Mamamia!

Roxi sighed as she stood under the doorway, gazing repulsively about the collapsing shack. The corridor that served as a lobby was dark and dank. Upon the mold-attacked walls rested peeling wallpaper that looked as though it once possessed an oak design. A half shattered bulb dangled from the ceiling by a single wire near the doorway, most of its rubber covering disintegrated.

"Do we really have to stay here?" she moaned to her parents as they slid past her dragging large suitcases.

Roxi's mother set her's down in the middle of the corridor and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. Roxi's father trotted past both of them, conveying another vast suitcase, taking in the ‘awesome' sights.

"Now, Roxi," her mother sighed, "We're only going to be here for a few days. We've been on the road for almost five days and we need some rest. Isn't that right, Luigi?"

Roxi's father set his suitcase next to the other and shook the pain away from his hand. He briskly turned to face Roxi, the pale sunlight hindering his vision. He spoke with a slight laugh of anxiety and aberration.

"Uh...yeah, that's right, Mia! We'll only be here for a li–"

"But mom!" Roxi interrupted. "Lima should only be a few miles away! We'll be there by nightfall."

"It would be best for us to arrive in Lima during the day...and while we are well rested!" Mia assured.

Roxi sighed again and looked at the floor, watching an ant venture through cracks in the floor. Mia looked about with a melancholy expression, Luigi resting against the wall with his hand, grinning slightly. Roxi noticed that his hand was sinking into the wall. She was about to tell her father, but before the words would come to her mouth, a tin shingle fell from the roof and plummeted to the porch. CLANG! The shingle landed right behind her. She jumped forward and turned around, screaming.

"Oh my goodness!" Mia yipped, dashing down the corridor to hold Roxi. Luigi couldn't help but chuckle lightly through his odd grin. As Mia mumbled into Roxi's ear, Luigi's massive hand broke through the thin wall. THUNK! Not losing absolutely any footing, his hand now rested against a pipe. Roxi and Mia swiftly turned toward the sound. Somehow, Luigi still had his odd grin, his eyes still fixed on Roxi. He didn't even look at the hole he made. With his hand in the depths of the wall, his face lightened to an obviously-exaggerated exhilarated smile.

"Ooooo-kay! Who's up for a drive to Lima? ...Like, right now!"

Mia eased her grip from Roxi, "Luigi-dear, not you, too! Let's just try to make the best of this house!"

"Shack!" Roxi blurted.

Mia sighed, "Let's just clean it up a little bit and I'll start working on dinner, okay?"

Luigi pulled his hand out of the wall with a moderate "pop", regaining his composure and dusting off his hand. He seized his suitcase and continued down the corridor. Mia murmured some last words to Roxi before she grabbed her suitcase and followed Luigi.

It was dull, dreary, and tenebrous as she gazed, disheartened, down the corridor. At her side, she found a light switch. She hesitantly flicked it to its "On" position. Nothing happened. She fiddled with the switch a few more times, but in vain. Disgusted, she left it in its "On" position and took her first few steps down the corridor. It wasn't before long, another loud noise could he heard. FWAM! THOOM! A familiar pale light could be seen from the other end of the corridor lighting up the shadows with its glory.

"I found the backdoor!" Luigi yelled, muffled, who apparently tripped fell through an outside wall.

Roxi delved at a pile of sweet, steamy peas with a silver spoon as she giggled at her father, whose face possessed some newly acquired bandages. The skies have darkened, the diningroom cleansed, filled with an eerie light emitted from a breaking dome light above them. Mia finally seated herself with the rest of her family, whom she let use her prized silverware set.

"So, daddy," Roxi giggled, "What happened?"

Luigi forked a lump of potatoes into his mouth before answering. "I dunno. It was dark...and...I tripped on something...and...*munch munch*...I fell against the back wall. But before I knew it, the wall collapsed and I was flat on my face in a pile of...broken wall!"

One snicker escaped from Mia's mouth.

"I'll be sure to finish patching up that hole in the wall after dinner," Luigi muttered, quite embarrassed.

"That hallway seriously, like, needs some lighting!" commented Roxi before she devoured a spoonful of peas.

Mia nodded with a slight smile, finishing up her chicken fillet. "I am stuffed!"

"You hardly ate anything!" Roxi squeaked with concern.

"Roxiness is right," Luigi followed. "Face it, you don't like it here too much either!"

Mia rose from the table, shooting a look of disbelief at Luigi. She took her plate from the table and waltzed over to the fountain that was supposed to be called a sink. Luigi smiled at Roxi through his few bandages then returned to shovel a few mouthful of potatoes down the hatch.

"I just know she doesn't like it here," Roxi mumbled to her father, "Mom always gets like this when stuff like this happens."

"I know what you mean. None of us likes it. But don't worry, I'll see if we can git on outta here tomorrow, okay?"

Roxi nodded with a smile before eating the last of her potatoes and chicken.

"Mmm," Luigi hummed, "This is real good...but I have a feeling something's missing."

Roxi gave him an inquiring look.

"Don't tell your mom...but we don't have no...wholesome foods, here!"

"That's a double negative!"

"A negative plus a negative equals a positive, I've always said."

Roxi rolled her eyes with a slight chuckle.

Thunder could be heard in the distance as Roxi, Mia, and Luigi sat on a dusty couch in the den. A small fire crackled in the fireplace in front of them, a corridor with a boarded-up hole behind them, a dining room to the side. Roxi and Mia rested against Luigi, half asleep, as he stared warmly into the fire, listening to the light rumbling of the thunder and watching the slight glimmer of lightening. Mia rose at the sound of a fairly louder strike of thunder. With a yawning sigh, she turned to the others.

"Well," she said, "If you too are so miserable here, we might as well go to bed. The time will pass faster!"

"I...guess," muttered Luigi.

"Great!" Mia cheered, hiding her own misery and waking Roxi. "I think the bedrooms are in the back past the ‘back door'"

Luigi nodded and hummed nonchalantly in agreement.

"Coming?" Luigi asked drowsy Roxi.

"Mm-no," she chirped, "I think I'll be just fine on this couch."

"If you say so, Roxiness!" Luigi said, rising.

Mia had a look of disapproval and was about to announce something, but was cut off by an even louder clap of thunder. So, instead she retrieved a pale of water from the kitchen to douse the small fire. Returning, she also lugged the half-empty suitcases. Placing them before her daughter and husband, she then turned and briskly poured the glistening water upon the flames, making quick work of the fire and reducing the danger of a shack fire. She deposited the pale and the side of the fireplace and turned to see Luigi and Roxi rummaging through the suitcases, pulling out clothes and a few other things. Mia was eventually able to squeeze between them and shuffle about in one of the suitcases.

"Well...G'night!" Roxi said as her parents departed.

"And make sure you turn off any lights you use before you go to bed! I don't trust this leaky sha–er house!" Mia said, heading into the corridor.

Roxi nodded, already half asleep. A notebook and pen rested at her side that she retrieved from the suitcase. Sluggishly, she hoisted herself from the couch, along with the notebook and pen, and dragged herself to a nearby desk with a window behind it. She seated herself, turning on a web-covered lamp, watching the light, sparkling raindrops tap at the window. She set the opened notebook upon the table and immediately began to write.

"June 18, 1993... Only a few more days until my birthday. I'm so excited! I'll be 15! We've been on the road from Mexico for nearly 6 days now. We were able to rent a shack to stay at for a few days to rest. Moving ain't easy. All we have is two huge suitcases and a wad o' cash. It's sad that we had to move for the reason we did. And now we're so close to Lima! But we have to stay in this shack. Hopefully, we'll be able to leave tomorrow morning. I don't care what happens, I just want to get out of this shack!"

Roxi took a few minutes to emphasize her last punctuation.

With another sigh, she gazed up to look out the window. Bigger drops clung to the outside of the window(with the occasional sliding down the inside), dazzling brightly with the light of a lamp on a distant market. Her trance was broken when a large drop of water plunged from the ceiling and landed right in the middle of her journal entry. With a growl of disgust, she grabbed the notebook, tore away from the desk, and stormed back to the couch. Sitting, she set her book on the floor. Nestling into the couch, she nearly zoned out. Remembering the desk lamp, her heart jumped as much as she did. Bounding from the couch, she scuttled to the lamp and snapped it off. With another sigh and a glance out the crystal-like window, she slumped to the couch again, a few massive drop of water hitting the floor behind her.

The den was filled with darkness. Heavy tapping surrounded the entire shack, the stormy, low rumbling lilted in the distance. Roxi dozed off into a light but troubled sleep, the storm gradually coming to an end. Elsewhere, the roof slowly continued to drip with water for many hours. Down near the front door, the half shattered lightbulb continued to dangle from the ceiling by a near-bare wire, a nearby switch still in the "On" position. The water from the leaky roof lurked its way down the corridor. The rain subsided slightly, but the roof continued to act as an up-side-down river. It wasn't too long before the leakage flowed down the bare wire, drawing closer to the open-circuit bulb. With the storm's last burst of rage, lightning struck less than a quarter-mile away, surging energy throughout all nearby electrical systems.

The shack was no exception. From the wet, bare wires of the active bulb, a wave of sparks shot out. Landing upon the ancient wallpaper, it immediately caught fire. It quickly spread along the walls, up the long corridor. Raging flames jumped from wall to wall as the inferno crept through the hall. Already, the dining room walls were ignited. Dusty smoke poured from the flames, eventually making its way to the den.

Nearly choking to death in her sleep, Roxi rose with a start, finding it quite difficult to breathe. She soon found out why. Her eyes widened as she caught the glimpse of flames peeking around the corners of the corridor and kitchen. She closed her eyes tight in hope that it was all a dream. When she opened them again and still saw the fire, a lump formed in her throat. She tried to scream in terror, but no sound would come. Instead, she bound over the back of the couch and dashed into the corridor, heading opposite of the raging flames.

"Mom! Dad!" Roxi screamed with all of her might as she came near her parents' room. "Fire!"

"Er, huh? What?" Luigi snorted as he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Wh...What's all the commotion?" Mia yawned.

Roxi burst through the bedroom door,"Get up! Hurry! THE SHACK IS ON FIRE!"

Luigi screamed in terror as he bound from the bed(In quite cute star-patterned boxers), Mia staring at Roxi wide-eyed. Seeing as Mia wasn't going anywhere fast, Luigi whipped around and dragged Mia from the bed by the shoulder. Roxi dashed back down the corridor to the den slipping passed the flames. Luigi stopped at the boarded-up hole in the wall and pulled and tugged on them with all of his might.

"Argh! I boarded this blasted thing up too good! We can't get out through here!" Luigi yelled as Mia pointed out that the front door was blocked, too. Mia slid past the flames in a panic as Luigi punched at the wall around it.

"Roxi, what are you doing!?" Mia yelled to Roxi.

"This is all we have left! We can't afford to loose it!" she yelled back, frantically stuffing Mia's prized silverware set and other valuables into the suitcases by the couch.

"We, alone, might not be able to get out of here alive!"

Roxi looked around frantically. Her eyes caught the window.

"The window!"

Mia started dashing toward the desk with the window behind it, but before she got there, a massive flaming beam fell from the ceiling, crashing into the desk, blocking the window. She screeched to a stop and started looking around further, coughing rapidly.

"That's it! There's no way out!" Mia screamed.

"Don't give up yet!...Oh my goodness, where's daddy?"

"Luigi!"

Their yells were met by another. Luigi dashed into the den, heading toward the kitchen, his boxers on fire. The kitchen had a hardwood floor. It was also a target for the leaking roof. The yelling Luigi lost his balance when his foot met a puddle of water. Dancing around to keep his balance, he lost the fight when he crashed into the kitchen wall. Soon, a massive chunk of the wall crashed down to the outside along with Luigi, smothering the fire upon his boxers.

"Good work, dad!" Roxi hollered as the girls picked up the suitcases, the sound of sirens in the distance.

Luigi, in a nice pair of jeans, gazed at his watch as the ladies at his side watched the firefighters fight the fires. It was nearly 4:00 a.m. Luigi's mighty green truck was still safe behind the fire engines.

"Who knew something like this could happen?" Mia moaned.

"No one could have known...and I'm sure no one is at fault." Luigi said soothingly.

Soon, an official appeared before them. He asked simple questions, "Is anyone hurt? How did you end up here? Would you happen to know of any cause of the fire? Where are you from?"

It was 4:30 a.m. by the time the three of them squeezed into the truck, suitcases loaded into the back. They watched the last of the fires die down. With a heavy heart and a shaken mind, Luigi, Mia, and Roxi rode off into the sunrise.

"Hey!" Luigi said suddenly, "I think I know what was missing from dinner!"

Roxi gave him her inquiring look as Mia gave him a confused look.

"Mia's famous Toasty Buns!"

"I..uh...think they'd have to be Luigi's toasted buns..." Roxi giggled!

Another single snicker escaped from Mia's mouth. Luigi looked away in embarrassment, remembering well of nearly getting his buns toasted.

"...I liked those boxers, too!" he moaned.