Sherman went to his room and started sorting through his things. If they left, he’d need to pack. He pulled a duffle bag out of the closet and put his teddy bear in. Bop had been his since he could remember. He didn’t want to lose him just because the weather was bad.

The computer pad went into the bag as well. He needed something to take his mind off wherever they ended up. Adults talking were boring after a while.

Jerry ran in and jumped on the bed. He was only a couple of years younger than Sherman. He had come over with Adulfus and Mary.

“What’re you doing?” he asked.

“It’s supposed to rain for another week, and the stream is rising,” Sherman said. “I don’t want to leave all this behind.”

“Your teddy bear?”

“And my computer. I need someone to talk to.”

“I’m hurt.”

“Don’t be. You’re normal. I just find normal boring.”

“Do you think Gramps is going to come back?”

“We’re his family. Where would he go for Christmas?”

“But he’s one of them.”

“How else are we going to get out of here?”

“Your family is weird. Doesn’t he creep you out?”

“No,” Sherman said. And he meant it. Gramps didn’t freak him out. He was part of the family. The others made his hair stand on end, but he didn’t know them. Gramps had never tried to harm the family.

“You’re just jealous that Gramps comes here more.”

Jerry shrugged and left the room.

A yell came from the living room.

Sherman ran to see what was up.

“The dam’s starting to break,” Jerry said.

The camera was swinging back and forth, showing the slow destruction. The water was churning through a gap. Chunks of concrete calved off and fell under the dirty water. It would be an hour before it hit town.

Father was already on the phone trying to reach Gramps. From the sound of it, he wasn’t having much luck.

“They put me on hold,” he said. “Nothing’s an emergency for them.”

Sherman knew who he was talking about. The ones like Gramps existed in a different world. Gramps seemed to care for the family, so hopefully, Father would be able to get through.

By now, the dam was gone. The lake was falling. A brown line grew between the woods and the water. Mother turned off the TV.

“We need to pack,” she said. “Your father will arrange something. We should be ready when they get here.”

Sherman looked at Jerry and stuck his tongue out before running back to his room.

He threw clothes in the bag. A few pairs of shorts as well as a pair of long pants. A few shirts. At least one good pair of clothes for Sunday service. He added his favorite sweater on top of everything. Grandma had knitted it for him the year before she passed. Gramps said it was special because it came from her. He had passed it along to Sherman as her last Christmas present.

He could hear others in the home doing the same. No time to lose if Gramps was going to be here soon. Angry shouting came from the living room.

With the duffle bag packed, he tried lifting it. Too heavy. Hopefully, someone else could do the lifting for him. He grabbed the strap and started dragging it to the living room. The carpet helped a bit, but not enough. It felt heavier than a sack of concrete, but at least it had a handle.

In the living room, he found his parents arguing.

“What do you mean he can't make it?” Mother asked.

“There are too many needing help in town,” Father said. “We should be good for a few days, and he’ll try to send someone out to help as soon as he can.”

“Does he know how the town folk look at us? Who knows what the flood’ll dig up. Once people see what's happening, they'll come after us.”

“That's why he’s trying to help, so people see his family isn't part of the problem.”

“He should’ve thought of that a long time ago.”

“But he didn't, and now he is.”

Sherman looked at them. “So Gramps isn't coming for us?”

Father rolled his eyes. “No, Sherman. And your mother seems to think it’s the end of the world because of that.”

“I do not,” she said. “But our chances are squat without him.”

“He didn’t say he wouldn’t help us. He just said he couldn’t right now and couldn’t come himself.”

“If he loved us, he’d come. What could be more important than us?”

“Maybe there’s something he knows that we don’t,” Sherman said. “Kind of like when you say to do something but won’t tell me why.”

“We’re adults. He could tell us if there was something going on. We’d understand,” Mother said.

Jerry ran in with his suitcase.

“I’m ready!” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“We’re not going anywhere just yet,” Father said.

“But you said that we were.”

“Sometimes things change. I can’t help it if things don’t always go how I want them,” Father said.

Sherman looked out the window at the stream. It was closer, rising faster than Adulfus said it would. He wasn’t surprised. He had watched it for a while before concluding that it was rising. Before tonight, it would probably be up to the house. Once it got there, it would start flooding the basement. Then Gramps wouldn’t have anywhere to stay when he came.

“The stream’s getting closer,” he said.

No one paid attention to him. They were busy arguing about whose fault it was that Gramps wasn’t going to be there by noon with a helicopter to ferry them across the water.

“If the roads are impassable, is there another way we might get around the water? It’s all running down to the river, so it must come from somewhere. Can we follow it upstream to higher ground?” Mark asked.

Mark was another of Father’s brothers. He was part of the family regardless of what might happen.