In the months leading up to this, Ayanna had read about the adventures of Sir Ernest Shackleton. A man who could not stop getting into the worst possible scrapes, who had cheated death so many times. He had survived ice floes, treks across the Atlantic in small vessels, madness, insubordination, the South Pole, multiple heart attacks. What had all that reading been about if not to take the lessons learned into this moment? You have to keep your crew loyal, Ayanna thought, and be willing to adapt to try to save your life. She could tell she was being too rigid about how things should be, rather than looking at the situation as it was. The minute you started making your decisions heavy, that was when you were truly lost.

“You’re right,” Ayanna finally said, “we should try.”

They walked hand in hand, helping each other to keep balance as they descended down the slope. Close to the door, Ayanna thought it looked even more like lightning bugs had turned into a material that could be woven but was somehow shining. It was thin and only one person could go through it at a time.

“It doesn’t even look like how we got here,” Ayanna said.

“I’ll go first,” Olivia said.

Ayanna was so relieved, she felt ashamed. Caught in her feelings, she didn’t say anything, not even thank you. Instead, she put her hand on the back of her sister’s dress, squeezed the fabric between her hands as if she were a small, shy child clinging to her mother.

They stepped in unison, walking toward the door. Olivia opened it, paused, and Ayanna bumped into her.

“Sorry, it’s warm.”

Ayanna peered over her sister’s shoulder. A normal neighborhood, ranch houses, trees, lamps. It wasn’t where they had left, but it looked like a place where their cell phones would work again, where there would be people who would help them figure out how to get home. This was just one wild afternoon, Ayanna thought, we even have enough time to get pizza and rest.

“You know what, let’s switch spots,” Ayanna said. “I’ll go first. You hold on to me.”

Olivia didn’t argue. She stepped away, then wrapped her arms around Ayanna’s waist like they were hopping on a moped together. Olivia rested her head against Ayanna’s back for a brief second, said something soft, but Ayanna couldn’t hear the words, only the sound.

Here was where Ayanna went to her entire life, often at three in the morning. So many should haves: I should have said no, I should have said let’s go back, I should have argued, I should have held on to her hands as they wrapped around my waist. I shouldn’t have offered to go first when it looked safer. I should have let her go first. I should have been more serious.