Thick, black smoke drifted south as the fires raged on. Vivian shook her head pensively. She sat on the loveseat with her face in her hands.
“It’s hopeless,” Vivian said to herself. “Why do I feel as if all is lost?” She reminded herself that when conditions seemed bleakest, a silver lining appeared. Despite all that had happened these last several weeks, she felt as if she couldn’t keep up with it anymore.
“I must be a walking bad luck charm,” Vivian said. “It seems that wherever I go, disaster follows. Well, I shouldn’t feel as if I’m to blame.” She realized she was being ridiculous. She knew she hadn’t done anything wrong except to move back into Rose’s house seven years ago.
“Gosh, I so loved that house,” she said as she choked back a tear. She recalled how she had worked so hard and had put so much love and money into it. She told herself it was time to close this chapter and move on and that she should stop worrying about Christine, Rose, and the beloved house.
“There’s me to think about,” Vivian said. “What do I do now? Where do I go? Where could I go?”
Vivian hadn’t the faintest idea. She knew that she couldn’t stay here forever. She didn’t know if she still wanted to be here or anywhere else in Los Angeles or in California.
I’ll just have to think about it for a while, she thought.
All she knew was that she would like a change of scenery. She sat in silence for a while, deep in thought.
“Here’s the latest on the Southland firestorm,” a reporter said. “Firefighters are continuing to fight the fires as winds finally begin to subside. Officials expect to have containment by tonight. So far, there have been thirty-seven homes damaged or destroyed, five casualties, and injuries ranging from minor burns to third-degree burns. We’ll have an update on the situation throughout this newscast. Right now, it’s still hot with clear blue skies, and it’s ninety-two degrees right here in Studio City. We have winds going at twenty-five to thirty miles per hour with gusts of up to forty miles per hour. Coming up is the latest on Hurricane Aidan, right after these messages.”