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fell asleep. Then as the house got quieter inside,
the storm got louder outside. We heard rain slashing against the
windows. We heard wind howling around the corners. The frequent
lightning strikes made everything that much worse because thunder
immediately crashed. Lying on the floor, we felt the house tremble
beneath us every single time.
    I began to make up stories starring Faerie Rose and her
faithful unicorn Sparky. It took a while, but Anna finally became
engrossed in them, even throwing out plot curves I could barely
work in. I had honestly decided she'd be up all night when she failed
to beg me for another story. A hopeful glance proved that she'd
finally dozed off. I quickly doused the camp light and settled in,
myself.
    I swear I hadn't been asleep two seconds before the tornado
sirens went off. Anna and I both bolted upright. She shrieked her
terror just as Nate tossed one of our tent walls aside and reached for
her. "Come on. We're going to the basement."
    Anna went to him, burying her face in his neck. I crawled out
and followed as he jogged down the hall to the stairs. Just as we
reached the first floor, Anna screamed, "Sparky! I forgot
Sparky!"
    Nate ignored her. I couldn't. Turning, I ran back upstairs and
snagged the unicorn, which took mere seconds. So I couldn't have
entered the basement more than a moment or two after they did. All
the same, Nate caught me up in his arms, hugging me so tightly that I
gasped with pain.
    He abruptly let me go, but not without yelling. "What the
hell were you thinking?"
    "She needed Sparky." I thrust the unicorn at Anna, who
sobbed and cowered in the corner. She hugged it as hard as Nate had
hugged me.
    Inhaling sharply, he grabbed my wrist and Anna's so he
could pull us both into the bathroom. Nate flipped on the light and
shut the door before turning to me. "Sparky is replaceable. You're
not."
    "Chill out. It's all good." Patting Anna's head, I noted that she
seemed a little calmer even if her big brother didn't.
    "But you scared the shi--"
    I slapped my hand over Nate's mouth. Feeling how he
trembled, I began to get how truly frightened he'd been for me. As
touched as I was surprised, I tried to think of something to say. "I'm
sorry, okay? I was just doing what had to be done. Will you fae -give me?"
    He groaned. "That's terrible. You know that, right?"
    "Worst one yet." I waited for his smile, and finally got a
reluctant one. "All better now?"
    "Getting there." Nate sighed. "This babysitting thing? Kicking
my tail. Totally kicking it."
    "Yeah, well you're great at it, anyway. Isn't he, Anna?"
    Faerie Rose nodded as if she'd understood every single
word. I closed the toilet and sat on the lid, taking her into my lap just
as the lights flickered and went out. In the resulting pitch black, we
both squealed. Then a square of light miraculously appeared--Nate's
cell phone. I hadn't even thought of grabbing mine.
    For a good thirty minutes, Nate tracked the storm front on
his cell while it blasted Barney tunes. He turned up the music really
loud, which pretty much drowned out any storm sounds that had
might have made down to the cellar. We barely heard the all-clear
siren over it, but hear it, we did.
    I wasn't sorry to emerge from the bathroom and head
upstairs. Anna didn't even stop at her own door when we reached
the second floor. Instead, she went straight to Nate's and crawled
into his bed. Nate and I exchanged a glance and then wordlessly
joined her, him on one side and me on the other. And once I closed
my eyes, I didn't wake up until morning.
    For a couple of seconds, I couldn't figure out where I was. As
reality caught up, I registered two things: hair tickling my nose, and a
weight across my middle. I lifted the hair and saw that it was red.
Anna's. I lifted the weight and saw that it was an arm. Nate's. How
the heck had he gotten on my side of the bed?
    "She cuddles."
    I turned my head and saw Nate awake, lying on his side, and
looking me in the eye.
    "I moved because