https://everythingspeakstome.com/files/original/3a2a7f3b901a43752b000a9ed3953070.jpeg 2c86fed6523e944fc0e3ba34f001e390 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource After The Rise ... Description An account of the resource Using elevations and water level projected on EyesOnTheRise.com, these speculative fictions explore the world that was Miami after sea levels rise 6 or more feet. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Administrator Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Please post your written submission in this field. The images you would like to include should be posted as attachments below. I woke up with the worst headache and noticed I was not in my room which had me quite frightened. I quietly got out of bed and rummaged in my pocket. I had one cigarette and a lighter in my pocket, so I lit a cigarette, grabbed water, and headed out. I then called Sabrina to come pick me up later, remembering how I ended up there in the first place. I had been knocked out in my building's hallway the night before and ended up at my neighbors. I finally saw Liam and Sabrina downstairs waiting for me. We went around town looking for breakfast and trying to avoid having to go through the sunken in parts of town. We found a place that still had fresh goods and so I stuffed two lunchboxes with them in hopes of having something to eat for the next few days. We no longer had any fresh produce and most things being sold were no longer good. Sabrina and Liam usually stayed with me since their houses were in the sunken areas of town, so I was trying to get enough for them as well. I saw Sabrina hesitantly put back a few items that she had chosen at the store. I insisted she take them with her, and I paid because I knew that she could not afford the cost of it at that moment. My friends and I were considered an “all for one or one for all” type of group because we would do anything for each other. Liam and Sabrina had been my best friends practically since birth because our parents were all best friends as well. As for our parents, they all moved up north together. My parents send me a monthly allowance which is how I can afford living here under these conditions. We were definitely struggling but surviving for a couple of friends in their 20’s still trying to figure life out. We returned to my house to store the food in a cool, dark place so that we could survive for longer. We all went off to take a break from the day and I laid down on my back, feet up hanging my head off the couch. I grinned as memories of sitting in this same posture, cutting and gluing the uneven phrases onto the smooth surface came flooding back to me. I was then reminded of my parents' photo album, which I went looking for. The book was chock-full of childhood images as well as a few group shots of my pals and me that my mother had taken. Memories came flooding back one by one; I'd effectively re-opened the door to my childhood. I had noticed a tear rolling down my cheek as Liam stepped in on me browsing through the album. I thought to myself, "If only everything had been kept the same forever." He came up to me to wipe the tear off my face and gave me an assuring smile to hint that things were good and will get better. I was still shaking from what had happened, the way I slept out of my own skin without even realizing it. I could not let that happen again in times like this. Sabrina later came in and found some blank paper and a couple of pencils and Paul’s and armchair up on the desk beside me. I quickly sketched a copy of her drawing she had made as a kid in one of the pictures in the album but with butter proportion. She leaned over my paper. “What do you think about it?” I asked, “maybe it’s just because I’m bad at it but I don’t get the appeal.” I shrugged “I always like to study things and see how they work. With drawing I could use that to create something.” She giggled while looking back at her drawing and mine. “You’ll never beat my masterpiece” she exclaimed. We all decided to get up and get some air from the balcony. We sat together while Liam smoked a cigarette. We started making up scenarios pretending that everything was as it was 12 years ago. It was exciting to dream. It was one of the longest conversations we had ever making up scenarios. The night was hot and quiet around us, even the sharp smell of the smoke was oddly pleasant due to its familiarity. “We should head back in,” Sabrina finally said. Liam and I nodded, and he put his cigarette out on the bottom of the shoe and stuck the butt of the cigarette into the pack in his pocket. The next morning, we were woken up by an area alert stating that our area had an outbreak and disease. At first glance I was a bit shocked, but it didn’t make sense to me because now all the areas I have been sucking in have forced people to move into areas like mine. We grabbed breakfast and stepped outside the balcony to look around our area. Outside the day was getting brighter and warmer but the streets blocked fuller than ever. My area is now mainly made up of homeless people due to the rise in ocean levels. We went back inside and began to discuss our situation and whether it was time for us to move further north to a more secure area. As we were discussing, my buildings power shut off. I put on two surgical face masks and walked outside of my door to ask my neighbors what it could’ve been. As I finished asking this question, I stopped and heard a ruckus coming from the stairway down from the first and second floors. It looked to have been planned because I saw people from outside in the streets rushing in. I ran into my apartment and triple locked my door. Liam radiated impatience because I wouldn’t tell him anything. Sabrina was just there with a nervous gaze as I ran into my room remembering the safe my dad had left for me in case of emergencies. I opened it to discover a rifle, a katana, and a shotgun. Included behind it all was a first aid kit the size of a lunchbox. “What’s going on?” asked Sabrina. In a hurry I got the radio to turn on the news channel and we were not expecting what we were going to hear next. “Breaking news: disease has spread around Miami, and it seems there is no cure. It is airborne so, steer clear of anyone that appears sick. It seems to be fatal so if you catch it call your loved ones.” I stood there in shock and decided to start barricading the apartment door so there was no way anyone would come in. Liam and Sabrina were still silent and dissociating trying to process the news. I slapped them both across the face in hopes they would come back into focus so we could come up with a plan. At any moment we could easily be plagued by the disease that had spread if we didn’t come up with a plan immediately. I noticed my window from my room lead to the back of my building where usually no one roamed around. So, as Liam and Sabrina snapped out of it, I created a rope by tying up some old clothes I had stored. I began to pack lightly the things I needed the most. Liam and Sabrina shortly caught on and packed lightly as well. We discussed a plan once we were all packed and decided we were going to make a trip up north to see our parents and stay with them while we figured out our living situation. ‘Could things possibly get worse?’ I thought to myself. The catch of that plan was that we had no car. Even though this served that’s quite an obstacle. Liam had worked with cars a few years back and learned how to hotwire cars. Though risky, we decided it was the only way we could escape safely and quickly. I tied the rope to my bed to have a weight so we could make our way down. As I made my way down all I could hear was screams coming from inside the building. It reminded me of the screams in horror movies when there is a pop-up scare. It frightened me a little, but I know I had to stay focused. Once I landed, Sabrina came after me and lastly Liam. We rushed to the first car that we saw and let Liam hotwire the car. Once he had the car started, we put our things in the back and started our drive. We had to put our money together for the gas and possible snacks for the journey. We had to drive six hours north and had no time to lose. Since it was still early, we were able to drive after three hours without any stops. Though, we noticed two hours in there was an all-black van that had been trailing us for the past hour. I wasn’t too worried though because I had brought the shotgun just in case as well as the first aid kit because we left in such a rush. I convinced Liam to stop at the next gas station to see if we were still being followed. Surely enough, we were. By then, I was thinking one of two things: we’re going to get kidnapped or were being followed because of the stolen car. Because I wasn’t quite sure which option it was or could be, before I got out of the car I strapped up. I had the shotgun under my shirt and went in to go grab refreshments. As I stepped into the gas station the cashier stared at me as I roamed to search for drinks. To the left of the fridges were all the missing kid's posters which gave me an unsettling feeling. I took note that no one had gotten out of the car that had followed us, but the engine was off. I paid for the drinks and headed back to the car as quickly as I could and asked Liam to leave as fast as he could. Sabrina popped her head over the seat in front of us with a worried look. I reassured her it was not anything to worry about. We only had three more hours to go so I hoped for the best. We barely spoke during the ride. The only noise filling the space was the Radio which is playing early 2000s hits. I was still processing everything that had happened that morning and I’m sure we all thought the same things at that point. “How could life change in the span minutes?” I questioned. It reminded me of the tsunami that had hit Thailand once before and how it changes people's lives forever. I did not find it fair, but life was not. As we got closer to our parents, I realized the car had vanished behind us and so I sighed in relief. As we got to the house it began to pour. A few raindrops fell on the windshield as we parked in the driveway. We ran out of the car and made our way inside to find our parents seated playing poker and smoking cigars. We were all attacked by our parents with hugs because they were not expecting us. We sat and explained what had happened and that we could not go back because things were getting worse each day. The familiar smell sent a wave of relief came over me when I realized we were finally safe and truly home. That night, Liam Sabrina and I drove the car to the nearest police station and biked our way back to our parents house. We ended up all in one room talking over and processing our day. It reminded us in the end why we chose to stick together in the first place. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Life of Ruby Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Andrea Dauelsberg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 04/20/2022