I turn a curb, introducing me to my house. The ground was still shaking, causing shingles to fall off houses, including ours. I open the door, looking around to see if anyone was home.

I walk into the kitchen and see my sister, Amelia, grabbing food and signalling towards the basement. She was wearing a pink shirt with the words "Slay My Queens" on it.

Her hair was down, which was different than usual, as it's usually in a ponytail. None of this matters though, we have to go to the basement.

We go to the laundry room where the door to the basement is located. I lift up the door to reveal a ladder, fidgiting because of the earthquake.

Amelia goes first, throwing all the food in the basement first. I follow after she completely goes in.

We settle down, opening the food, to which, the earthquake stopped.

"How long was that one?" Amelia asks Mom.

She looks at her phone, biting on a pizza slice Amelia gave her.

She flips her phone towards us.

1 Minute 46 Seconds

"Damn," Amelia replies back. "That was longer than usual."

In case you weren't aware, I'm the only one in my family who is deaf. When my parents found out, they immediately started ASL classes, and when my sister was 3, they enrolled her in lessons.

It's not really such a major problem, you can still tell how a person is feeling by their looks alone, so everything is good.

Just as I'm about to get on the ladder, Mother grabs me by my arm, scaring me a little.

With exaggerated movements, she says, "WHAT WERE YOU DOING? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE 15 MINUTES AGO?"

To tell the difference between speech and dialogue, All caps is ASL.

"I WENT TO GO GET SOMETHING TO EAT." I respond back calmly.

She ignores what I said and starts looking at the sides of my head.

"WHERE IS YOUR HEARING AID?"

I feel around my left ear, which is where the hearing aid was, only to find out it's gone.

"MUST'VE FALLEN DURING MY  WAY BACK." I say, trying to climb the ladder to lay in my bed.

I finally get out of the basement, to which I am nagged more by Mom.

"YOU EXPECT US TO BUY ANOTHER FOR YOU THEN? THOSE THINGS AREN'T SIR."

Getting frustrated, I say, "I DON'T WANT ANOTHER ONE. THEY DON'T EVEN WORK."

She gives a pity face, asking if I even wanted one in the first place, to which I say something along the lines of, "IT WAS A BETTER IDEA IN MY HEAD."

I go to my room and lay down on my bed, grabbing my phone and scrolling through Social Media.

I see a news article stating how the global temperature average will drop five degrees Fahrenheit in a year. I call it bullshit, but summers are getting less hotter than usual.

I keep scrolling through gossip articles, looking for something decent to read. I was bored and wanted something to talk about later, probably over dinner.

I scroll through a couple of more articles till finally, one catches my eye.

NASA Issues A Public Warning Stating to Stay Indoors Starting NEXT Week

I don't think much of the article, especially since it wasn't from a reliable source, so I scroll pass it, getting a text soon after saying "Dinner is ready".

I walk into the dining room, greeted by a plate of spaghetti, and the TV on the news station. I sit down, waiting for everyone else to sit and pray, but they seem to be distracted by the screen.

Both watch with shocked faces, ignoring my waves. I look at the screen, wondering what they are so intrigued by.

Thank you for the weather, Kathy. Just recently NASA has issued a public warning saying that starting next week, they advise people to stay indoors for the rest of December. While they haven't released anymore info on the matter, they do say that it is to be taken as serious as hurricane warnings. We will continue this story as it develops.

It cuts to commercial.