“The Valley’s on fire!” Mom shouted, waking me up out of a dead sleep. 

“Wh… what?” I groggily answered as I rolled over in bed. 

“There’s a fire in the Valley!” she replied, “I think we might have to leave.”

I stared at my mom’s silhouette in my bedroom doorway as my melted mind attempted to digest what she was saying, “Can you repeat that?”

“Yes, there is a fire in Ken Caryl Valley!”

“A fire in the Valley?”

“Yes!”

“Where in the Valley?”

“Deer Creek Canyon.” 

“Okay, that’s close but that’s not the Valley…” I growled as I sat up, “Can you show me on your phone what’s going on?”

Mom handed her phone to me, which had an article on it explaining that a small fire had been discovered by the road in Deer Creek Canyon, less than a mile from Lockheed Martin. Thankfully, however, it was not in Ken Caryl Valley. But, it was still too damn close for comfort. 

“It’s not in the Valley…” I yawned, “But it’s close.”

“How bad is it?” Mom asked in an almost childlike voice, “Do you think we need to leave?”

“Has anyone come to our door to order us out?” I asked as I stumbled across my room to flick on the light switch. 

“No, not yet.” Mom shook her head. 

“Then probably not. But, let’s pack a few go-bags, just in case.” I replied as I rubbed my eyes and sauntered over to my dresser to replace my warm PJ pants with some jeans. 

“Should we drive into the Valley to see the fire?” Mom asked. 

“Uhhhh… no?” I glared back at her, “I’d rather not get in the way of anything. Plus, I don’t know what the hell’s going on yet. You just woke me up.”

“Let’s go just to see.” Mom urged as she began shutting my door behind her, “We won’t get in the way of anyone.”