homes open for the people that seeked refuge at the Bark’s ranch. The rest of the families live in RVs and tents. Most of the families had the luxury of living in a motorhome that they had either brought with them or stumbled upon by the scouters. The goal was to get all of the residents, at Barks Ranch, into a hard covered shelter. There were two of the latest families still waiting for homes. These families lived in tents.
Carla and her family was one of the lucky families who ended up with one of the ranch hand houses. Mostly because Carla’s father, Zeke, was an engineer and he had designed the wall around the ranch. Zeke was an important part of the community. He was extremely smart and came up with several ways to make life easier on the ranch. If it was possible, Zeke could make it happen. Sometimes even if it wasn’t possible, he could still make it happen.
When Carla walked into the front door, her mother, Kate, was on the couch waiting for her. Carla could tell that her mother was not happy about her coming in so late. Carla had been trying to get her mother to take some medicine that she had found for anxiety. Her mother has been refusing to take it, because she did not think that she had a problem. Kate said that if it wasn’t for her crazy daughter, she wouldn’t have any anxiety at all. Carla wasn’t the only one that thought her mother really needed to be medicated. Zeke thought the same thing. It wasn’t Kate’s fault that the world fell apart around her head, and she wasn’t the only one in this crazy new world to suffer with this illness.
“How long have you been inside the gates, young lady. Don’t try and lie to much, because I went and talked to your friend Brian a little over an hour ago. He said that you had not made it in yet. You cannot keep doing this to me. I’m going to have a heart attack one day and you are going to be the one to blame!”, Kate said with a sharp stare into her daughter’s eyes.
Carla knew that this was not going to be an easy conversation. She searched for just a split second in her head. She had to find the right words that would make the lie believable.
After finding the right words, or what she thought were the right words, Carla said, “Mom it’s ok, I have been here for a while. Brian told me that you had just came by to check on me right before I walked in the gates.”
Kate shook her head in disbelief. She was not buying the words coming out of her daughter’s mouth. She knew that Carla would do anything she could from facing her mother’s verbal wraths.
“Then why did you take so long getting back to the house little miss?” ,said Zeke, startling both of the women, as he walked up behind Carla.
Carla jump when she heard her father’s powerful voice. Just the same way that she did when she was a little girl. When she was little and had been getting into something that she shouldn’t have or doing something that was not permitted, her dad’s voice would always stop her, dead in her tracks. Even though she was grown, that same fear would instantly shoot through her body when her dad spoke authoritatively.
Carla was humbled and wanted to change the subject, with a quickness.
“I am sorry about that, guys. I was telling Brian all about what I discovered on my outing. I guess time got away from me. I didn’t mean to worry you, mom. I am truly sorry. Please forgive me.”
Kate refused to speak. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to accept her daughter’s apology just yet. Carla constantly worried her over her bad decisions. Her daughter to suffer in her unforgiveness, at least for a day or two.
When Zeke saw that his wife was not going to speak, he said, “I know that you like what you do for the ranch, baby girl. I just hope that you would be more considerate of your mother’s condition. You know, if she had her way, she would not let you