The crisp, weightless breeze made its way through the jungle of red curls that flowed off the top of her head, just as smooth and random as the ocean waves she loved. She looked to the morning sky glittered with brilliant stars shining through the darkness in which they hung, dawn had not quite approached. Every morning she surfed with the moon still up high because of the waves it gave her. Surfing always made her feel like nothing in the world mattered; nothing except catching the perfect wave. She grabbed her board and headed to the beach that was only a short walk from her house in Blue Lake City, California. The sand squished between her toes and the crash of the waves against the shore called her name. Her fathers’ words of caution kept going through her mind even though she didn’t fear the ocean but loved it dearly. “Don’t stray too far from the shore, Kimberly. If something were to happen so early with no one out there…” he could never finish the sentence. He didn’t have to because he made himself clear enough.
Kim’s eyes fluttered open from her deep sleep after what felt like a few minutes but in reality was ten hours. She sat up in the cot that was just one of the hundreds placed around the hospital in make shift tents so the evacuees of the city had a place to lie at night since their homes had been washed away like the sands of the beach. Her cheeks were flustered due to the humidity from the ocean and sun, even living near the beach couldn’t prepare you for this weather.

“Kimberly Hawkins?” called out a nurse. She was young, probably fresh out of nursing school, but knew more than Kim could imagine. “She may even know as much as my father.” Kim once thought.
“Yes?” answered Kim
“Your father is out of surgery now, you may see him.”
Kim’s father, Charlie Hawkins, worked full time at Blue Lake City Hospital. He was one of their best surgeons and now he was the one lying on the operating table. He was injured during the disaster as he was tossed through the waters of the hurricane that struck Blue Lake City, California and had been slammed into a tree breaking several ribs, which caused internal bleeding. As she walked down the halls crowded with strangers awaiting news of their loved ones or just plain hoping to find their loved ones she felt as if she was in a daze.

The tardy bell had just rang and all of sudden everyone got dead silent, even the birds quit chirping. All I could hear was a distant rumbling almost like thunder then all the birds flew off. We all turned to see what had scared them and there it was; the ocean returning to claim the land that once belonged to it. I realized I was holding my breath and when I let it go, only one word came out, “Juni!”

“Here you are Ms. Hawkins.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Thanks.” The nurse snapped Kim out of her reverie and walked off to help some more helpless people. The hospital was completely different from the one her father worked at since they had been rescued and evacuated to a neighboring city. She gently pushed the door open and peeked in the room. Her father was no longer wearing the raged clothes that he had been brought here in as she was. All their belongings, everything she ever loved now belonged to the ocean; the ocean that she once loved. Her dad looked peaceful lying on the hospital bed, ribs bandaged and black splotches covering his body. She walked passed a mirror and as she glanced at her reflection, she stopped dead. Kim was shocked at the toll the tidal surge from the hurricane had taken on her body. Bags hung under eyes, her clothes were shredded, and her face a mixture of blue and yellow bruises and small cuts covered her like a blanket.

“Kimberly?”
She didn’t realize how long she had been standing in front of the mirror trying to find the girl she once knew. The past couple of days had changed her; who wouldn’t change?

“Uh, hey dad,” said Kim with a small smile, “How are you feeling?”

“Useless. I should be out there looking for your sister with you.”

“Dad, don’t do this to yourself...”

“I’m your father. I was supposed to protect you and your sister and now...” he cut himself off as a he choked back his tears; a few escaped and made their paths down his beaten, worried face.

“Dad, I’m sure she’s being taken care of. She has moms’ strong independence, she won’t stop at anything until she gets where she’s going and we’re going to do the same. I’m not going to stop looking for her, ever.”
Kim kissed her dad on the forehead, told him to get some rest, and continued to look for Juni. The past couple of days had been the same; wake up, go through the entire hospital calling out her name, searching the tents outside, and awaiting the arrival of new people from all over the California coast and all turning up nothing. Lately, the only new arrivals she sees are volunteers coming from all around the nation bringing food, water, clothes and other supplies. They walked around stepping over wreckage as if it was nothing. Every family’s life was just taken from their home and thrown into the water and they stepped over it as if it was nothing.
They have no idea what it’s like having everything you ever loved and someone you loved ripped away from you, knowing there was nothing you could do about it. But there is something I can do. Keep looking and holding on to hope. The hope that their family will once again be whole.
Kim wadded through the water looking into the distance. Buildings were barely noticeable, trees and phone polls had been uprooted. She picked up a photo and looked at the happy family posing for the picture. They all had big smiles and wore obnoxious green and red sweaters. It looked like a Christmas card because it read:
Happy Holidays from the Griffin Family
They smiled away in the photo without a care in the world because their whole world was there in that picture; mom, dad, brothers and sister.
It felt as if I was floating in space and my entire body was weightless. Then it felt like I was thrown into a blender being thrown around like a rag doll. My lungs were on fire like the devil himself wrapped his hands around them and unleashed the fires of hell into them. I tried to breath but I only got water. I groped around looking for an exit but I couldn’t see anything. The waves kept me from coming up to the surface. Every time I got close, the abyss of the ocean would pull me in deeper; the ocean I loved. I was losing the fight but then I saw the light. I saw Juni’s bright smile and blue eyes looking down on me. Then I saw my mother, her hair flowing down to her shoulders just like her smile and mine warmed me no matter how cold I felt. I never thought I’d see her again not since she was taken from us. I swam to her, longing to be in her arms and just hold her. I kicked and pushed, kicked, and kicked some more then I broke the surface. The water brought in from the hurricane churned and splashed around me, the current carrying me wherever it wished to go. “Juni! Juni where are you?” I could barely get a sentence out without getting a lung full of water in exchange. Water; there was nothing but water all around her.
“Are you ok?”
Kimberly gasped dropped the photo back into the water as the stranger startled her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t noticed the tears trailing down her face and mixing with the brackish water surrounding her legs.

“Uh no, I mean yes, um I don’t…” tried Kim as she wiped the tears from her face.

“It’s okay to be scared,” soothed the stranger, cutting her off.
He wore a green shirt that read, “You’re not alone” the same shirt all the other volunteers were wearing except he was a little older maybe around his late thirties.

“I’m looking for my little sister, can you help me?” Kim said in a low voice, fighting to keep the tears from coming. The man pulled out a cell phone and said, “I’m the director of one of the volunteer groups here, I have contacts in surrounding cities that are taking in survivors. I can call and see if your sister was rescued and taken nearby if you gave me her name?”
She couldn’t help herself. The tears came and wouldn’t stop coming she was totally speechless.

“Juniper,” whimpered Kim, “Juniper Hawkins. She’s fourteen and goes by Juni.”

Call after call Kim’s hopes were crushed as each one came up empty. He was on the last call and she held onto the last bit of hope she had left in her.
“Hello? Yes, this is Michael Caraway. I have a survivor here that is looking for her sister. She’s a fourteen year old and her name is Juniper, yes like the tree. Juniper Hawkins and she goes by Juni.”
Kim could hear the person on the other line speaking. She yearned so bad to hear the words that would bring her family back together.

“Yes, I’m aware that Charlie Hawkins and the other daughter were sent here, I’m speaking to Kimberly right now. Ok, yes sir thank you, ok.” Mr. Caraway snapped the phone shut and turned to Kim.

Please, please tell me she’s there. Please!

“I’m sorry Kimberly but she’s not there either.”

Her heart shattered into a million pieces. She hadn’t thought of the worst until now. Confirming that her sister wasn’t in any of the nearby cities could only mean one thing.
“Hey Kim-Kim, any luck?” asked her dad as she walked into his room.
He hasn’t called me that since I was just a little girl.
He looked better than the day before. His bandages were no longer stained with red and the black splotches on his face were a yellowish green, signs of healing. He could now sit up comfortably with the new pain medicine they were giving him for his ribs.

“No, but I’ll try again tomorrow. I promise.” She didn’t have the heart to tell her already weak father that Juni was gone.
That night Kimberly didn’t sleep, it didn’t feel right. She took her cot and set it next to one of the tents outside the hospital gazing up at the stars.

“Which star is that one Kim?” asked Juni.

“They’re not stars, they’re constellations Juni, and that’s Hercules.”

“I wish mom was here with us. She would love to look at the stars with us, wouldn’t she?”

“I know she would. We’d all lie on the roof like we are now and laugh and joke and cry, like we should have.”
Kimberly woke with a start. She hadn’t even realized that she fell asleep. The sun wasn’t very high up so it must have been at least nine. She heard a loud noise coming from up above. Just as she looked up a helicopter flew by and started to land. Everyone rushed to see the commotion but Kimberly wasn’t too enthused. She was still drained from the news of the day before.

“Probably just more supplies,” she thought.
Following the crowd, she pushed her way to the front when she heard it.

What is that? Are they calling me?
Kim heard her name being called from a bullhorn and slowly walked to the where it was coming from.

“Kimberly Hawkins. Charlie Hawkins. Please, come forward,” boomed the voice.

Are we in trouble? We haven’t done anything, what could they possibly want from us?
Kim walked up to the man who was calling her and her father. He was another volunteer wearing the same shirt as Michael.

“Kimberly Hawkins?” asked the man as she approached him.

“Yes?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you ma’am,” continued the man. “I’m Dave Henderson, I think I have someone that you would like to see,” said Dave with a big smile.
Who could I possibly want to see right now?
The man led her to the doors of the helicopter and stopped her short. He pulled the doors open and someone stepped out. All Kim could see were those huge, innocent blue eyes piercing her heart just like her mother’s did. Tears flooded her eyes and she just couldn’t believe it.

“Kimy?”
She hadn’t been called Kimy since she got after her sister for it years ago and now today.

“Kimy, is it really you?”
Kim didn’t say one word but pulled her sister in close and touched her face. Just touched her to make sure she wasn’t still dreaming.

“Juni? Juni, it’s really you! I can’t believe… I mean I thought you were…You’re alive!” exclaimed Kim as she hugged her sister tight and cried tears of happiness. “Dad will be so happy to see you; we’ve missed you so much. We didn’t know if we were ever going to see you again,” cried Kim.
The crowd cheered as they witnessed the amazing miracle of a family being reunited.

“Where is he, where’s dad?”
Kim led her sister into her dads’ room where he looked up from his book to the face of his lost daughter who was now found. They all hugged and cried and hugged some more.

“I almost gave up hope,” cried the father.
Juni looked into her father’s eyes and said, “Hope floats.”

They would forever cherish this moment. Then there was a knock on the door.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hawkins?”

“Yes, can I help you?”

“I was looking for Juni Hawkins. I helped find her way here from Blue Lake after the hurricane. I’m Nick Andrews.”
Juni woke up to see that Nick, the one who helped her find her family, was standing right in front of her.

“Nick!” yelled Juni excitedly.

“Hey, Juni!”

“What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here? I came to see you.”

“Nick I missed you! Thank you so much for helping me, I knew there was a reason I felt something about you. Oh, this is my sister Kim and my dad Charlie,” said Juni happily.

I thought I was just dreaming him up. I thought I just missed him too much. Now he is here, with me. I can’t believe it. Hope really does float