Volcano

by Kirbi Fagan

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  COVER

  TITLE PAGE

  CHAPTER 1: INACTIVE

  CHAPTER 2: SANDCASTLES

  CHAPTER 3: FIRE FEAST

  CHAPTER 4: EXPLOSION!

  CHAPTER 5: HOT RESCUE

  CHAPTER 6: VOLCANIC COMETS

  CHAPTER 7: COMING DOWN

  CHAPTER 8: LAVA TOWN

  VOLCANO SURVIVAL

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

  GLOSSARY

  WRITING PROMPTS

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  COPYRIGHT

  BACK COVER

  CHAPTER 1

  INACTIVE

  “So it’s not even an active volcano?” Cam Peterson asked.

  Cam’s mom laughed and lowered the sun visor in the car. “No,” she said. “But we probably wouldn’t be visiting somewhere that had an active volcano. I doubt we’d want to return a melted rental car to the airport.”

  Cam’s dad pulled the car into the small parking lot and cut the engine. It was bright and beautiful on the island, just like it had been every day so far. Cam was amazed by how far he could see, even from his backseat window.

  He wasn’t excited about the stop they decided to make. After all, every little “adventure” they went on during their vacation was less time spent on the beach. Cam wasn’t sure how long it would be until they’d get to visit another ocean, so wasting time to see something that sort of looked like a volcano (but didn’t act like one) wasn’t his idea of a good time.

  “All right,” Dad said, opening his door. “Let’s check it out.”

  Cam climbed out of the car and walked to the edge of the empty parking lot. It didn’t seem like anyone else was interested in Mount Palahara, either. His dad had a knack for finding sites that weren’t exactly popular.

  He looked up to see his parents walking over to a big wooden sign. On it was a faded map of Mount Palahara. As he got closer, Cam was able to see more detail.

  “Palahara is a shield volcano,” his mom read, tracing the words with her finger. She murmured through the parts she didn’t think were interesting. “It hasn’t erupted in over five hundred years.”

  Cam half-listened, hoping he’d be able to look into the mouth of the volcano, at least. He was fairly certain he wouldn’t see anything cool like lava, but he figured it was worth a peek. As his parents marveled at the altitude and the road they’d taken to get there, Cam walked up the worn steps to the observation platform.

  A number of small signs suggested that he was headed toward a fantastic photo opportunity. We’ll see about that, he thought.

  Cam got to the octagon-shaped cement slab at the top of the steps. He was disappointed to see that it was fenced off with a safety rail on all sides.

  Cam smirked. Wouldn’t want anyone to fall into the inactive volcano! he thought, leaning over the rail. He looked down and was surprised to see plant life at the basin.

  No hot lava. No spouting geyser of destruction. Just pretty plants.

  “Sigh,” Cam mumbled. For the first time, he realized how out of breath he was.

  It wasn’t like he’d run up all the steps, but just being at such a high elevation really gave his lungs a workout.

  His parents had finally made their way up to the platform. “So, what do you think, Cam?” Dad said. “Pretty cool, huh?”

  “Sure,” Cam said, trying to sound enthused. “It’s pretty cool.”

  “Your mom thought you’d think this is lame,” Dad said, jerking his thumb in Mom’s direction.

  Cam squinted in the bright afternoon sun. “Well, it’s my first volcano,” he said. “So there’s that.”

  The three of them stood alone at the top of Mount Palahara, looking down at the rest of the island. After a few minutes of searching, they were able to find their hotel along the ocean’s shoreline.

  Okay then, Cam thought. Let’s get back there.

  CHAPTER 2

  SANDCASTLES

  At Cam’s insistence, the Petersons spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the beach. Cam hit the waves with a body board, played some beach volleyball with a few older kids, and snorkeled until he couldn’t swim another stroke.

  Cam’s parents sat on their lounge chairs under the umbrella. Cam was collapsed near a sandcastle he’d gotten tired of building about halfway through.

  “Are you going to finish that thing?” came a voice from his left. Cam was so exhausted he almost couldn’t open his eyes.

  “I’m not eating anything,” Cam said. He was used to his dad asking to finish his fries at restaurants.

  “The sandcastle,” the voice said. In a daze, Cam realized it was a girl’s voice. When he opened his eyes, he saw a girl of about ten years was standing near his half-finished castle. Her hair was wet, her knees were sandy, and she carried a small plastic bucket. The handle of a plastic shovel was visible inside the pail.

  “Oh,” Cam said. “No. I’m done. Go ahead.”

  The girl nodded. Without another word, she set off to work. Cam sat up and watched her. She patted the sides of the wall down to smooth the surface. At one point she got up and filled her bucket with ocean water. He couldn’t figure out why until he saw her carve out an elaborate moat around the entire structure.

  “You sure you don’t want to help?” the girl asked. “It is your castle, after all.”

  “Nope,” Cam said. “It’s definitely your castle now. You’re good at this. What’s your name, kid?”

  The girl looked up from her work. She wiped a wet strand of hair from her eyes.

  “I’m Amy,” she said. “We’re from Pittsburgh.”

  “Hi, Amy,” he said. “I’m Cam from Topeka.”

  “Kansas,” Amy said. “They made us memorize all the states and capitals last year.”

  “Nice,” Cam said. “I don’t remember the capital of Pittsburgh.”

  Amy stared at him for a moment. “Pittsburgh’s not a —”

  “I know,” Cam said. “Just seeing if you were paying attention.”

  “Funny,” Amy said. She went back to work.

  As Cam watched Amy add more parts to the castle, he felt the sand beneath him begin to rumble, as if something big and ugly was living under the surface. A moment later, it was still again.

  “Whoa,” Cam said. “Did you feel that?”

  Amy nodded. “Probably a small earthquake,” she said. “The island does that sometimes.”

  Cam looked around. No one else on the beach seemed bothered by it.

  Where Cam was from, the worst thing they had to worry about were tornadoes. Those came down from the skies, not up from the ground.

  It was the first time Cam felt like the ground he walked upon wasn’t exactly stable. It was unnerving to say the least.

  CHAPTER 3

  FIRE FEAST

  By the time it started to get dark on the island, Cam had all but forgotten about Amy and her amazing sandcastle skills. His parents were changing from their tacky-looking island shirts into different tacky-looking island shirts.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go with us?” Dad asked. “It’s going to be pretty cool.”

  Cam was lying facedown on his bed on a pillow in the hotel room. He was so exhausted from a full day at the beach and the high-altitude volcano trip that he didn’t know if he could ever get up again.

  “No,” Cam said, his voice muffled by his pillow. “I don’t even want to move.”

  “But it’s the Fire Feast,” Mom said. “They say it’s one of those things that tourists shouldn’t miss.”

  Cam rolled over onto his back and groaned. In addition to being worn out, he had more than a little bit of a sunburn on his back.

  “I think I’ll be okay,” Cam mumbled. “You guys should go.”
>
  “Cam,” Dad said, frowning. “They juggle fire and dance around and stuff. I’ve seen videos online. It’s crazy.”

  “I’ll check it out online,” Cam said. “I’m beat.”

  His mom sat down on the edge of the bed and opened up a flashy brochure for the Fire Feast. It showed a bunch of people dressed in traditional island wear. One of them was shooting fire out of his mouth.

  “Wow,” Cam said, pointing to the fire breather. “Someone had the hotel’s spicy tacos.”

  Cam’s dad winced, clutching his stomach. “We don’t need to mention those ever again.”

  “They’re going to have all kinds of different food there,” Mom said. It seemed she didn’t want to talk about the tacos anymore, either. “Look.”

  Cam sat up to look at the brochure. There were tons of foods he couldn’t even begin to name. The crowning jewel of the pamphlet was the roasted pig clutching an apple in its mouth. Cam wondered if they’d bribed the pig with the piece of fruit before sending it to the flames.

  “Definitely going to sit this one out,” Cam said. “I’ll get some food from the vending machine downstairs. Okay?”

  He watched as his parents looked at each other and communicated between themselves without saying a word. Finally, after a shrug from his dad, his mom spoke up.

  “Fine,” she said. “But I don’t want you playing video games all night. Mix it up a bit, would you? Read a book for an hour, maybe?”

  “We’re on vacation, Mom,” Cam said. She gave him the disapproving Mom look, and he gave in. “Okay, okay. I’ll read a little, too.”

  To prove he was a man of his word, Cam opened up his book and jumped back into chapter three. It was about a kid who woke up with superpowers and was suddenly expected to protect the entire world.

  Once his parents were finished getting ready, Cam’s mom left him a few fives on the end table. “That’s for dinner,” she said. “Not for the skill cranes downstairs.”

  “Or for candy,” Dad added. “Eat a sandwich or something first, at least.”

  “I’ll remember to sit up straight, too,” Cam said sarcastically. Then, in a more sincere tone, added, “Have fun, you two kids.”

  “You too,” Mom said. She kissed Cam on his forehead.

  Cam gasped. “Ow, Mom!” he said, playing up the pain. “My sunburn.”

  “Stay out of trouble,” Dad said, not buying it. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”

  And just like that, Cam was on his own. He breathed a long sigh of relief.

  CHAPTER 4

  EXPLOSION!

  A half-hour later, Cam was almost at the end of the third chapter. He had ended up rereading the same paragraph close to twelve times before he realized that the book wasn’t going to keep him awake. Throwing in the towel, he set the book aside and rested his eyes for a moment.

  As soon as he began to drift off to sleep, he felt the entire hotel shake. Cam’s eyes snapped open and he sat up, looking around. The room was still, but he was wide awake.

  Did I just dream that? Cam wondered.

  Nothing in the room seemed out of place, and he couldn’t hear sirens or anything that he assumed would announce the arrival of an earthquake. He wasn’t sure. In Kansas, when someone spotted a tornado, weather sirens would ring out one after another.

  “Maybe they only do that for tornadoes,” he said to himself.

  Cam got up off the bed with a groan. His shorts were still a little damp from the ocean, but he was too tired and sunburned to do anything about it.

  He walked over to the sliding glass door and pulled it open. He took a few steps onto the small deck ten floors above the hotel’s island-themed property.

  Below him, he could see people swimming in the illuminated pool. The thatch huts they used to serve drinks and snacks were lit up with multi-colored bulbs. Cam looked over to the left. The Fire Feast was already underway. Just as his dad had said, there were people playing with fire on the stage.

  “Cool,” Cam said, feeling like maybe he was the only one missing out. Even the poor roasted pig was in attendance.

  As he slid the door shut, an explosion shook the entire hotel. It felt like some superhero had power-punched the side of the building.

  Cam jumped back as the glass on the patio door shattered. Shards fell into the room, so he quickly pulled on his sandals.

  Cam looked around, uncertain what had happened or what he should do. It sounded like the people in the rooms next to his were scurrying around. Afraid to peek his head out through the jagged opening in the patio door, he stood back a few feet and tried to look outside.

  Amazingly, the island seemed to be glowing a little brighter. It was like the flames from the Fire Feast were lighting up the rest of the island. The sky had gone from purple to a dark shade of orange.

  Down at the Fire Feast, people were gathered around and looking up at something he couldn’t see.

  But even from ten floors up, Cam could tell they were pointing at the sky.

  Maybe a plane crash? Cam wondered. That would explain the explosion. He remembered that the airport was kind of close to the island’s mountains.

  Cam went to the hotel room door. He peeked out through the peephole. He could see people running past the door, moving quickly. He put his hand on the door handle to open it for a better look.

  A second explosion rocked the hotel, almost knocking Cam to the ground.

  Definitely not a plane, Cam realized.

  CHAPTER 5

  HOT RESCUE

  Cam got to his feet and opened the door. An older man and woman ran past, heading for the elevator. He watched as they continually pushed the DOWN button.

  That, more than anything, made Cam freak out.

  “What’s going on?” Cam shouted to the couple.

  The older lady didn’t say anything. Her eyes remained on the display above the elevator doors.

  “Hey, can you hear me?” Cam shouted louder.

  “The volcano erupted!” the old man shouted. “The whole side of the mountain has blown open.”

  Cam figured the man was crazy. He knew they had to be talking about Mount Palahara since it was the closest and biggest volcano, but that couldn’t be right. Palahara was a shield volcano — and a dormant one, at that.

  And we were just there, Cam thought. It looked pretty inactive to me.

  Before he could say another word, the elevator door opened and the couple wedged their way in. As the doors closed, Cam remained standing in the doorway of his room.

  “So where are they going?” Cam said to himself.

  Cam didn’t know much about volcanoes, but he knew he didn’t want to be outside when one erupted.

  A door across the hall from his room opened. A familiar face peeked out. “Amy?” Cam said. “What’s going on?”

  Amy braced herself against the doorway as another explosion rocked the building. Alarms rang out in the hallways and he heard more glass shatter throughout their floor.

  As Cam stepped out of his room, he heard something big hammer into the side of the building. Amy’s door shut. Cam heard her scream from the other side.

  “Hey!” Cam shouted, running to her door. “Open up! Are you okay?”

  Cam tried the door, but it was locked. He jiggled the handle and beat the side of his fist against the keycard reader. Nothing happened. Before long, the hallway began to fill with smoke.

  Is there a fire? Cam wondered.

  “Amy!” Cam said, realizing his own hotel room door had closed shut, locking him out. “Open the door. We have to get out of here!”

  Cam couldn’t hear anything else over the wails of the sirens and the shouts of people running past.

  Cam tried the door again, but it wouldn’t budge. Amy wasn’t safe in there — he had to find a way to help her.

  The hotel shook again, throwing Cam against the wall. The lights above blinked a few times, and then went out completely. A few seconds later, dimmer lights lit the hallway.

  I have to
get her out, Cam thought. He raised his foot to kick in the door.

  THUD! As his foot made contact with the door, he fell. He stood up to try again — but the door popped open.

  “Cam?” Amy asked. “What are we going to do?”

  Before she could say another word or close the door on him again, Cam pushed his way into her hotel room. He didn’t see her parents, and wondered if they were at the Fire Feast like his were.

  Cam was about to grab her hand and pull her away when he saw something unbelievable through the window in Amy’s room.

  It looked like the end of the world.

  The sky seemed to be on fire, glowing orange from the wound on the side of Mount Palahara.

  Steaming, molten lava poured from the volcano’s wound, leaving bright trails like tendrils down the massive hill.

  All the trees caught in the flow’s path were burning like torches along the slopes.

  Buildings that Cam didn’t recognize were on fire, and chunks of glowing rock streamed every which way through the air.

  That old guy was right, Cam thought.

  CHAPTER 6

  VOLCANIC COMETS

  “Everything is burning!” Amy cried, stumbling toward the patio door.

  Cam couldn’t argue with her. It didn’t look exactly safe outside the hotel, so he figured the best thing to do was to stay put and wait until things calmed down.

  “I hope my parents are okay,” Cam whispered.

  “Mine are at that flaming food thing,” Amy said quietly.

  “The Fire Feast,” Cam said.

  “Whatever it’s called,” Amy said. “Now everything is on fire.”

  The building lurched as if it were on stilts. He had no idea if that was another earthquake, or what. As he considered what to do, another explosion rocked the hotel — one that made the others before it seem like gentle taps.

  Glass all around them shattered. Pieces of the ceiling came down in chunky, dusty showers. Massive rocks shot out from the volcano at impossible angles across the island city. Flaming trails followed, making them look like confused comets. It was like a meteor shower was happening right before their eyes.