Phuket. He was there, right where my parents and brother were.

“How would you describe things, Caleb?”

A few more seconds of delay. “It is a horrendous scene,” he said. “Stores, homes, and hotels have been badly damaged or even completely destroyed. It is a scene of total and utter devastation.”

In the background they were re-running the footage of the waves crashing up over the break wall of our resort. I crawled forward, trying to see things more closely, some-how thinking that maybe I could see my family, but hoping I wouldn’t, as the wave overwhelmed people running up the beach and then washed over the patio and pool and blasted into the lobby.

“Unofficial death counts for Thailand suggest upwards of four thousand fatalities, with another two thousand still missing, over ten thousand injured and requiring medical attention, and upwards of fifty thousand people left homeless.”

Thailand was a big country with millions of people. Those deaths had to be all along the coast.

“Phuket has been one of the most severely hit,” he said, and my heart sank.

“Thank you, Caleb, for your report,” the announcer said. “And we will expect updates from you as more news becomes known.”

“Thank you, Peter,” the unseen voice replied.

I didn’t want any more news. I had to fight the urge to turn the TV off. I just wanted to go up to my room, yank down the blinds, turn off the lights, and pull the covers over my head. Just stay under the covers and wait for my parents to come home. I couldn’t do that. I had to hear everything.

“In the wake of the disaster is an even greater threat as diseases, some as simple as diarrhea, threaten to kill the weakened survivors who have little or no medical care and lack many of the basic necessities, including food and clean water. A massive international effort is already underway to provide aid for the afflicted areas.”

The background showed gigantic bags of grain on a skid being loaded by forklift onto an airplane. Medical supplies were being gathered up by what looked like a couple of doctors or nurses.

“Doctors, nurses, and emergency personnel are being transported to the afflicted areas. Portable hospitals and water-purification systems are being flown in. There is a desperate need for help. Listed below are the numbers where donations can be made,” the announcer said. “Please, reach down deep and offer your help.”

That was it. I knew what I had to do. I ran upstairs to my parents’ room and into their closet. There on the shelf were my father’s old golf shoes. I reached inside and pulled out his bank book, an extra credit card, and a thick wad of cash. I didn’t even need to count to know that it was two thousand dollars. It was for an emergency. If this wasn’t an emergency, I didn’t know what was. I stuffed all of it into my pocket. I had to make a phone call.