“Mae, get ready. We’re leaving now,” said Mae’s mother as she frantically packed up their bags with snacks and extra water bottles. “Do you have your sunscreen on? It’s going to be super hot when we get there,” she said. 

Mae rolled her eyes and replied, “Yes, you already asked me four times, and Dylan also has it on. I'm ready to go.” She slung her backpack over her shoulder and walked to the minivan, which was scorching in the summer heat. She looked out the open window of the car, admiring the huge palm trees and tall, lush grass. There was a salty breeze coming from the direction of the ocean. Suddenly, Mae’s mom interrupted the moment of peace by slamming the car door closed, followed by Dylan hopping into the back seat, making engine noises with his mouth and playing with his toy truck. In a split second, the toy truck was out of his grasp and bouncing off of the back of Mae’s head. 

“Dylan,” Mae yelled, "you're so annoying!” She threw the truck to the backseat next to him and scoffed. “Aren’t vacations supposed to be relaxing?” She said as she scoffed and crossed her arms. Dylan was laughing in the back. 

“Remember he’s only six, Mae. You were the same,” her mother replied. She turned on the car and pulled out of the driveway. 

“Whatever. At least we get to go to the beach now. I've been waiting since we landed here,” said Mae while looking out the window. 

“So have I,” her mom said. “I've always wanted to go to Venice Beach. I mean, all the beaches here in California are totally beautiful.” 

As they pulled into the parking lot of the beach, Mae could already hear the music blasting and the people talking. The beaches were incredibly crowded because of other tourists coming to Los Angeles for spring break. They got out of the car and started walking across the hot, soft sand in the direction of the ocean. Her mother set up an umbrella right near the pier, and Mae propped up the beach chairs. Dylan took out his toys from his bag and started playing with them. Her mother sighed in relief as she sat down in the beach chair. “This is really nice,” she said while smiling. Mae closed her eyes and slept for a while. 

When Mae woke up an hour later, neither her mom nor Dylan had moved. Dylan was still playing with his trucks, and her mom was reading a magazine in the seat next to her. There was a sudden strong wind, blowing everything to the right. Grains of sand were hitting Mae’s skin from the side, and her hair was tangled from being thrown about by the wind. Mae looked to the left and saw a huge, daunting black cloud approaching. 

“Mom, did you check the weather for today?” Mae asked while sitting up straighter in her chair, trying to get a better look at the cloud.

 “Of course I did, it's supposed to be sunny all day,” replied her mother nonchalantly. Her eyes were glued to the magazine. “Why?” 

Mae pointed to the huge cloud, now flashing with streaks of lightning, approaching their way. “Because of that.” 

Mae’s mother was about to reply when her brother interrupted. “Mommy, why’s the water going away?” Dylan asked, pointing at the ocean. Mae looked ahead and froze. The ocean, from just a couple yards away from their umbrella an hour ago, was now over 100 yards away. Seaweed and seashells scattered the sand where the ocean once was. People around Mae and her family didn’t seem to care, though, and kept partying and playing games as if nothing was wrong. 

“I'm not sure sweetie, low tide maybe?” Mae’s mother replied, trying to reassure Dylan, and directed her attention back to reading the magazine. “Nobody else is panicking,” she said, “so I'm sure it's a normal thing here in California.”

Mae’s stomach was doing flips. She knew something wasn’t right. She looked to her left and the storm had moved what seemed like 10 miles in a minute. The wind was increasing rapidly, almost shaking the umbrella out of the ground. Her mother’s magazine’s pages were flipping violently in the wind. “Mom, I don’t think this is normal. Anywhere. We should go.” Mae got up and started packing her chair and bag. She had to stop when she heard people screaming. She looked up to see people pointing at the ocean in complete horror. Some people were desperately trying to pack up their things, while some were leaving without any of them. She turned around to see what was the cause of all the panic; a small, mountain-like figure in the distance. It stretched horizontally as far as the eye could see in the horizon. Mae squinted trying to see what it was. That’s when she heard the sound of rushing water. It wasn’t a mountain; it was a tsunami. “Mom, oh my god!” she shrieked, cupping her hands over her mouth. Her mom looked up and yelled, causing Dylan to start crying. At that point, the storm was right over them, and a torrential downpour began out of nowhere. 

“Mae go start the car right now!” Mae’s mom picked up Dylan in her arms and started running towards the car. It all looked like a massacre. People were on the ground, tripping over each other, pushing each other out of the way to get to their cars. Police sirens were wailing, and four ambulances were parked in the lot. People were breaking glass to get into cars and drive away to what they thought was a safer place. Mae ran to where her car was, but let out a sob when she found the spot empty. She turned around to see her mother still running with Dylan in her arms toward her. The streets were already flooded from the rain, and it was as dark as night outside with the massive storm cloud overhead and the power lines already falling over, killing the power supply of the city. Her mother started yelling to her, but Mae could barely hear her over the complete chaos of the situation. “Keep running towards the city!” Mae’s mom shouted as Dylan was screaming in terror in her arms. Mae looked past her mom to see the wave; now towering over some of the sailboats near the pier, the sound of the water intensifying. Everyone around them was running for their lives, jumping over cars and throwing themselves into the ambulances for some sort of protection. Mae and her mother looked at each other, sobbing like never before; sobbing like never again. Mae’s mind raced as she thought of a solution. Every choice led to certain death. Everyone around them had realized their fate, too; the end of mankind. Just like that, it was over. All of them stood, facing the tsunami, watching as it destroyed everything caught in its path. 

“Mom, what do we do?” Mae was stuck in place, staring at the catastrophic tsunami rushing towards them, seemingly in a trance. The wave was almost above them, the cold mist cooling her face. It was a wall of water and death.

“There's nothing we can do,” replied a man standing next to them. “It's doomsday.”