The Beggining of the End

So.. I finished the book. It was Christmas eve and the best thing happened, there were people caroling outside of the house and Miranda and her family were so excited to see other people that they put on several layers of clothes and they joined them, plus the four of them had a really big dinner. The next day they all exchanged presents they had gotten for each other. Miranda gave them all things that she had found when she was taking things from Mrs. Nesbitt's house and Jonny and Matt did the same thing. Their mom had asked Peter to buy them stuff from the hospital gift store before it closed. They were all so happy to be together, alive and healthy! A few days later, it was New Year, and Matt made a resolution to learn how to ski and teach Miranda and Jonny in case of an emergency  so that they had a way to go to the hospital or to escape.

One evening, a strange thing happened. One of their neighbors knocked on their door, almost crying while he begged for some medicine for his sick wife. He said that she had fever and that she was almost unconscious. Their mom was only able to give him a couple of aspirins because of course, they had to save some for themselves in case they might need them. Miranda couldn't stop thinking about him for the rest of the day. Five days after this event, Miranda's mom and Jonny got sick too. It all started in the morning, when mom wasn't able to get up from the mattress and Jonny was delirious. Matt was going to go to the hospital to find Peter but before he could go through the front door he fainted and fell in his mattress. It was all on Miranda now. She took the skis and she went as fast as she could to the hospital. It surprised her when she saw that the lights were off and there was

no one guarding the entrance, but she heard some voices and she followed them to find help. When she tracked the source of the voices, she found two nurses chatting and asked for Dr. Elliot (Peter). "He died on Saturday, didn't he, Maggie?"said one of the nurses (Pfeffer, 296). It was hard for Miranda to digest what she had just heard. The nurses explained that more than a half of the city had the flu and they all went to the hospital so most of the staff and the patients died during the first days. They recommended that Miranda just comforted and fed her family, but with no much hope of them surviving, because not so many had. She just went back to her house still in shock, trying not to be scared of finding her family dead when she arrived. Fortunately, that didn't happen but they were all pretty weak. She gave them aspirin, coughing medicine and everything that she though that could save them. t was like Miranda had some sort of immunity against the flu.

After around one week, mom and Jonny started to regain strength and consciousness, but Matt was really weak. As her mom began to get better, she began questioning why Peter hadn't come to help Miranda when they were sick and eventually the poor girl had to tell her mom the sad truth about Dr. Elliott's death. It hit her worse than it had Miranda back in the hospital. After some time, things began to look and feel better for Mom, Jonny and Matt. They started to get electricity again, although only for limited amounts of time. Miranda checked the pantry and she realized that food was running out. She was becoming extremely weak for taking care of all the others. So she decided to go to town to see if there were any letters from dad. She knew she wasn't going to make it back to her house from town but at least she wanted to die in peace knowing if her dad was okay. She said goodbye while she fought back tears and she left. It was extremely hard to get to town, but when she arrived, the post office was closed and all hope seemed lost, but she found a yellow paper in the ground. It had an address and it said from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. What could she lose? When she got to the address, there where actual people, including the town's mayor. They offered her food that the state was giving away to citizens and they returned her back home. I seemed like a miracle had happened. They were all so happy to see her and so much food. Hope had returned. They were weak, but they could now regain strength. The book ended with Miranda's birthday. She turned 17 in March and they were all strong and healthy. Life as they knew it was gone, but at least they had hope, and a future to look forward to.

"We are a family. We love each other. We've been scared together and brave together. If this is how it ends, so be it . Only, please, don't let me be be the last one to die." (Pfeffer, 299)
I found it incredible how much strength and courage Miranda had. She wasn't afraid of dying at all. She just knew that if the time came, she had to be ready.  I don't know if I would be this calm about something so serious as dying.  She felt fear, but not of death itself, but of loneliness instead. I think that in my case I would be scared of both things. I would definitely prefer to die before any of my family members do. I guess it is way more painful for those who stay alive than those who die.

"The worst is over. You made it this far, you'll make it all the way." (Pfeffer, 335)
I found these words relieving. If you think about it, no matter how big your problems are, or how hopeless things may be, there is always a way out, sometimes hard and sometimes easy. Even if an asteroid hits the moon. I kept thinking of all those people who didn't even get a chance to survive the first day like the ones in New York or Florida that died with the first Tsunamis. I kept thinking how grateful Miranda and her family might be for being so lucky. But it wasn't just luck, it was also the sacrifices that they made like not eating so much to save food that made them last. Because of all their suffering, they became stronger and more able to survive for a long time.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. Of course, the ending was just as I feared it was going to be, but it was still okay because Miranda got to survive with her mom, Jonny and Matt. What I didn't like about the ending is that it happened too abruptly. Miranda was literally dying and in less than half a page she was already receiving four bags of food for her family and she was taken home in a snow mobile. More than anything, I enjoyed the little messages that the author transmitted through the thoughts of Miranda. I have to admit that at some points I had to look a word in the dictionary to understand the meaning,  but I still read it very quickly, probably because I couldn't put it down. I totally recommend this to anyone who wants a good book. It is simple, interesting, amazing and you can read it in less than three days. I am including the link to buy the book at the end of this post in case you would like to read it. I hope you enjoyed my posts in Scriptum Interpretations!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0152061541?keywords=life%20as%20we%20knew%20it&qid=1445836593&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Finally a Loss...

As I predicted in my last post, school was a complete mess. Once Miranda got there, there were really few people and they were told that there wouldn't be food or buses or too many subjects. They were also told that if they didn't want to attend school they could go to the principal's office and get textbooks and materials like notebooks and pencils to be home schooled. Of course, Miranda went to the principal's office and she chose textbooks for Jonny and her. Plus she was really happy because she stole a lot of notebooks to keep her diary. That day when she arrived home, Matt announced that there was a letter from dad and Lisa in the post office. It said that they were okay but that they weren't able to get to Colorado, since Kansas city wasn't letting anyone go through to get to other places. They would try other ways of getting to Lisa's parents and they would try to survive too. That let all of them worried. A few days later, her mother tripped and she sprained her ankle, which meant that Miranda was going to have to be responsible of cooking and cleaning all by herself. Plus, she had to visit Mrs. Nesbitt daily, now that her mom wouldn't be able to.

Homeschooling was easier.

One of those days, Miranda and her mom, cut their hair really short because they couldn't wash it anymore and the sad thing is that they didn't even mind about how they looked anymore. Also, as it was to be expected, things got worse everyday. There was no word from dad and by the beginning of October, the natural gas stopped flowing, so everyone had to move their mattresses downstairs so that they could all sleep together by the wood stove and keep warm. To make life a little more miserable, Miranda found out that Megan and her mother died. She understood why Megan wasn't alive anymore but she decided to go to their church to find out what had

happened to her mom. Once she asked the reverend, he said that she had committed suicide after her daughter's death. Miranda couldn't believe it. Days went by and she continued visiting Mrs. Nesbitt, the family neighbor that had taken good care of her when her mother was away in her childhood. In one of those visits, the old woman told her that she was expecting to die soon, that she was weak and that she had some instructions for when Miranda found her dead body. First, she indicated what she wanted each of Miranda's family members to inherit from her. Sure, she had  a son of her own, but he had died with the first waves in New York. Second, she wanted for them to get all of the supplies and food that she would leave in her house so that they had a better chance of survival and finally she wanted for them to give her body to the hospital. Two days after this conversation, Mrs. Nesbitt died. Miranda went to get help from Matt to help her fulfill the good neighbor's wishes. It was their first true loss. They were cheered up a little when Peter showed up with an actual, real chicken for thanksgiving. This really made them look forward to surviving. For a while, life just carried on just the four of them in the house, trying to learn something from those textbooks and trying to carry on.

"We  may not have a future, but you can't deny we have a past" (Pfeffer, 252)
I have sometimes believed that it is useless to study history; after all, they are all dead. I understand however that history repeats itself, and therein lies the importance of learning it. In this chapter of the book, I realized that our identity, our family, or society and everything that we know is made up of our past. Because of all those stories, discoveries, battles and even friendships, our lives and realities are the way they are. It was just interesting realizing how important somethings are even when we don't even realize it.

"Why feel sorry for myself today when tomorrow's bound to be worse" (Pfeffer, 275)
I now see that the author hides some really thoughtful ideas throughout the novel, such as the fact that we never know what will happen next. The uncertainty of whether life will change forever or things will be perfectly fine. This means that we should cherish everyday and have in mind that everything is unique and special in every moment.We should appreciate all the small things life offers because they could be gone any moment. I have learned to appreciate all these little messages that Susan Pfeffer shares with us in every other chapter. It just makes me feel like I am actually learning something from reading this book.

Like I predicted, Miranda's life just got harder. She lost Megan and Mrs. Nesbitt and her supplies are scarcer every time. I can't wait to finish the book! I hope it has an unexpected, non-typical closure. What I mean is that I hope that the book doesn't have a "they lived happily ever after" ending. On the other hand I do wish that at least Miranda survives since I feel so attached to her. I do not understand how she is coping with the loss of two loved ones. Was she mentally prepared for this after all she has gone through? I guess I'll have to answer that by myself.  I have many, many questions, but I don't want to consider them unanswered until I complete reading the book. I will  try to finish as fast as I possibly can to tell everyone who reads this blog my final comments and thoughts on it. I am looking forward to my next post!

Missing the Old Life

SO... these last chapters didn't let me put the book down. The novel is just so intense and full of suspense. School had ended and summer started, although it wasn't that fun either to Miranda, or anyone. They just stayed home for protection. But one night, Peter, her mom's boyfriend, came to dinner, although he had a worried look in his face. It was Malaria and West Nile Virus what he had been trying to cure back in the hospital (he was a doctor). It seemed like the mosquitoes were enjoying themselves even if no one else did. This meant, that they had to be extremely careful with whatever they did outside the house. Anyway, Miranda was starting to miss swimming so much that she ignored all the mosquitoes issue and decided to go to a place called Millers Pond.  After playing in the water and having a great time, Dan, a guy from her swim team, told her to go to the prom with him. It was a magical moment, they kissed and spent the rest of the morning together. Of course when she got home her mom was extremely angry at her for making her worry so much. Luckily for Miranda, her mom still let her continue to go to the pond, because she at least deserved some fun. After that day, Miranda and Dan continued to see each other in the pond daily and they didn't stop what could be called their "relationship".

So once again, life continued between Millers Pond, her house and town, which Miranda visited around twice a week to go to the public library or the mail office. Also, taking advantage that winter was far away, she started collecting kindling and Matt started chopping wood.
Jonny had been dropped off at baseball camp, which luckily, offered milk, eggs, and stuff from the old life that the others couldn't get anymore. Miranda decided to visit her friend Megan. Once she was there, she became really worried. Her friend was extremely skinny, and she even mentioned how eager she was to die and see the Lord. It was all just traumatic for our protagonist. To make things even worse, volcanic eruptions started since the moon was pulling the magma up from the Earth, so the temperatures dropped and the sky got cloudy, plus, all the ash from so many volcanoes would cover the sunlight, and end with crops. Because of this, Miranda was not going to meet Dan at Millers Pond or to go Springfield for a month to spend time with her dad, who, along with his wife Lisa decided to visit them instead. It was a wonderful time, and they brought a lot of food and useful supplies with them. The day before her dad left, Miranda ran across Dan, and she found out that he was leaving to  search for his sister who had appeared in the dead/disappeared list in the news. It was hard for Miranda to believe it, but her life had to go on, even if everyone who she cared about was getting out of her life, and it was almost September, which meant that school was about to start (if there even was a school).

"I wonder if I'll ever decide which is worse, life as we're living or no life at all." (Pfeffer, 119)
I thought that this was a really interesting thought of Miranda (the author, really). It got me thinking for a long time and I couldn't reach an answer to that question. I tried to put myself in Miranda's situation, a world where we would be constantly losing our loved ones,  having to stay inside our homes most of the time, and losing everything that we are used to. Maybe that decision would be easier to make once I was actually going through something like that, because humans usually choose options and paths that their normal self wouldn't when they are in extreme situations. Hopefully I will never know unless I live situations like the one described in this novel, which I hope doesn't happen.

"I wish that the astronauts had just blown up the damn moon when they had the chance." (Pfeffer, 132)
I felt connected to Miranda when she said this. Of course, not in the sense that I would want for astronauts to blow the moon up, but that feeling of wanting to change things from the beginning to prevent a lot of problems and suffering. For example I once had a big fight with a friend and it all started because I forgot to say hi to her one morning. She thought I did it on purpose and so she started ignoring me and we had a big fight. I remember imagining what things would have been like if I had payed more attention. I wondered if nothing of that would have happened. After thinking about it, I realized that the same happened to Miranda, she was imagining alternate scenarios where things couldn't have turned out that bad. This means that she was thoughtful and that she analyzed things in her mind very frequently and I tend to do the same thing. That probably is why I feel so connected to the protagonist.

These last chapters, the novel just got better and I can't wait to see how everything turns out. I am really enjoying this story and like I said earlier, I am identifying myself a lot with the main character. I don't know why, but I have the feeling that school isn't going to work out so well and that Miranda and Jonny are going to have to stay at home. I also think that it is very likely that finally something bad happens to Miranda, like the loss of a loved one or something devastating. It's just that until now, everything has worked out for them, so at least something has got to happen for the plot of the novel to continue. I hope that Miranda, Matt, Jonny and their Mom survive until the end, but I guess I'll just find out as I continue reading. Hope you enjoyed this post! See you next time on Scriptum Interpretations!

They just didn't realize how serious it was...

SO.... I started reading this book called "Life As We Knew It" by Susan Beth Pfeffer.
This is what happened in the first chapters. The author introduces a fifteen year old girl called Miranda who lives with her mother and little brother Jonny. His older brother, Matt is in college and his father is just somewhere else living with his new pregnant wife. Miranda also has her school friends, Sammi and Megan. Originally they where four, but one of them, Becky, got sick and she died. After that traumatic event, Sammi became way more careless of what she did and how she acted and Megan turned to religion but in a really extreme way. So there she was, little Miranda with her unusual friends and her separated family.
One day, it was announced that an asteroid would hit the moon and that it would be visible from Earth. Everyone was really excited and people all over the social media, the news and even school couldn't stop talking about it. When the day came, Miranda and her family went to the streets where other neighbors were waiting too, except for Mrs. Nesbitt who was too old to be outside waiting for so long. The moment was approaching, but when the moon got hit, the excitement vanished. Fear started to invade people as the moon started to grow bigger and bigger as it came closer to the Earth. People were panicking and went inside their houses, turning the TV on to see the news. They saw that New York and all the other coastlines had been completely flooded with gigantic tidal waves and tsunamis. As you may know, the distance that the Earth has with the moon is the reason waves are the way they are. The light went out. Next morning everything seemed like a dream although, the fact that there was still no light, reminded them it was all real. The first thing that Miranda and her family tried to do was to reach their Dad to ask if he and Lisa (his wife) were okay, and thankfully, after many tries, they could talk to each other and make sure that everyone was alive. Miranda and Jonny still went to school that day, trying to convince themselves that everything was at least a little bit normal. Obviously it didn't work. When they got there, half of the students and even teachers were absent and a huge thunderstorm started. Everyone started screaming and crying as they were led to the dark hallways until the storm ended, but then,  Miranda's mom showed up and told her to go with her. When she got in the car, she found out that Jonny and Mrs. Nesbitt where there too, and her mom handed an envelope with a lot of money to each one. They headed to the supermarket and her instruction were clear. They had to take anything that they thought could be useful, canned food, water, drinks, supplies, clothes and cat food for their pet, Horton because the supermarket was charging a hundred dollars for every cart no matter what was inside it. That day, they spent the whole evening unloading the car from everything that they had bought. As days passed, they started cherishing small things like eggs, nuts and spinach, stuff that they couldn't get anymore in the supermarkets that were now empty because of people like Miranda's family.

It was announced that school would end soon because they didn't have enough food for all the students, so exams were cancelled. But, during those last days, they received a peanut butter sandwich each. What worried Miranda the most was that her friend Megan was giving away all her sandwiches to different students, because she said that God was all she needed to survive, but she was starting to become skinny. Miranda is trying to act normal, but it becomes harder and harder as her surroundings change because of the moon. What will happen next?

"And then it hit. Even though we knew it was going to, we were still shocked when the asteroid actually made contact with the moon. With our moon. At that second, I think we all realized that is was Our Moon and if it was attacked, then we were attacked." (Pfeffer, 18)
This really got me thinking and what it said was completely right. Even if it is not inside the Earth, the moon is still ours and people should be more aware of what happens to it. I kept wondering how the people in the book didn't realize this before, so that a least some people could be saved  and more precautions could have been taken before the impact. That is when I realized that this book has some things that are completely unrealistic. With all the technology that we have today and all the smart people who carry out studies, we would have been able to predict the consequences of an asteroid hitting the moon. At least to some people it would have occurred that it would cause problems, but this didn't happen in the book.


"I know it's dumb for me, but I keep thinking that once Matt gets home, everything will be okay. Like he'll push the moon back into place." - Miranda (Pfeffer 48)
I keep wondering why her older brother is so important for Miranda. Was he the one that payed the most attention to her before he left? Anyway what I liked the most was the trust that she has in him, how she feels safe when she is around Matt. If the moon situation were to happen in real life, everyone should have someone that means what Matt means to Miranda. I even feel somewhat jealous because she has an older brother that protects her, and I do not. This quote even makes me predict that once Matt comes home, as Miranda said, everything will come back to normal in their house, even if the problems from outside will keep going.

I am really looking forward to reading the rest of this book. I am really enjoying the concept that it carries and I find it interesting that the topic isn't the usual love story or a recycled plot. It is something different, original and unique.  I also like the fact that the main character is around my age because I am able to relate to her feelings and thoughts, and that helps me have a better understanding of the novel.  I predict that the most probable thing to happen next is that there will be more natural disasters, and that Miranda's family is going to suffer a crisis. It is just a prediction, I really don't know but it is very likely, since the book should have a problem for it to continue the plot. I can't wait to see what happens next. See you soon in my next post