After four months of unemployment, my husband finally got the job our family desperately needed. On his first day, he came home three hours earlier than usual, locked all the doors, lowered the blinds, and told me to pack the children’s bags immediately.
My name is Claire. My husband, Daniel, and I have been married for eleven years, and this summer almost destroyed us.
In April, the company Daniel worked for closed without prior notice.
I had work one Friday.
Not on Monday.
By July, we were already pretty sure that this was going to last longer than we had anticipated.
At first, we told the children that everything was fine.
Our daughter, Lily, was nine years old. Our son, Max, was six. They were old enough to realize that things had changed, but young enough not to believe us when we told them that those changes were temporary.
Then, one month turned into two.
By July, we were already pretty sure that this was going to take longer than we had anticipated.
I worked extra shifts at the dental clinic where I worked, and Daniel spent hours every day sending out job applications.
We cancelled our summer vacation.
We stopped ordering takeout.
I worked extra shifts at the dental clinic where I worked, and Daniel spent hours every day sending out job applications.
Some weeks, I would send twenty applications and receive no response.
One night, I found him sitting alone in the kitchen, almost at midnight.
Other times, they would call him for interviews that ended with the same courtesy email.
“We have decided to move forward with another candidate.”
Each rejection made him become quieter.
One night, I found him sitting alone in the kitchen, almost at midnight.
I had my laptop open.
“Today I sent out eleven job applications.”
I touched his shoulder.
“Come to bed.”
He rubbed his face with both hands.
“Today I sent out eleven job applications.”
“I know”.
“Do you know how many people have replied to me?”
“You only need one.”
I sat down next to him.
“Daniel”.
“None”.
“You only need one.”
He laughed humorlessly.
“That’s easy to say when zero keeps appearing.”
That scared me more than I wanted to admit.
I wanted to tell him that losing his job hadn’t made him any less useful, any less capable, or any less of a father. But lately, any word of encouragement seemed to sound like pity.
Instead, I told him, “We’re still here.”
He looked at me.
“For now”.
That scared me more than I wanted to admit.
Then, one Tuesday morning, Daniel came into the kitchen with his mobile phone in his hand.
By August, our savings were almost gone.
The children realized more than we wanted to admit, especially when Lily stopped asking about the holidays and Max started secretly saving coupons.
Then, one Tuesday morning, Daniel came into the kitchen with his mobile phone in his hand.
He had a strange expression.
For a horrible second, I thought someone had died.
Then he said, “I’ve got it.”
Lily ran down the stairs.
I just stared at him.
“That?”.
“The job.”
I screamed.
I really screamed.
“Your dad got the job!”
Lily ran down the stairs.
“What happened?”.
“Your dad got the job!”
Max appeared behind her.
“Does that mean there’s pizza?”
That night, we opened a bottle of cheap champagne and let the children order whatever pizza they wanted.
Daniel laughed like he hadn’t laughed in months.
“Apparently so.”
The salary was better than the previous one.
The performance was also better.
That night, we opened a bottle of cheap champagne and let the children order whatever pizza they wanted.
Daniel raised his plastic cup.
Lily chose one with so many ingredients that it almost looked like a salad.
Max ordered a plain cheese one.
Daniel raised his plastic cup.
“For employment.”
I clinked my glass against his.
Daniel checked the email with the offer three times that night.
“So that we never again hear the phrase ‘we have opted for another candidate’.”
She smiled.
“At least for a week.”
Daniel checked the email with the offer three times that night, as if the words could disappear or the verdict could change.
For the first time all summer, I felt like I could breathe.
It wasn’t glamorous at all, but Daniel didn’t care.
Daniel’s new company was a civil engineering construction firm that worked with the province.
Roads, drainage systems, underground utility networks.
It wasn’t glamorous at all, but Daniel didn’t care.
“It’s a stable job,” he kept saying.
It started the following Monday.
“I’m going to work, not school. No photos.”
The first morning, she came down wearing a new shirt and the expensive shoes we had bought before everything fell apart.
I took out my mobile phone.
He snorted.
“Claire”.
“Stay still.”
He smiled while I took his picture, despite himself.
“I’m going to work, not school. No photos.”
“The first day is the first day.”
She smiled as I took the picture, unable to help it.
Before he left, I gave him a kiss.
“Tonight we’ll celebrate properly.”
“I bought steaks.”
“Haven’t we already celebrated it?”
“Pizza doesn’t count.”
“Of course it counts.”
“I bought steaks.”
His eyes opened wide.
That afternoon, I took the steaks out of the refrigerator and started preparing dinner earlier than usual.
“Have you bought steaks?”
“Don’t make me regret it.”
He kissed me again.
“At six.”
That afternoon, I took the steaks out of the refrigerator and started preparing dinner early.
At 3:47 pm, I heard the front door open.
After months of saying no to almost everything, I wanted to spend a night where we didn’t have to think about money.
By three o’clock, the kitchen already smelled of garlic and butter, and I had already started putting out the dishes that we almost never used.
At 3:47 pm, I heard the front door open.
I looked at the clock.
Then I heard Daniel’s footsteps.
The smile she had left with that morning had disappeared.
Fast.
She entered the kitchen still wearing her work clothes.
The smile she had left with that morning had disappeared.
Her face was pale.
“What happened?”
He did not respond.
Then he went to the nearest window and lowered the blinds.
He turned around and locked the front door.
Then he went to the nearest window and lowered the blinds.
“Daniel?”
She went into the living room and lowered those blinds as well.
My stomach tightened.
“Where are the children?”
“You’re scaring me.”
He looked towards the stairs.
“Where are the children?”
“Above”.
“Go find them.”
“Has something happened at work?”
I stared at you.
“Because?”.
“Claire, go find them.”
“Has something happened at work?”
He grabbed my hands.
In eleven years, I had seen Daniel angry, sick, exhausted. I had never seen him like this.
His hands were trembling.
In eleven years, he had seen Daniel angry, sick, exhausted, drunk, distressed, and terrified when Max had to have emergency surgery for appendicitis.
I had never seen it like that before.
“Pack your suitcase,” he told me.
His eyes shifted towards the front window.
“That?”.
“For you and the children. Only the essentials.”
“Daniel”.
“Please”.
Her eyes shifted towards the front window.
“Has anyone threatened you?”
“We have to leave.”
“Do you have a problem?”
“No”.
“Has anyone threatened you?”
“No”.
“So tell me what’s going on.”
Then he unlocked the screen.
He took out his mobile phone.
For a second, he just held it.
Then he unlocked the screen.
“I had a meeting this morning.”
“Okay”.
He found the photo I was looking for and gave me his phone.
“I’ve been assigned a county drainage project. A field crew found something after last week’s storms.”
“What kind of thing?”
She swiped her finger across several photos.
“A problem underground.”
Wait.
He found the image I was looking for and handed me his phone.
There was a part highlighted in red.
It was a photograph of a projected map.
There were lines that crossed under several streets.
There was an area highlighted in red.
I recognized the neighborhood.
Then I recognized our street.
“There’s an old storm drain tunnel under part of the neighborhood.”
Our house number was marked with a circle.
I looked up.
“What is this?”.
Daniel swallowed hard.
“There’s an old storm drain tunnel under part of the neighborhood.”
“Since when?”
“Why didn’t we know?”
“For decades.”
“Why didn’t we know?”
“Because he’s buried.”
I frowned.
“Daniel, I don’t understand.”
“The tunnel has partially collapsed.”
“Some of the soil above it may no longer be firmly attached.”
I looked at the map again.
“Under our house?”
“Near it. Perhaps partly under the plot. They are still locating the exact point of the landslide.”
My mouth got dry.
“What does that mean?”
“Some of the floor above may no longer be properly secured.”
“It’s so serious that they’re worried.”
I stared at you.
“Is it that serious?”
“Serious enough to cause concern.”
“Because?”.
He stared at me.
I burst out laughing because the sentence seemed impossible to me.
“Let the ground sink.”
I laughed for a moment because the sentence seemed impossible to me.
Then I saw his face.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah”.
“The county’s emergency response team is already working on it.”
“Why hasn’t anyone told us?”
“The county emergency team is already working on it. They were still confirming the affected area when my boss saw our address on my papers.”
“Does he know we live here?”
“He asked me if I had family at home. I said yes.”
That’s when I finally understood the urgency.
“What did he say to you?”
“Get them out of there. We’ll take care of notifying the others.”
That’s when I finally understood the urgency.
I looked up at the ceiling.
Our children were upstairs.
“Children! Put your shoes on. Now.”
Suddenly, all the usual noises in the house seemed strange to me.
The ticking of a pipe.
The hum of the refrigerator.
Max running down the hallway.
I called upstairs.
I packed clothes, medicine, chargers, toothbrushes, and the folder with the insurance papers.
“Guys! Put your shoes on. Now.”
Lily peered over the railing.
“Because?”.
“Just do it.”
Daniel picked up the bags.
Max came downstairs with three stuffed animals in his hands.
I packed clothes, medicine, chargers, toothbrushes, and the folder with the insurance papers.
Max came downstairs with three stuffed animals in his arms.
“One,” I told him.
“But they’re going to be scared.”
“Okay. Three.”
Martha’s house. She lived next door.
We had almost gone out the door when I looked through the blinds.
Martha’s house.
I lived next door.
Eighty-two years old.
Widow.
“The city council is warning people.”
He wasn’t driving.
“I have to go find Martha.”
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“Claire”.
“She’s alone.”
Daniel looked towards the house.
“The county is warning people.”
“She hasn’t been notified yet.”
Daniel looked towards the house.
Then, to me.
“Fast”.
I ran away.
I knocked loudly on Martha’s door.
Daniel followed me.
I knocked loudly on Martha’s door.
She opened the door in slippers.
“Claire?”
“Pack your suitcase.”
“Something strange is happening underground. We have to leave.”
Flicker.
“That?”.
“Something strange is happening underground. We have to leave.”
Behind me, Daniel shouted, “Claire, hurry up!”
Martha looked at him.
“There is a damaged drainage tunnel.”
“Does it have anything to do with the construction work?”
“No,” I said. “There’s a damaged drainage tunnel.”
His expression changed.
“Down here?”
“Could be”.
“We can’t knock on fifty doors.”
I helped her prepare the medication while Daniel carried his walker.
Then I looked to the other side of the street.
“There are more people.”
Daniel stared at me.
“We can’t knock on fifty doors.”
We didn’t try to empty the neighborhood on our own.
“Well, we’ll call the ones that are closest.”
And that’s what we did.
We didn’t try to evacuate the neighborhood on our own. We warned the houses next door and those directly across the street as we headed to the car.
Some neighbors listened to us right away.
Then we arrived at Mr. Hargrove’s house.
A woman who lived two houses away took her young son and left without arguing.
Another man asked Daniel to show him some proof.
Daniel showed her the photo.
He went pale.
Then we spoke with Mr. Hargrove.
“I’m telling you, the engineers have detected a significant ground movement.”
He burst out laughing.
“Are you telling me the street could collapse?”
Daniel clenched his jaw.
“I’m telling you that the engineers have detected a significant ground movement.”
“And the county hasn’t said anything?”
“I’ll wait until there’s something official.”
“They’re about to do it.”
“So, for now, it’s just a rumor.”
“It’s not a rumor.”
Mr. Hargrove crossed his arms.
“I’ll wait until there’s something official.”
“Don’t tell me what to do in my own house.”
Daniel moved a little closer.
“Do whatever you want, but get your wife out of here.”
“Don’t tell me what to do in my own house.”
I grabbed Daniel by the sleeve.
“Enough is enough.”
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at my sister Rachel’s house.
He looked furious.
“We had already warned him.”
“It’s the only thing we can do.”
We left.
Twenty minutes later, we arrived at my sister Rachel’s house.
Less than an hour later, the neighborhood’s cell phones started ringing.
Our daughter kept asking if the house would still be there tomorrow, and I kept reassuring her.
Less than an hour later, the cell phones in the neighborhood started vibrating.
Emergency alert.
Temporary evacuation.
Possible ground instability.
Daniel stared at the notification.
Do not stay inside the affected homes.
Daniel stared at the notification.
“There”.
I thought he would feel relieved.
Instead, he went out into the street.
“I may have messed up at work.”
I found him sitting alone on the steps of Rachel’s entrance.
I sat down next to him.
“You got us out of there before the alarm went off.”
He stared into space.
“I may have put my foot in it.”
“He told me to get my family out of there. I don’t think he meant for us to disappear for the rest of the day.”
“That?”.
“I left halfway through my first day.”
“Your boss told you so.”
“He told me to get my family out of there. I don’t think he meant for me to disappear for the rest of the day.”
“Daniel, they just evacuated half of our neighborhood.”
“But when you’re the new guy, you don’t know what they’re going to throw in your face.”
“I know”.
He rubbed his hands together.
“But when you’re the new guy, you don’t know what’s going to work against you.”
I turned to face him.
“Daniel”.
“Supporting this family was the only thing I had to do.”
“I waited four months for someone to give me a chance. Four months, Claire. And on the first day, I left before I’d even finished my meal.”
“This isn’t like you skipped work.”
He shook his head.
“All I had to do was support this family.”
I took his hand.
“All summer long you thought that supporting us meant bringing money home.”
“That’s how it was.”
“Not if I lose my salary.”
“No. Listen to me.”
Finally, he looked at me.
“All summer long you thought that supporting us meant bringing money home.”
Daniel barely slept that night, checking his phone every time it lit up and pretending that each notification meant nothing to him.
I squeezed his hand.
“Today meant going home.”
He quickly looked away.
Daniel barely slept that night, checking his phone every time it lit up and pretending that each notification meant nothing to him.
The next morning, his mobile phone rang at 7:12 am
For four months, all the important calls seemed to end with someone telling Daniel “no”.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“He’s my boss.”
For four months, all the important calls seemed to end with someone telling Daniel “no”.
“Answer”.
He did it.
“Hello?”.
“Where do you want me to go?”
I stared at his face.
“Yes sir”.
Pause.
“No, we’re safe.”
Another pause.
Daniel frowned.
When he hung up, I waited.
“Where do you want me to go?”
Heard.
Then he looked at me.
“Yes of course”.
When he hung up, I waited.
“What did he say to you?”
“So?”
She smiled.
“I haven’t been fired.”
I burst out laughing.
“What did he say to you?”
“He said I did exactly what he told me to do.”
Part of our street needed major repairs.
Daniel looked at his phone again.
“He wants me to go to the emergency services office. They need help updating the cadastral maps.”
“Are you going?”
“Of course”.
We were away for five days.
Part of our street needed major repairs.
Three weeks later, I finally prepared the steaks.
Several gardens were excavated.
A driveway cracked.
In the end, they gave us the go-ahead to return home.
Three weeks later, I finally prepared some steaks for everyone.
We ate outside on folding chairs because half the street still looked like a construction site.
Daniel came straight from work.
Max looked at his plate.
Her expensive shoes from the first day were ruined.
His shirt was covered in dust.
Max stared at his plate.
“Is this Dad’s first day dinner or his first month dinner?”
Daniel grabbed the fork.
“I don’t care. I’m finally going to eat it.”
I took the photo.
I took out my mobile phone.
He grunted.
“Oh really?”.
“The first month is the first month.”
He burst out laughing.
His good shoes were ruined. His shirt was covered in dust.
I took the photo.
Behind him, the street was still wrecked.
His good shoes were ruined. His shirt was covered in dust.
Even so, she smiled.
