Chapter 1

We have an old rule in our town.

Any family with twins must choose one to make an example out of. That is the way to discipline one’s children and ensure they grow up well.

Born four minutes before my brother, I became that example.

When my brother snuck out to swim in the river, Mom didn’t scold him. Instead, she pressed my head into the river again and again.

She finally stopped when my brother cried, yelling that he would never go to the river again.

When my brother forgot to switch on the rice cooker, Mom came back home from work only to realize that the rice was still uncooked in the pot.

She then served me two bowls of uncooked rice. “Finish them and don’t leave a single grain behind.”

Chewing on the hard rice filled my mouth with blood. She stared at my brother throughout the entire ordeal. When he finally cried, she took the bowls away.

I was made an example for 16 years.

Until that day when our town received a red alert for an incoming hurricane. Everyone had to evacuate overnight.

My brother only came back at dawn after playing a fool with his friends the entire night. He was completely drenched when he came back, smiling gleefully.

Mom stuffed him into an evacuation vehicle before turning to look at me, saying very calmly, “Stay here. After the hurricane, your brother will learn his lesson and come home earlier.”

Everyone in town left.

Roof tiles started flying in the wind.

Mom, you like to make an example out of me.

This time, I'll die because of that.

Are you happy now?

Chapter 1

“Where did Charlie run to again? There’s a warning for a super hurricane tonight!”

Mom was pacing the floor in the house.

The sky had turned ominously dark outside, the wind blowing up the leaves into a whirlwind.

The announcement on the radio was repeating itself for the third time.

“Red alert, the entire town is to evacuate right away. Gather at the entrance of the town in 20 minutes where an emergency vehicle will be waiting!”

Mom turned to glare at me with fury in her eyes. “You! Hurry up and go find your younger brother!”

I glanced at the window.

The rain wasn’t falling; it was pouring.

The wind was blowing so hard at the trees, they were bending over and almost touching the ground. Some of the chicken cages by the walls of the courtyard had toppled. The chickens had escaped, running under the eaves for shelter.

“Mom, Charlie said he went to his classmate’s house. He’s outside right now…”

“I don’t care whose house he went to! Go find him right away and don’t come back until you do!” Mom yelled, cutting me off.

I subconsciously turned to look at Dad seated at a corner. His lips moved as he said, “It is very windy outside. Why don’t we wait…”

“Shut up!” Mom went on without turning her head. “Can you bear the responsibility if anything were to happen to Charlie?”

Dad’s voice faded away.

I put on my sandals, which were coming apart at the soles, and opened the door. The wind almost knocked me off my feet.

I walked cautiously, my back flat against the wall. The rainwater level had reached my heels. I was about to head west when I saw Charlie’s classmate running toward our house.

“Oh, the wind is so refreshing!”

A gleeful chuckle came from behind him. I turned and saw my brother running excitedly out of an alley, his wet hair sticking to his cheek.

Mom had rushed to the main door.

She wrapped Charlie in a tight hug and surveyed him from head to toe, her trembling voice betraying the heartache and lingering fear she was feeling.

“You’re finally back! Did you get caught in the storm? Do you feel cold? Hurry in and get changed. Don’t catch a cold.”

I stood in the middle of the storm, my entire body drenched and shivering in the cold wind.

Mom didn’t spare me a glance.

Just then, the emergency vehicle arrived.

Its headlights pierced through the darkness as it announced through its speakers, “All townsfolk, please get in! Evacuate the town right away!”

Mom wrapped Charlie up in a thick blanket and stuffed him in the back seat of the vehicle.

I followed behind him, but before I even managed to step into the vehicle, Mom asked, “What are you doing?”

She stopped me from entering the vehicle.

“You know the rules. Your brother went out in the middle of the night and almost couldn’t make it home because he was having too much fun. Stay here so he knows what fear feels like.”

I stood stunned.

Charlie leaned anxiously into the window and yelled, “No, Mom! Charles will be in danger! The hurricane outside…”

“Do you finally feel scared now? Why didn’t you consider this when you went out playing?” Mom cut him off fiercely. “Charles is being punished because of you!”

Charlie shrunk back at Mom’s rebuke, tears falling down his cheeks.

The other townspeople couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Mrs. Sheppard, we’re talking about a super hurricane here! People can die! Your house stands no chance against it!”

Mom remained stubbornly unmoved. She turned to walk back into the house. When she came back out, she had our pet dog Mustard in her arms.

She settled Mustard in the last empty seat in the emergency vehicle and said self-righteously, “Mustard is an animal and doesn’t know how to hide from danger. I’ve got to bring it along.”

She looked up at me.

“Charles, you’re a human. You know where to hide.”

Dad, who was seated in the first row, opened his mouth to speak.

Mom cast him a sideway glance, which made him turn to look out the window instead.

The door to the emergency vehicle was shut. Through the rain-pelted car windows, I saw Charlie plastering his face against the window, pounding it hard as he yelled something.

But the wind and rain were too strong, I couldn't make out what he was yelling.

Mom forcefully turned his face away so he couldn’t see me.

The engine sputtered to life as the vehicle drove away, the red rear lights vanishing into the distance.

I eventually lost sight of the vehicle completely.

The streetlights in Lovelle Town slowly went out one by one.

I was the only one left in the storm.

Suddenly, someone yelled in the darkness.

“There’s space here!”

Chapter 2

The voice came from the very last car leaving the town.

I squinted hard. It was hard to see in the chaos of wind and rain outside.

A hunched figure stood behind an open car door as she waved her hands at me.

It was Grandma Zaborski who lived next door. She had no children, and her husband died a long time ago. She had been living in this town for practically her entire lifetime.

She had treated me like her very own grandson for as long as I could remember.

When Mom punished me by denying me food, Grandma Zaborski would secretly pass me a bowl of piping hot porridge through the back door when Mom wasn’t noticing.

She would give my brother and I some gift money over the new year, but stuff an extra ten in mine without fail each time.

She made some space in her own seat and shouted to me, “My child, come in, quick! There’s some space here!”

I ran into her car without a second thought.

Grandma Zaborski’s arm was stretched out as she reached for me.

Right before my fingertips touched hers, someone yelled, “Zaborski is trying to abduct my son!”

Mom’s voice came from the vehicle right in front.

She had wound down the window and poked her torso out. Pointing at Grandma Zaborski, she continued yelling at the top of her voice, “She’s abducting my son! Don’t let him get in her car!”

My hands froze in midair.

Grandma Zaborski stood stunned for three seconds.

She had lived on this earth, in this village, for 72 years. No one had ever accused her of something like this.

“Mrs…Mrs. Sheppard, what did you just say?”

Grandma Zaborski’s voice was shaking.

“I’m Shelly Zaborski! How many years have I lived next door to your house? Your husband’s father saw me as an older sister when he was still alive, for goodness’ sake!”

“I don’t care who you are! A lonely old widow like you, caring so much for a little boy. Who knows what tricks you have up your sleeves?”

Everyone in the car exploded.

“Mrs. Sheppard, are you mad? Mrs. Zaborski literally saw your husband grow up!”

“Exactly! The cheek of you to accuse her of that!”

A middle-aged man stood up and yelled at her, “We’re faced with a super hurricane that can blow your house away in an instant! Are you trying to get your son killed?”

Grandma Zaborski’s face turned purple with anger. She pointed a finger shakily at Mom and said, “I…I treat Charles well because he’s such a pitiful boy! Everyone in this town knows how you treat him!”

“He’s my son! It’s none of your business how I discipline him!” Mom went on without batting an eyelid. “My son can stay right at home where it’s safest!”

I stood in the rain, staring at Mom’s vehicle.

Dad was seated in the front passenger seat. I saw his hand rest on the door handle.

The next second, Mom’s head turned slowly as she glared at him.

“Open that door if you dare and I’ll bring both sons back to my mother’s home tomorrow. You can forget about ever seeing both of them for the rest of your life!”

Dad slowly released his hold over the handle, finger by finger.

He turned the other way, not wanting to look at me anymore.

I stood right there, raindrops tricking down my head into my eyes. I didn’t know if it was tears or raindrops falling down my cheeks.

The head of the rescue team jumped out of the first vehicle and looked up at the darkening sky, his face looking solemn.

“Final call! The core of the hurricane will be crossing the border in an hour! If we don’t leave now, all of us will be stuck here!”

Two other townspeople grabbed Grandma Zaborski and dragged her back into the vehicle.

She leaned out the open door and yelled, “My child, run! Run to the church at the very end of the town! It’s made of stone and should withstand the hurricane! Do you hear me? Run to the church…”

Someone shut the door forcefully, and the engine revved.

I stood where I was, watching the rear lights of the vehicles disappear one by one.

The final vehicle vanished into the distance.

The entire Lovelle Town was dark.

I turned and ran to the end of the town.

The church Grandma Zaborski was talking about was at the innermost corner of the town. I had to run through the entire length of an old street to get there.

The wind was so strong that I could hardly move. With each step I took, I had to cling on tightly to the wall.

The tiles on the roofs above me were blown loose by the wind, and they crashed on the ground into millions of pieces.

The wind even uprooted the huge tree right in the middle of the old street. The entire tree landed across the street, effectively blocking the way ahead.

I had no choice but to retreat home.

Back at home, the roof was already half damaged by the wind.

Rain poured in, flooding the floorboards.

I hid in a corner below the stove.

The stove was constructed out of stone walls with a cement board on top. It was barely enough to cover me from head to toe.

Rainwater seeped in through the gaps in the walls.

It covered my heels, then my calves.

I hugged my knees and curled up into a ball, my body shivering and my teeth chattering.

Just then, my phone rang in my pocket.

Chapter 3

It was Charlie calling.

“Charles! Are you alright? Where are you?” Charlie asked as he choked back tears.

“I’m fine.” I gritted my teeth hard to stop my voice from shaking. “Have you all reached?”

“Yes, we have! A hotel in the city where there’s hot water, blankets and even hot tea the staff prepared for us…”

He started sobbing as he spoke.

“Charles, what are you going to do all alone at home?”

A loud sound rumbled above me.

The other half of the roof was blown off by the wind. Rain poured in, drenching me even further.

I shrieked and almost dropped my phone.

“Charles! What happened? What was that sound?”

“No… Nothing. Some roof tiles just got blown away…”

The signal started becoming spotty.

Charlie’s voice started breaking up.

“Charles…do…hear…”

The signal returned, but was weak.

I heard Charlie yelling and crying on the other end of the call. “Mom! The house is collapsing! Think of something, quick!”

I heard Mom’s voice through the phone. “He can still answer the call, which means he’s perfectly fine. Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.”

The water level has crossed my knees.

“Mom! I’m not blowing things up! Didn’t you hear that? Charles is…”

“What could happen to Charles at home? The stove that your dad built last year is rock solid! How will he survive society next time if he can’t even take a small storm like this?”

Dad spoke up, soft and muffled, “Why don’t we send someone back to check on him…”

“What do you know?” Mom’s words shut him up. She then said to Charlie, “That’s quite enough. Tell your brother to hang up and not rack up such a high phone bill.”

I squatted in the rainwater, saying nothing. The water level had risen to my thighs.

The signal was still weak at only one bar and very intermittent.

Charlie was still crying as he said brokenly, “Charles… Find a way to climb to higher grounds…”

The moment he said so, an unfamiliar voice sounded through the phone. It was a man who sounded very anxious. “Little boy, who are you calling?”

Charlie said through sobs, “My big brother… He’s still at home and didn’t make it out…”

“What?!”

His voice went a pitch higher.

“There are still people left in that town?! Where are the adults in your family? A flash flood warning has already been issued for that area. Staying there can be fatal!”

Chaos broke loose on the other side of the phone.

I heard many people talking all at once.

Someone was shouting, “Contact the emergency team at once!” while another was asking, “Exactly how many people are still stuck in that town?”

That emergency team member’s voice overpowered everyone else’s and I heard him ask, “Where is the child’s parent? Please come here! Why did you leave your child behind?”

Mom’s voice sounded through the phone. “He won’t die. He’s tough as nails.”

At the next second, the call ended.

That was when the signal completely died.

My screen went out as well.

“He won’t die. He’s tough as nails.”

Mom’s words rang in my head, over and over again.

The water level rose to my waist and then my chest. The space under the stove was getting smaller and smaller.

I hugged the brick column propping up the stone stove, my fingernails digging into the brick joint.

Cold… So cold.

The water was icy cold, the wind was cold and I felt a bone-piercing chill from head to toe.

I recalled how Charlie caught a cold when he was so busy playing he forgot to wear his jacket.

That night, Mom forced me to stand in the courtyard on a winter night in just a shirt. I had a 40 degree fever which frightened Charlie so bad he burst out crying.

That was when Mom finally allowed me back into the house.

“See that? Your brother caught a chill because of you. From now on, you’ll make sure to put on more clothes before heading out,” she said.

Charlie hugged my leg as he sobbed hard.

My fever made me so delirious I could hardly stand straight, but I managed to pat him gently on his head to reassure him I was fine.

The cold I was feeling this time was a hundred times worse than that winter night.

The water level had now risen to my neck.

I could no longer grasp the brick column. I was all out of strength in my fingers.

Mom said I was tough as nails.

But Mom, I’m not that tough.

Gradually, I couldn’t hear anything anymore. I was losing consciousness.

Right before I blacked out completely, someone yelled from a distance away.

“He’s here!”

Chapter 4

A volunteer pulled me onto a rescue boat and did three rounds of CPR on me before I spat out water and my heart started beating weakly again.

When I was sent to the hospital where a doctor from the emergency room attended to me, the look on his face changed at the sight of my condition.

“Drowning and prolonged suffocation. His lungs are filled with water! Prepare for intubation and inform the operating room!”

He then yelled at the door, “Where is his family? Get his next-of-kin here to sign their name!”

Footsteps sounded down the corridor.

Mom walked over unhurriedly. “Who asked you to rescue him?”

Everyone looked at her, aghast.

“He’s not dead yet. I bet he’s just pretending. He’s been great at that ever since he was young.”

One of the nurses was first to respond. She barked, “What are you talking about? A minute later and he’d be dead! Hurry up and sign your consent for the operation right now! Any further delay, and he’ll be dead!”

Mom ignored her. She turned around and looked at Charlie, who was standing around the corner.

Charlie’s face was ashen. His lips were shivering so badly he couldn’t speak a word.

Mom stared at him and said flatly, “Do you admit your mistake now?”

Charlie nodded profusely as tears fell down his cheeks onto the floor.

“No use just nodding.”

Mom pulled out a pen from her bag and grabbed a piece of paper from the nurse’s counter and slapped it before Charlie.

“Write a 300-word reflection. Once you’re done and have truly learned from your mistake, I’ll sign my consent.”

The nurse yelled, “Are you crazy? Your child is right inside, waiting to undergo surgery! Every minute’s delay…”

“I’m disciplining my child. Who are you to interfere?”

Mom didn’t even spare the nurse a glance. She pulled a chair over and sat down on it. Pulling out her phone, she started watching videos.

The doctor in the emergency room rushed out again. “Next-of-kin! Have they signed their consent?”

No one responded to him.

Charlie was sprawled over the bench along the corridor, his hands shaking so hard he could barely write.

After writing each word, he would pause and tears would splatter on the page, smudging the few words he wrote. He stopped and looked up at Mom.

“Mom… Please, I’m begging you… Sign it, won’t you? This isn’t Charles’ fault…”

“It’s not his fault,” Mom said, her eyes still fixed on the phone and not bothering to look up, “but I’m making an example of him. Punishing him will make you remember your mistakes. Rather than arguing with me, you should be writing instead.”

Charlie bit his lip, lowered his head, and continued writing. His hands shook so badly, his words turned out all crooked. Even before he was done writing a sentence, his words were smudged by his falling tears.

Dad looked up at the light above the emergency room doors and then at Mom, who was still staring at her phone. “Charlotte, that’s quite enough. Sign it, the boy is…”

“You always say that.” Mom finally looked up. “He’s the one you should be scolding for never learning his lesson. Don’t interfere.”

Dad got cut off once more.

Just then, Charlie’s pen finally stopped moving. He slid down the bench, kneeling on the floor as he raised that piece of paper drenched with his tears.

“Mom! I’m done! Please save Charles, I’m begging you!”

Mom took the paper from him and read it carefully from start to finish.

She then said, “Your handwriting is pretty sloppy. You’ll be marked down in exams. I’ll let you pass this time.”

She folded the piece of paper and put it in her bag before standing up slowly.

She looked in the direction of the emergency room and lamented, “It’s been tough on your brother this time, but his suffering is worth it if you learned your lesson. After this typhoon blows over, I’ll buy him two pairs of sports shoes to make it up to him. It’s for his own good, really.”

She turned to the nurse and picked up a pen.

“Fetch me the consent form…”

Just then, the light above the operating theatre doors went out.

The doctor came out and pulled his mask off.

“No need for that anymore. The patient did not respond to resuscitation and died.”