Crash! Abhaya heard a wave hit her school. She moved closer to her twin brother, who was sitting next to her on the floor of a classroom. It had been a typical afternoon at the International School of Chennai, India until the weather took a turn. It was monsoon season in the country, and small storms occurred regularly. No one expected this tsunami to come so fast and be so strong.
When Abhaya heard about the tsunami, she asked her teacher if Neerav could come to her classroom. She knew her autistic brother well, and she knew he would be frightened over the current circumstances. Abhaya felt like it was her job to protect him. After all, her name meant “fearless”, and she took this seriously.
“We have to get out of here, Neerav. We have to find Mom and Dad,” she whispered to him. Abhaya knew the school wasn’t safe during a tsunami. It was a sturdy building, but it overlooked the Indian Ocean, which looked seething mad. The air was humid and stuffy. Neerav rubbed his skinny hand along the freshly painted walls. Then, he looked at Abhaya with fear in his eyes. Neerav thought of their parents. He remembered them talking about the tsunami that morning over a breakfast of naan and plantains.
“All students please remain in your classrooms unless your parents are present to pick you up. We are working on an evacuation plan. This is not a drill. The tsunami is rapidly approaching,” a monotone voice spoke over the loudspeakers.
“Mrs. Chopra, our parents are here,” Abhaya called to her teacher. Abhaya was lying, but she had a plan to find her parents before the weather got worse.
“Okay be safe. I will let the front office know you are leaving,” the overwhelmed teacher replied. Abhaya grabbed Neerav’s sweaty arm, and they left the classroom.
“Okay, now we just have to walk two blocks to get to Dad’s clinic. We can make a better plan with his help,” Abhaya said as they neared the school’s front entrance. The halls were filled with students going to the front to meet their parents.
“Our parents are outside waiting,” Abhaya lied to the flustered front desk worker, who waved them on. Around them worried parents pulled their children toward the door, hoping to take them farther away from the raging Indian Ocean before the tsunami got out of hand.
“The tsunami looks like it’s approaching faster than they thought it would,” Abhaya stated as she looked at the ocean. She pushed her long, dark hair back and pulled at her school oxford, which was soggy with sweat. Then, she glanced at Neerav with her big, brown eyes. His uniform tie blew in the wind, and his short black hair was sticking up. Abhaya saw sweat running down his tan face. His oxford stuck to his skinny figure. Abhaya studied Neerav’s familiar face, which looked a lot like her own.
Neerav looked at the Indian Ocean as they walked along the sidewalk. The street and sidewalk were bustling with cars and people hurrying to seek higher ground. Abhaya and Neerav had a hard time getting through the crowd. As they weaved in and out of worried people, Abhaya began to feel a sense of urgency. This is serious, she thought, I didn’t know it was going to be this severe.
“Woah!” one pedestrian suddenly hollered. Suddenly, water began to fill a street on the bottom of a hill.
“We have to hurry! The tsunami is here!” Abhaya yelled to Neerav. She began to run away from the water and pulled Neerav along. More water rushed onto the streets. Abhaya began to panic. She felt herself falling, and Neerav’s arm slipped out of her hand.
********
“Mom? Dad?” Abhaya asked with panicked. She had regained consciousness and now noticed she was in a large hospital room. Neerav rocked back and forth nervously in a chair next to her bed. His face was stained with tears and dirt. Abhaya saw many other tsunami victims lying in beds near her. The room looked like it was once neat, but now items were strewn around.
“Well, hello there young lady,” a flustered  nurse said.
“I know we were walking to my dad’s clinic, but the rest is a blur. What happened?” asked Abhaya with confusion.
“Let’s see….” the nurse looked down at a file, “Looks like you and this boy were picked up by an ambulance. You were found unconscious, so you must have fallen trying to escape the tsunami. You’re lucky a paramedic saw you; you could have drowned. When you arrived at the hospital, you were conscious. They did some tests, and you have a concussion. The next step is trying to find your parents.”
********
“No! I am not going to America without my parents! They are alive! I know they are!” Abhaya screamed at the nurse.
The nurse replied sternly, “Calm down. There is no other choice. The orphanages are full. You and Neerav can’t stay at this hospital forever, and we can’t leave two 15 year olds out on the street. You’re parents have not turned up. I’m sorry, Abhaya, but they most likely died in the tsunami. Your only family lives in America. They have agreed to take both you and Neerav in. The woman is your mother’s cousin. Her name is Eva, and her husband is Rohan. They are will arrive here in two days.”
********
Abhaya looked out the plane window. Eva and her husband, Rohan, had just arrived in India. Now, they were leaving for America. Abhaya felt tears running down her face. Thinking about her once perfect life made Abhaya feel sick. She used to have everything. Her dad was a renowned doctor who ran his own clinic. Her mom spent all her time with the twins. Her parents had loved them so much. There’s no way they’re gone, Abhaya reasoned.
Neerav sat one seat away from her. He had large bags under his eyes; he hadn’t slept since the tsunami. In between them sat Eva. Abhaya observed she was about 25 years old and had a kind temperament. She, too, was born in India, but her family moved to America when she was a child. She was happily married to Rohan, and they had just bought their first house together. When she got the call about Abhaya and Neerav, she couldn’t say no.
Eva put a hand on Abhaya’s shoulder. She was sympathetic but also was worried. This is going to be difficult, she thought to herself. How are we going to take care of them?
“Don’t touch me,” Abhaya said to Eva coldy. She was not in the mood to receive pity from a lady she didn’t even know. Eva slowly pulled her hand back, and Abhaya leaned away from her.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to take off,” a dull voice announced over the speakers.
********
“Okay, here we are! Home sweet home!” Eva exclaimed with artificial enthusiasm. She looked at her husband, Rohan, who gave her an uneasy smile. They were in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was a warm July day, and the sun beat down on the paved road.
Abhaya’s head was spinning. So much happened so fast. Neerav sensed his twin’s distress. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach. He dropped the duffel bag he was carrying and sat on the curb with his back to the house. Huge tears began to roll down Neerav’s face and onto his newly purchased mundu, a tradition Indian shirt. Abhaya sat down next to him.
“Neerav…..” she trailed off as she choked back tears.
Eva broke the silence, “Hey guys, it’s going to be okay. We’re going to have fun together.”
“No way!” Abhaya said sharply, turning to Eva. “This isn’t fun. This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me!”
“Now, Abhaya,” Rohan said firmly, “you can’t talk to people like that.”
“I don’t really care. I don’t even want to be here,” she shot back.
“I’m sorry you feel that way. Now, let’s go inside,” Eva replied calmly.
********
“Look at the horse,” Rohan said. Rohan and Eva had taken the twins to the state fair, and everyone was in a pleasant mood. The smell of hay lingered in the barn where they stood. Neerav, however, was busy looking at every person around him. He studied each face as he stood off to the side.
“D-D-Dad!” Neerav suddenly hollered as he thrusted a finger toward a huge crowd of people outside the barn.
“What?” Abhaya questioned in surprise. Neerav had never said a real word before, only senseless mumbling. “Where’s Dad?”
Neerav again pointed his finger at the crowd. Maybe Dad is here. Maybe he is looking for us, Abhaya thought as she strained to look at the crowd and began move towards it. Eva reached her hand out and grabbed Abhaya’s wrist to stop her.
“Let’s go this way, Abhaya,” she said, trying to distract her. She was told that the twin’s parents definitely died in the tsunami. She was positive there was no way they were alive, much less at the fair.
“Maybe they are here! Maybe Neerav actually saw them! We have to look!”
“Look at me, Abhaya,” Eva said softly, putting her hand on Abhaya’s shoulder. “Your parents are not here. I’m sorry, but you know that’s not possible.”
  “You don’t know that! My parents aren’t dead. I know they aren’t!” Abhaya screamed.
“I think it would be best to leave now,” Rohan said, turning to Eva.
********
“Good morning, Neerav,” Abhaya said when she noticed Neerav at the doorway of her bedroom.
“What’s up?” Abhaya asked. Abhaya noticed something was bothering Neerav at the moment, but she was too exhausted to comfort him.
Neerav began to walk into Abhaya’s clean, orderly room. He sat down next to her on the bed and began to rock back and forth. He felt very upset over the events of the past few weeks.
“Do you miss Mom and Dad?” Abhaya asked him. “I miss them a lot, too. I bet they’re still alive, though.”
Neerav exhaled loudly. Abhaya could sense that Neerav was very tense. She began to grow upset herself.
“What’s wrong? To be honest, Neerav, sometimes your silence is annoying! Can’t you tell me what wrong? Just because your name means ‘silent’ doesn’t mean you always have to be!” Abhaya began to raise her voice.
Neerav smacked his fist against the mattress, and his face turned crimson red. He stood up near a window and faced Abhaya, who appeared to be angry at him.
“What?” she asked in a hostile tone. She stood to face Neerav. She was at a breaking point with all that was going on.
Suddenly, Neerav kicked the bookshelf next to Abhaya. He didn’t mean for it to fall, but it did. Abhaya tried to jump out of the way. She wasn’t quick enough.
“Ahhhh!” Abhaya screamed as the bookshelf crashed down on her. Then, smash! A corner of the bookshelf went through the window. Glass flew everywhere.
“What in the world!” Eva exclaimed as she hurried to Abhaya’s room after noises. Glass was scattered across the wooden floor. Half of the bookshelf leaned out of the window. Neerav’s foot was sliced open by the glass shards, and Abhaya’s arm was trapped.
********
Abhaya looked at the pink cast on her arm as she rode home from the hospital. The bookshelf incident fractured her forearm. The cast was her constant reminder of how she lost patience with Neerav. She felt ashamed when she thought of what her parents would say.
Neerav, on the other hand, had a few stitches in his foot where the glass had cut. He felt awful for knocking over the bookshelf. Tensions were still high. The twins longed for their old lives, and neither of them were happy.
********
“Now, for our evening story special,” a news anchor said with a superficial smile. “There is a new doctor in town….”
Eva and Rohan sat on the couch in their living room. Abhaya and Neerav sat on the floor playing a board game. Abhaya peered at the T.V.
“Mr. Jayesh Kapoor just moved to Minnesota from Chennai, India. He owned his own clinic in India, but a tsunami devastated his family and his city. He and his wife moved to America seeking a new beginning. He will be the lead surgeon Memorial Hospital,” the news anchor reported as a picture of a dapper, middle-aged Indian man showed on screen.
“Are baap re!” Abhaya exclaimed in Hindi suddenly.
“What?” Eva asked, startled.
“That means ‘oh my God’! Neerav, look! That’s dad!”
Eva replied with frustration,“You know that’s not your dad….”
“Eva, they do have the same last name. Plus, their father was a doctor,” Rohan said unsurely. “Abhaya, are you sure?”
“D-Dad!” Neerav exclaimed as he pointed to the picture on the flat screen.
********
Abhaya felt butterflies in her stomach. She opened the car door and looked at the big, modern house they had just arrived at. Eva and Rohan, after doing some research, had tentatively confirmed the doctor shown on the news, named Jayesh, could be the twins’ dad. Rohan called Jayesh and told him the news and the twin’s situation. Jayesh and his wife, Daya, were hesitant. This wasn’t the first call they had received regarding their children in the month since the tsunami. Nevertheless, they agreed to meet at the couple’s newly bought house to see if the seemingly impossible was true.
“I knew they didn’t get washed away,” Abhaya smiled.
“Abhaya, don’t get too excited. You know what we were told after the tsunami,” replied Eva gently.
Then, the man from the evening news, Jayesh, and his wife, Daya, walked out of the front door of the house and walked out into the warm air. As soon as Neerav and Abhaya saw the couple, they ran toward them.
“My children! You are alive!” Daya exclaimed with a thick accent as she embraced Abhaya and Neerav. Eva and Rohan watched in shock. They never thought the twins would be reunited with their parents, who were supposedly deceased.
“I never thought this day would come! I missed you both!” Jayesh bellowed.
“I knew you guys survived! I missed you guys so much,” Abhaya sobbed. Tears of joy ran down her face. Her once angry disposition seemed to disappear as she hugged her parents.
“Mom, Dad I-I love y-y-you,” Neerav stammered as tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked at his beloved parents with a sense of joy that hadn’t been present since the tsunami.
“Neerav, you spoke! We love you, too, son!” Daya said with surprise. Neerav had never spoken a complete sentence before.
“I guess nothing is impossible. Thank Lord Ganesh for this blessing,” Eva whispered. She and Rohan looked on as the once separated family embraced each other again.