Excerpt: And Again, Fall

"It seems quite strange to me that we spent the days following the Clysm, Gramma and me, locked in our houseblock, eating little bits of food and water that Gramma rationed out for us. She stored as much of the water as we had containers to hold it. Just in case there wasn't going to be any more for a while.

It was probably a day before Gramma realized I hadn't said a word since seeing the bodies falling from the sky. I tried to reassure her, to say something brave that a girl couldn't really feel - to win her approval for my calm head in the midst of disaster, but try as I might no sound came forth.

I was mute, and it seemed that something had gotten lost or scrambled between the higher centres of my brain, and the muscles that moved my jaw.

Gramma noticed my frustration and patted my head, reassuringly. "It's just a bit of a shock," she said softly. "We'll be fine. We'll go on. I'm sure your parents will turn up soon."

That was the last time she said that."