1. The last pack of Nilla Wafers is in a sealed box in the ceiling of the half-bath.
If you found this, you can find it.
2. You’re not forgiven.
I just got sick of Nilla Wafers.
3. As you can probably guess from that, we’ve pretty much cleared out what was left in the stores. Still, depending upon how long Ramon and Nick stick around, you should be able to find enough for at least a couple of years. Maybe more.
Also, we never did go into the houses. Too grim. But there’s probably stuff there.
If you can handle the bones.
4. My memory tells me you can handle the bones.
5. Not that I trust my memory anymore.
6. I wrapped up the bedding and towels in plastic, to stave off mold. I’m afraid I burned the blue velvet one—your favorite—well before the end—but the purple comforter is in the guest room closet.
7. Yeah, the comforter we used that last time.
Not that I knew it was our last time.
8. I don’t trust my memory. But I do remember that.
9. The solar panels can handle charging the fridge or charging the trike, not both. Or the oven and the fridge, not both. Especially when it’s hot, which is nearly always. If you want to try to jury rig up some of the other solar panels that are still around, be my guest, with the caveat that as far as we could tell, they’re either too heavy to move, too small to charge anything, or still configured to those network systems. Where the main systems are underwater, or broken by hurricanes.
10. I checked social media every day after the worst hit. I saw you post.
Right up until two days before the internet here went down, mostly permanently.
11. Truth to tell I’ve mostly given up on the oven. If something needs to be cooked, I have the fire pit in the back. It’ll probably be overgrown again once you get here—if you get here—but it shouldn’t take too long to clear.
12. I kept assuming you would reach out, tell me how you were.
13. Though, fair warning, we’re mostly out of lighter fluid. And lighters.
14. I even thought you might come down here. You had an electric car, and the roads were still open, if nothing else.
The sea didn’t arrive until later.
15. Water. Stick to the rain barrels. I’ve also left a couple of those lifestraw things I scrounged up just before the sporting goods place went underwater. Probably as good as boiling; definitely better tasting. As far as swimming/washing goes—again. Rain barrels.
The changes never touched the gators, and they seem to like their new islands in the ocean.
16. And then, of course, I gave up.
17. Clothes shouldn’t be too much of a problem – no, we didn’t have many clothing stores here, but twenty-three or so survivors can’t go through that much clothing, especially when twenty of them take off after a few years.
18. But I still thought—I still think—you’ll come.
If only to find out what happened to me and the cats.
19. Or to go to the theme parks. They ended up only half submerged, and though everything not submerged is terribly overgrown, it’s still a wonder to explore. I row there from time to time, following the roads beneath the water, not quite covered by seagrass. Yet.
I’ve even stayed at the castle on a couple of nights, looking up at the Milky Way.
Which we can see now. The starry lining of all this, I guess.
20. I don’t know why I’m saying any of this.
This was just supposed to be a simple list.
21. Right. List. Bicycle parts – both of the downtown stores still have plenty in stock. Mild miracle, considering how much Ramon and Nick and I use them, and that of course the roads haven’t been repaved since—Yeah.
On the other hand, turns out that roads last much better than expected when you aren’t driving cars on them.
And we can’t bike all that far without running into water.
But anyway, you’ll find plenty of tires, tubes, frames—whatever. I’m leaving the trike, too—it can’t even fit on the canoe, much less the kayak.
22. I did think about leaving right after the seas arrived. That’s when most of the people who survived left—scared of running out of food, scared of gators, scared of the shadows that kept appearing at windows.
But I was so tired.
And you never contacted me.
23. Medications—yeah, those are pretty much gone, even from that small compounding pharmacy right around the corner..
24. When the ocean rolled in, it was almost a relief.
25. Which is why I stayed. Yeah, the stores are almost empty, yeah, they weren’t kidding when they said it would take at least a century for the waters of that brown lake to be clear again. But the fish haven’t killed me yet; the pineapples and fruit trees and vines are growing wildly, and it’s quiet, except when Ramon and Nick come by. Blessedly quiet.
And creepy as it is, I find something magical in rowing over the drowned homes.
And ducking beneath the live oaks.
26. That, and thinking that at some point, you would come.
Still thinking that.
Thus this list.
27. And then, the shortwave chatter last night.
28. Yes, we have a couple of ham radios around. Yes, we can use them. See the solar panels and chargers mentioned above.
29. No, I haven’t forgotten anything.
Especially the sound of your voice.
27. But if I’m wrong, and you’re not Alicia—
Try to make those Nilla wafers last.