“Bang!” the house shook. “Earthquake!” George screamed. He immediately ran into the basement while his parents and his little sister crouched under the dining room table. The last earthquake that hit Portland, Oregon was in 1965. Any earthquake would not be expected, especially since the last one that hit was almost 50 years ago. George’s house was torn apart. Piles of rubble were the last remainders of his house. When the earthquake was over, George was no longer in the basement. He was in a pile of rubble. He frantically searched for his parents and his little sister. After searching for many strenuous hours, he gave up his search. He sat down on the sidewalk and contemplated his remaining choices. He realized that since his house was not that big and that he had been searching for many hours, he thought they either must be under piles of rubble, or they drove away from the house. He factored out the second choice because it was not likely that his parents would be driving during an earthquake.

Nighttime was approaching. George knew that his parents and little sister needed food and water if they were going to survive. He told himself that he needed to find them. George worked for many hours, lifting up heavy rubble but still no luck. By the morning, he felt as though he was going to collapse.

George started to scream, “HELP!, I can’t find my parents.”
He did this for many minutes, but not one person answered his deafening cry. He felt sad and alone.

He said to himself, "What do I do without my parents? How do I go on?"
Then, he thought of an idea.
He said to himself, "I need to reach a phone and call the fire department. Then, they will come and rescue my parents. Everything will be alright."
He paced up and down the sidewalk, thinking of where to find a phone. He thought of walking to a nearby store or a restaurant. The only problem was that he didn't know if the restaurant was destroyed. He also started to wonder how his house and his neighbor's house were the only houses on his block that was severely damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Other people's houses on his block were fully intact or mostly intact.
He walked down the street to his neighbor's house. He wanted to ring the doorbell. He figured it was about 10:00 a.m. by now, so he rang the doorbell. Margie Fisher answered the door. Margie Fisher was an advisor for the mayor. She was extremely nice. When George told Margie his problem, she was confused about how he had not found his parents and his little sister after he had been searching for so long. She welcomed George and offered him the phone. He called the fire department.
He talked to the man who answered the phone, "My name is George Matton. Can you help me find my parents?" Because the fireman knew that a child was on the phone, he offered to swing by his house.

When he came, he brought a squad of nearly twenty men. The squad searched for almost three hours. They could not find a trace of his parents. Then, one fireman had an idea. He said to pack up his belongings, his parents’ belongings, and his sister's belongings. His theory was that if there were fewer items in the search area, there would be a greater chance to find them. As George stumbled through the rubble, retrieving his family's belongings, he saw something. He thought he saw a hand. He called a fireman over. He told him what he saw. The fireman agreed that it was certainly a hand. The squad came over and lifted the rubble. When all of the rubble was lifted, his mother was found. She had a blood stain on the back of her head and on her face. They saw that she was hit by fallen rubble. An ambulance was called. The ambulance escorted George's mother to the hospital immediately. The ambulance driver said that he would call a fireman in the squad once the doctors knew the diagnosis of George's mother. Some of the firemen started searching because they were uplifted by the discovery of George's mother. About an hour later, the hospital called.

The hospital reported that George’s mother was hit in the head by falling items during the earthquake. The doctor said that she must have been hit by hard items because her brain was severely damaged and was dead. The firemen who answered the phone walked over to George. In his nicest and gentlest voice, he told George the news. Once George heard that, he started to break down and cry. George was not a little boy who cried often. George was fifteen, and it was rare that he would cry the way he did. He cried for almost forty-five minutes straight. He then accepted the fact that he would have to go on without his mother and possibly not his father or his sister. George sat down on the grass while the men searched. At about 5:30 p.m. the firemen reported that they searched through all of the rubble, and his father and his sister were nowhere to be found. George starting thinking. He asked himself how he could continue his life. After the firemen left, he then had the courage to go up to Margie Fisher's door and ask her a question that he thought he would never ask anyone.

When she opened the door, George asked, "Can you take care of me?"

Margie held out her arms and gave him a big hug. She gladly took him in.

After about a month of living with Margie, George had an idea. He realized that his father and his sister had the Find My iPhone app. If George was lucky, he could find them. He used his phone to track his father. When the results came up, they said that he was in Los Angeles. He then tracked his sister. It said that she was still in Portland. Then, he tried to call them. Both of their phones went to voicemail. He didn't bother to leave a message. He searched his sister again. It said that she was on Murphy Street between Donovan Avenue and Lewis Avenue. George knew exactly where that was. Since Margie needed to go to work anyway, he convinced her to drive him. When she dropped him off at Murphy Street, he tracked his sister again. It said she was now on Donovan Avenue between Norman Street and John Street. That was six blocks away from where he was. He constantly tracked her every two blocks. When George was within seeing distance of her, he started to look around. He did not see her face. Then, he saw something. Her phone was on the side of the road.
George asked himself," If her phone is here, where is she?" He went into a shop next to where her phone was found.

He asked the cashier, "Did you see a girl, about 5' 5" and who looks like me?"
The cashier said, "A girl with dark brown hair ran by here fifteen minutes ago. She dropped her phone right outside the shop. I see a resemblance.
"The phone outside is my sister's phone." George replied.
He walked out of the store, picked up her phone, and kept walking.
About ten minutes later, his cell phone rang. His father was calling him. When he picked up the phone, a different voice answered.
The woman on the phone said, "Do you know the owner of this cell phone?"
"Yes" George answered. "He is my father."

The woman said, "Your dad was just run over by a taxi. An ambulance came. He was pronounced dead."

George was speechless. He had just enough strength to ask, "What city are you in?" What the woman said surprised George greatly. The woman replied, "He is in... New York City."

George said, "Thank you" and hung up the phone. Now, all that George had left was his sister. George sat down and thought how he would find his sister. He hailed for a taxi. Once a taxi arrived, he asked him to drive up Murphy Street to the end. The end of Murphy Street was eight miles away. George thought that he might see his sister along the way. The taxi drove quickly through the city. George was watching carefully for his sister. After about six miles, he saw someone. She was getting beaten and mugged. He jumped out of the taxi. He didn't know if it was his sister, but he wanted to see just in case. He jumped on the attacker. The attacker threw him to the ground and started to beat both of the children. After five minutes, a police car drove up. The officers caught the man and arrested him. They also called an ambulance. George was in too much pain to open his eyes and see if his sister lay by his side. He passed out. When he opened his eyes, he was told that he had been asleep for many hours. He had enough energy to sit up. He turned his head and looked at the girl who lay beside him. Sadly, it was not his sister. The girl that lay beside him looked horribly disfigured. He thought that it must have been because of the beating. She asked him, "Why did you help me?" George replied by saying, "I thought you were my sister." The girl said, "My brother was lost in the earthquake." "My sister was also lost in the earthquake. I'll help you find your brother if you help me find my sister." "Sure." the girl said. "We'll work together."

They worked for three days walking up and down the streets of Portland looking for their lost siblings. There was no sign of them. Then, they thought of a strategy. They thought of splitting up and meeting back together every hour at a determined location. They did this for the next couple days. At the end of the day, George would go home with Margie, and the other girl would walk to a shop. George was curious but he did not say anything.

The girl started to become interested in George.

The next day, she asked him, "What is your name?"

He replied, “George Matton. What is yours?" She ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug ever.

She cried, "I'm Pearl, your sister. I didn’t recognize you because you look different.”

“I know.” George replied. “My face was disfigured from the robber attack.”

“I was going to say it was an improvement.” Pearl said, jokingly.

At that moment, George felt better than he had than in the past three months since the earthquake. George never gave up hope. He always stayed positive and hoped that his sister was still somewhere. His determination to find her paid off as he finally found her. They hugged and cried in each other's arms as all of the pedestrians watched them. They did not know what was going on. They just continued on with their daily lives. When the siblings stopped crying, they held each other's hand and walked down Murphy Street into the setting sun.