“Uh huh. You're supposed to bring watermelon,” Ivy informed her. She dug into her backpack and handed her a flier.
“Okay,” Laura said, reading it over. She apparently signed up to bring watermelon. She would have to go to the store tomorrow. Dallas proba
bly had something similar, so she opened his backpack and found that she was bringing popsicles for his class.
“I don't remember the last day having this much food,” she said to no one in particular. She remembered field day and parties, but not like this. She also didn't remember school getting out so early in the year.
She wished she could ask her parents about it.
“Do you guys want to go to a park or something?” Laura asked the kids, pushing away the sad memories. She'd been thinking about her parents and their accident too much today as it was.
“It's too hot,” Ivy complained. “Can we just watch a movie?”
Laura nearly said no, but both kids looked hot and tired. They had been outside all day for field day, she remembered. She smiled and nodded. Maybe a movie would help her take her mind off things. She could get lost in an animated world, and as long as the didn't want to watch the animated plane movie, she'd have a great distraction. “Sure.”
The two kids hopped up on the couch as Laura searched for the remote.
“I wanna watch the ocean movie again,” Ivy announced.
“I like that one,” Dallas agreed. Laura nearly fell over in surprise. They agreed on a movie? At the same time? The two kids just smiled at her.
“I liked the beach Ethan made for us,” Ivy said. “And he said it was like this movie. Can we go to a real beach sometime? I promise to try not to get scared.”
Laura gave her a big hug, tears in her eyes. She was so proud of her little sister for wanting to try again with the planes. She knew exactly how much courage it took.
“You got it,” Laura told her. She let go of her sister. “And you're sitting on the remote.”
Ivy laughed and pulled out the TV remote. Laura turned and flipped on the TV. She set the remote on the arm of the couch and picked up the DVD case to take out the movie. The TV flickered to life and turned onto the last channel they had watched.
“... For those of you just tuning in, there is a luxury private jet that is missing over the skies of the western United States,” the news anchor announced. Laura's head jerked up to see a reporter in a blue dress looking concerned at her through the screen. “We're keeping a live update going as we get more details.”
“PRIVATE JET MISSING” read across the bottom of the screen in big bold letters that took Laura's breath away. The world dropped out from underneath her, and her heart forgot how to beat. Shivers of ghosts ran across her skin, and the roar of airplane engines filled her ears.
It was happening again.
She remembered seeing her parents' crash on the news. It had been the same reporter, but a different dress. The headline was different, but the feeling was the same. Images of the wrecked plane with smoke rising to the sky on the screen filled her mind.
“Laura?” Dallas called to her. She turned to see him staring at the TV in fear. Beside him, Ivy sat looking like she might throw up. They'd seen that news episode, too. They'd seen the fiery remains of what happened to their parents on the TV screen just like this.
She knew she needed to change the channel, but she couldn't move. She needed them to say whose plane was missing. She needed to find out more.
The reporter sounded like she was underwater to Laura's ears as she struggled to get past the sounds of the past in her head.
“A plane headed for Denver was rerouted through Las Vegas,” the reporter announced. “It has failed to touch down and is no longer appearing on radar.”
Laura's stomach heaved, and there was no stopping it. She ran to the bathroom and barely made it before her lunch came up. Breathing hard, she wiped her face and quickly washed her hands before coming back out.
Ivy was hugging Dallas as the two of them stared at the screen. Ivy was crying. Laura mentally berated herself for having left the TV on at all. The two kids had no idea that Ethan was on an airplane right now, but any news story about a plane was a bad idea for them to watch. The images of planes and the tone of the reporters brought back too many memories.
She quickly grabbed the remote and hit the auxiliary button. The blue DVD load screen took over the TV and Laura let out a small sigh of relief. She had forgotten to breathe while the reporter was on the screen. She put the DVD in the player.
“Laura, what happened to the plane? Why is there a plane missing?” Ivy asked, panic rising in her small voice. She held onto her brother like he might disappear at any moment. “Is it gonna crash?”
Laura quickly moved to the couch and took the two of them into her arms. “No, no, it's not going to crash,” she promised. “I'm sure the plane is just fine. You know the news reporters always make it sound worse than it is.”
Ivy sniffled but calmed down. She believed Laura's words. Laura just wished she could believe them herself. Ethan's plane was supposed to land in Denver. Just thinking about him on that plane made her want to throw up again. She wanted to scream, but she needed to stay calm for the kids.
“Don't worry, you guys,” Laura said as the two kids snuggled into her. She clung to them as much as they did to her. “We don't leave each other. That's what we promised. We're okay.”