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!