
Her mom turned around and patted her leg. Starla tried to smile, but their dad cursed. A loud crash beside them shook the ground. Her father ordered her mom to hold on. The guardrail that should have been there was gone—washed away—and part of the highway was missing as well.
A loud crack followed by a boom filled the air as a bright light flashed. Rain pelted the windshield. She closed her eyes, trying not to cry out.
“Dad,” Aurora whispered.
“Hold tight,” he said. His deep voice sounded worried. Her dad never sounded anything but strong.
Starla whimpered. Aurora took her hand as their vehicle slid back and forth.
Her mother glanced back at her, then at her sister Aurora.
The look in her dark eyes made Starla’s stomach hurt.
Her parents promised they’d have a great adventure.
They knew Starla hated storms since she’d gotten lost alone during a family camping trip when she’d been four.
Nobody knew how or why she’d gone off in the middle of the night.
The only thing she remembered was waking up during a storm with lightning flashing all around them, like now.
Earlier, there’d been no sign of a storm, but now they were driving into something terrifying. Starla held her breath, hoping it was a bad dream.
“Starla, you need to breathe, Biddy Bee,” her mother said.
“The water looks like it’s come alive, mommy.”
Starla looked over at her sister, Aurora. Usually, she could count on her to calm her, but she was shaking her head and squeezing Starla’s hand a little too tightly. Starla cried out as the feeling of her fingers grinding together became too painful.
“Sorry, sorry,” Aurora mumbled, releasing her grip slightly.
The engine's rumble grew lower as their dad slowed, dodging debris on the road. Why didn’t he stop and turn around?
“Ivan, maybe we should stop and go back,” her mother said.
The sound of leather squeaking filled the Tahoe. His voice was always gentle, even when angry.
“Gemma, look behind us, baby. I can’t go back even if I wanted to.”
Her sister looked over the backseat and gasped. Her beautiful blue eyes widened. Their vehicle swayed back and forth. It was as if a hurricane had hit them, bringing down several trees and blocking the path.
“Aurora, stay seated, sweetheart.” Their mother, Gemma, glanced backward, giving them both a smile. “No matter what happens, as long as we’re together, we’ll be fine.”
Starla grabbed her backpack from the center of the seat and shoved her iPad into it.
Aurora reached for her hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Nobody spoke as their dad drove really slowly.
She wanted to tell him to speed up. Tears dripped down her face, but she didn’t make a sound out of fear she’d make her dad wreck.
Lightning lit up the sky, making her flinch. Thunder boomed, shaking their vehicle. She bit her lip hard enough to break the skin.
A crash behind them pulled a scream from both her and Aurora.
Their big SUV jerked. Her dad and mom yelled at the same time.
Her father twisted the wheel of the Tahoe, swerving perilously close to the crumbling side of the cliff edge.
Starla held onto Aurora’s hand tighter, panicked that they’d be lifted and slammed back to the ground.
“Aurora, what’s happening?” she asked.
The sound of her mother’s scream went silent. Starla couldn’t see the front of the vehicle where her parents were. Pain rocked her as another object hit their vehicle, and then darkness swallowed her.
“Starla, come on, Biddy Bee. I need you to wake up.”
“Sissy, what happened?”
“We were in an accident. Where do you hurt?”
Starla moved her arms and legs, wincing as she shifted her head. “Nothing, I don’t think. You’re bleeding,” Starla said, pointing at Aurora’s face.
Aurora lifted her hand to the back of her head, wincing. “Some glass cut me. I’m fine.”
“Don’t leave me, mama,” Aurora cried.
“Where are mama and daddy?” Starla asked, looking around as her sister began to cry. Her older sister didn’t get so emotional, so seeing her this way worried Starla.
“We need to move, Starla.” Aurora unbuckled the seatbelt.
“Put your backpack on and follow me. We’re going out the back window. Please, just do as I say. I’ll keep us safe.”
Starla’s lips trembled, but she nodded.
They moved out the back hatch. Starla shrank back from the rain lashing the Earth. The way it came down so fast made it hard for her to see in front of her.
“Remember what mama always said, Biddy Bee?” Aurora spoke close to her ear. “Hope is held in the beauty after the rain. When the sun shines through the clouds, everything is clean, and a renewal can begin.” Aurora grabbed their mother’s bag, hers, and Starla’s out of the back.
“I can help, sissy,” she said.
A sob caught in Aurora’s throat as she reached back inside and grabbed their dad’s duffel. “I got it, Biddy Bee.”
Aurora pulled the strap of their dad’s duffel over her shoulder, stacked both suitcases on top of their mom’s, and then pulled the small handle up on Starla’s.
She reached for Starla’s hand and smiled.
Starla didn’t want to tell Aurora she could see through the facade she was trying to show her.
Instead, she took her sister’s hand in her own, letting her think she was oblivious. A shiver wracked her body.
“We’re going to run across the road over there and combine some of our stuff into my backpack and yours, and then we’ll find help. Okay?”
Starla looked at the mangled mess of a Tahoe, then back at her. “Why aren’t Mama and Daddy coming with us?”
The vehicle shifted and groaned, sliding further down the ravine. Aurora grabbed Starla, pulling her away from the wreckage. Her heart thundered inside her chest.
“Biddy Bee, mama told me to take care of you. Daddy would be so mad if I didn’t get us to safety. Now, come on. Let’s go,” she said, using the stern voice that reminded her of their mama.
Starla sniffed, but she hiked her backpack up on her shoulders and gave a nod. They moved across the desolate road, hurrying as much as possible while dodging debris.
“You good, Starla?” Aurora yelled, slowing her steps so Starla could keep up. The howling wind and rain created a roaring background, with thunder clapping over and over. Starla did her best to keep from jerking each time the thunder rolled.
The slap, slap sound of their tennis shoes on the asphalt accompanied the cacophony of twigs scraping together in the distance as the storm continued. Goddess, she wondered if her sister hated thunderstorms as much as she did.
They made it into the forest, but Aurora kept them moving until more trees provided protection overhead. Starla wasn’t sure how her sister did it. The wind tried to blow her over. She nearly fell over several times in the short walk across the distance from the crash to the woods.
“Here is good, Starla.” Aurora blew out a breath.
Starla and Aurora paused inside the forest.
“It’s going to be okay, Aurora. Mama is watching over us. I can feel her.” Starla placed her hand on Aurora’s shoulder and held the other over her heart. There was a warmth within her that made her feel as if her mother was with them.
Although she had their dad’s hair color and the same skin tone, Starla’s eyes were identical to their mom’s. Their mom used to say the window to their souls was through their eyes. As she stared at Aurora, she could see fierce determination.
“You’re right, Biddy Bee. As long as we stick together, everything will be okay.
” Aurora unzipped the suitcase in front of her.
Starla watched her pull out an envelope with cash and credit cards.
Her sister placed the stuff in a waterproof pouch like the one they’d used when they’d gone camping.
Next, her sister pulled out a jewelry box that made Starla feel weird.
“What’s happening?” Starla asked.
Aurora didn’t answer as she placed the jewelry box and waterproof pouch inside her bag. Starla saw her place a couple of sweaters her mom loved into her backpack, then she zipped the bag back up. Aurora did the same with their father’s duffel bag. His bag contained another envelope with cash.
“Are we rich, sissy?” she asked.
“It sure feels like it, but I don’t think so.”
“I’ll carry your backpack, Biddy Bee.” Aurora bent to grab the pack she’d stuffed full of things they might need.
Starla shook her head. “I can do it.”
Aurora let out a sigh. “How about I let you carry it if I get tired?”
“Okay, but promise you’ll let me help,” she said.
“I’m going to put the suitcases inside the tree trunk. Maybe it’ll keep them safe until we can come back.”
Starla had a feeling they wouldn’t be coming back.
“Mama said the tree would teach us what we needed to know,” Starla whispered.
Aurora stopped walking, nearly tripping over a fallen tree. “When did she say such a thing?”
Starla looked up at Aurora. “The other day. She said one day you and I would go on an adventure, and we’d touch the tree to learn.”