Chapter 3: 84 Shady Oaks Drive
The two girls sat in silence for around twenty minutes before Sadera rose to her feet. She felt a slight rush of dizziness, but shook it off.

“You feel okay?” Keeda asked, standing.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little dizzy is all.”

“Are you ready to get out of here?” Sadera nodded and Keeda took her hand and led her off down the hall.

“Now, things are gonna look really weird as soon as we get outside.” Keeda informed Sadera as they reached the front entrance to the mall five minutes later. “So don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Let’s go.” Sadera replied with a sigh as Keeda pushed the door open. Everything was black, like it was midnight or something. There were no lights to be seen anywhere, save for a few tiny spheres of colorful glowing neon floating around. All of the buildings that once stood tall and proud in Sadera’s time were all crumbling to the ground. They stood as ruins of the world she once knew. The streets were completely deserted and there was no plant life anywhere.

“This is what The Storm did.” Keeda said, breaking the long silence. “Destroyed everything and wiped out everyone.”

“Is it always this dark?”

“Yeah, the sun exploded during The Storm.”

“So it was basically the apocalypse?”

“For the human race.” The two girls walked in silence, then a thought dawned on Sadera.

“Didn’t you say we’re underwater?”

“Yeah, we are.”

“Then why can I breathe?”

“I guess your body adapted to the surroundings. We were underwater in the mall as well and you’ve been breathing fine since you regained consciousness.”

“Good point.”

“Yeah, well…they don’t happen often, but when they do, they’re usually pretty good.” Sadera laughed and followed Keeda down what was once Oceania Drive. She looked at the remains of familiar buildings all around her and memories of her past flooded back into the front of her mind. Walking down the same street, only yesterday it seemed, Sadera had been hand-in-hand with Charlie as they went shopping for outfits for their high school Homecoming football game and dance. They were nominated for Homecoming King and Queen and all of their friends told them it was a sure win. Sadera had laughed at the remark, not realizing that the title and crown would never be awarded, thanks to The Storm, which hit the day before Homecoming. Now, Sadera walked almost in a trance behind Keeda, wondering if the comment her friends had made was true or not. Tears started to form in her eyes, but Sadera slammed her eyes shut, refusing to let them fall. No more crying Sadera told herself. Tears won’t bring them back. Nothing will. She forced the memories to the back of her mind where they belonged. At that moment, Keeda came to a halt in front of a rundown brick house that looked oddly familiar.

“Welcome home.” Keeda said, turning to Sadera.

“Wait a second.” Sadera said, studying the house. “I know this house.”

“Yeah, you should.” Keeda replied. “It’s yours.”

“Holy shit.” Sadera choked as she realized that Keeda was right. “This is my house. Or was my house before The Storm.” The house, or what remained of it, stood right where it always had. All of the windows were broken and only a few shards of the glass dotted the windowpanes. The bricks looked like they had been singed in a fire and a lot of them had fallen and broken from the top floor where, Sadera realized, there was no roof. All of the shingles and wood were gone, leaving the building open to the outside world. The front door, once a gorgeous cherry wood door with a stained-glass window, was now hanging crooked on one hinge. The glossy finish was gone, the stained-glass only a memory and the door itself was like the brick on the front of the house: singed from a fire or lightning. Keeda pushed the door open and disappeared into the shadows, Sadera at her heels.

Inside, everything was destroyed. The illustrious Swarovski crystal chandelier that once hung proud in the front hall now lay in a pile of shattered crystals and light bulbs in the middle of the floor. Sadera’s mother had bought the chandelier in Austria and had had it shipped back two years before The Storm. Sadera looked to her left and saw that the two French doors that led to the living room were gone. She peered into the room to see the damage. The Persian rug was nothing more than a dingy rag, the furniture her father had ordered from Milan, Italy was in splinters scattered about the room, the oil painting of Sadera and her parents that once hung over the marble fireplace now lay destroyed on the hearth. Tears started to prick at Sadera’s eyes again, but once again, she kept them in check.

“Hey Keeda.” Sadera managed to say, her voice cracking slightly. “Mind if I go upstairs?”

“Go ahead.” Keeda replied. Slowly, Sadera backed out of the living room and trudged to the main staircase that led to the second floor.

In the hall of the second story, Sadera found what remained of all of her school pictures that dated from preschool all the way up to her junior year in high school all over the floor. The wooden frames that once held the pictures on the wall were nothing but piles of splinters and glass and the pictures themselves were torn and damaged by the water. Sadera carefully picked her way down the hall to her bedroom and pulled the door open. Her windows were gone, the ceiling nowhere in sight, a few shingles lay scattered here and there, and all of her furniture was either destroyed beyond repair or not there at all. Books lay everywhere along with clothes, shoes, CDs, and pictures. All of the ribbons, trophies and medals that she had won from show jumping (horseback riding discipline) competitions and gymnastics competitions were nowhere to be found and the wall over what remained of her bed that was once completely covered in autographed photos and posters of various celebrities was bare. Something in the corner of the room caught Sadera’s eye and she went over to investigate. It was her autographed posters of The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, completely undamaged and sitting there on the floor half underneath a pile of wood that had once been her dresser. Sadera smiled as she gathered the posters up and put them on the remnants of her bed.

“Sadera?” Keeda called from the hall.

“I’m in my room.” Sadera answered. Keeda walked in and saw the posters on the bed.

“The only things that survived The Storm.” Sadera said with a small smile.

“In you room that is.” Keeda responded. “I just investigated the basement and I think you’ll like what you see.” Sadera raised an eyebrow in confusion, but followed Keeda out of her room and downstairs nonetheless.

In the basement, Sadera was met with an unexpected sight. Everything was in place as it should be, untouched by The Storm. The plasma t.v., the stereo system, her DVD library, everything was there. Sadera opened a door on her right that led to the recording studio that her father had built and saw everything there as she had left it. The soundboard, the computers, her laptop, the microphones, the drum set, the electric keyboard, all of her autographed guitars, the amplifiers. The studio looked exactly as it had when Sadera had left the house on the morning of The Storm.

“Wow. Everything’s here.” Sadera breathed in amazement.

“I thought you’d like to see this.” Keeda said, walking up beside Sadera.

“Thanks.” Sadera replied. She turned and gave Keeda a hug, then went over to look at all of the instruments. She picked up the black electric guitar that she had gotten signed by Joe Perry of Aerosmith and plucked one of the strings. The guitar played the note perfectly, as if Sadera had just finished playing it.

“It works!” Sadera announced with a laugh. She plugged the guitar into the nearest amplifier, took her favorite guitar pick off of the chain it hung on around her neck and started playing Walk This Way, one of her all-time favorite Aerosmith songs. Keeda pulled up a chair and listened as Sadera, eyes closed, played with all of the passion and feeling of a true musician.

“Wow. You’re really good.” Keeda complimented when Sadera finished and unplugged the guitar.

“Thanks. I’ve been playin’ pretty much my entire life.” Sadera replied with a smile. “I wanted to be a professional Country singer, but obviously that didn’t work out.”

“That probably would’ve been a blast.” Keeda said.

“Yeah. I had decided that if I managed by some miracle to get a recording contract before I graduated high school, I wouldn’t go to college. I’d just jump right into the biz. If I didn’t have one by then, I was gonna go to college. I had applied to one of the top music schools in the country.”

“What school?”

“Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.” Keeda nodded in understanding.

“Did you get in?”

“I never found out. But I like to think that I made it.” Sadera answered. She put the guitar back on its stand, then walked out of the studio. She flopped down on the couch and stared blankly at the t.v.

“Hey Keeda. I have a random question.”

“And I have a random answer. Pink polar bears doing the hula.” Sadera laughed.

“Right. Here’s the question: why are there no lights around here?”

“That’s a very good question, actually. And the answer to that is not pink polar bears doing the hula. It’s that all light bulbs were destroyed in The Storm and none of my people know how to make them.”

“Ah. That makes sense.”

“And now I have a question for you.”

“Lemme hear it.”

“Where did you learn to play guitar like that?”

“My godfather, Keith Richards.” Keeda gave Sadera a confused look.

“Keith Richards. He was the lead guitarist for a super famous and super awesome rock ‘n’ roll band called The Rolling Stones.”

“And he was your godfather?”

“Yep. Taught me everything I know starting when I was about 5 years old.” Keeda was very impressed.

“One of the posters in my room is of The Rolling Stones. I can get it and show you what Keith looked like if you want.” Keeda nodded and Sadera dashed up and grabbed both posters.

“That’s him.” Sadera said when she returned. The poster depicted The Rolling Stones on stage and Sadera pointed to a man dressed completely in black, his brownish grey hair looked like he had just been electrocuted, he wore multiple necklaces around his neck and a number of rings on his hands. He was playing a jet black electric guitar and smoking a cigarette. The man was none other than rock god Keith Richards himself and he was standing back-to-back with another man who was dressed in skin-tight jeans and a black t-shirt under an obnoxiously hot pink jacket and singing into his mic.

“Who’s that?” Keeda asked, pointing to the man back-to-back with Keith.

“Mick Jagger. Lead singer of The Rolling Stones.”

“Were they nice?”

“Who? The Stones?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh yeah. They were like my second family. I loved all of them like crazy.” At that moment, Keeda noticed the other poster sitting on the coffee table in front of her and Sadera.

“And who are these guys?” Keeda asked, picking up the other poster.

“That’s Aerosmith. Another awesome rock ‘n’ roll band.”

“Did you know these guys too?”

“Yep. They were my dad’s best mates. A great group of guys who were tons of fun to hang around with.”

“I’m sorry you had to lose them. All of them.”

“Yeah, well…what can you do?” Sadera replied, half smiling at her own remark.

“Right, well I’m hungry.” Keeda announced after a moment of silence. “Care for something to eat?”

“Sure.” Sadera replied and together the two girls climbed the stairs to the kitchen.