Leia’s voice woke her. It was still dark outside and Nori couldn’t tell how long she’d been asleep. The news of the lava flowing toward Hilo had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. It kept her up for a good part of the night until she finally fell asleep, only to be jarred awake by the nightmare in the early hours of the morning. Samuel slept soundly beside her. Until he retired, Samuel would be getting up early, going down to the wharf, and readying the fishing boat to head out like clockwork every morning, six days a week. In shadow, his boots stood by a chair draped with his clothing waiting to be filled with the warmth of his body. It was something he still did now out of habit, just like she occasionally paused to listen for any sounds of the boys, even with them long gone.

Nori lay still and couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that stayed with her even as the nightmare receded into the darkness. It felt so real, as if it were happening all over again. They were young, so full of life, she and Mariko were thirteen and Leia just fifteen, already tall for her age. They’d been down at the beach all day, Mariko rushing them to leave because she promised her mother she’d be home before sunset. They packed up and began walking home. After parting with Mariko, who took another road back to the green bungalow, she and Leia scurried toward their secret path, a shortcut down a cool and quiet strip lined with palm and banyan trees that cut through to the main road. Everything happened so quickly after that. She looked up and a man had suddenly stepped out from behind some trees. He was smiling when he saw them, a toothless grin, dressed in dirty clothing, his hair long to his shoulders. He stopped to ask them for directions, a small scar over his left eye rising and falling as he spoke. Nori knew the minute she saw him that something wasn’t right, the way he looked at them as if he wanted to swallow them whole.

“What you girls doing out here alone?” he asked. It was a low, foreign voice. There’d been so many outsiders coming to Hilo to work on the sugar and pineapple plantations.

“We aren’t alone,” Leia quickly answered. “Our parents are just over by the road waiting for us.”

Nori was tongue-tied, not knowing how Leia could speak up so quickly. She had always been the quietest of them all.

He looked toward the empty trail and laughed. “I don’t think so.”

Nori’s hand found her way to Leia’s. She held on tightly. They took a step forward but he blocked their path.

“Get out of our way,” Leia hissed. Her voice rose in anger and confidence.