Life As We Knew It

On March 17, Miranda announces that she is going into town. She has been inspired by her dream the previous night. Though the plan is madness, and the family tells her as much, she says she wants to see if there is any news from their father. She needs to know that life is continuing somewhere. Matt takes Miranda aside and she considers telling him that another reason for her going is the fact that they have a better chance if she dies. She probably does not have the strength to return home, and though she wants to die with her family, it would be better for her to die in town, so that her mother can think she’s safe if she does not return. Though Matt asks her if she will try to return, he says that Jonny will need the skis after they have all died, which means that Mirada will have to make the trek to town on foot. Though Miranda is initially annoyed that everything is about Jonny’s survival, ultimately she understands. She says her goodbyes and then heads to town.

The trip into town is grueling, and Miranda falls repeatedly in the snow. She looks at all of the empty houses, and wonders how many people have left and how many have died. She knows she cannot go to any of the occupied houses to ask for help, as she would be turned away, just as her family would turn someone asking for help away. She realizes that the family’s isolation has saved them so far. The people in town lived so close together that when disease and disaster struck, it affected everyone. She sees the streets in town littered with frozen pets that were left behind, and picks one up, but finds no meat on it. She is dejected when she finds that the post office is closed and sinks to the ground. Miranda wonders what the point of living is anymore, and thinks that the kindest thing she can do is to die right there, to give her family a fighting chance, just like the one Mrs. Nesbitt gave them when she died.

Just as Miranda has resigned herself to her fate, she notices something yellow flash down the street. She realizes it is a piece of paper, and follows it until she catches it. The paper says that the City Hall is open, and Miranda makes her way there before it closes. When she arrives, she finds the mayor and another man there, giving away food. Miranda is told the food program has been going on for four weeks, but no one really knows about it. Everyone is entitled to a bag a week, which means Miranda is entitled to four bags. The mayor says that the other man with him, Tom, will take her home, and if it is true that her family is still alive, they will also be entitled to bags of food. When the office closes, Tom takes Miranda home on a snowmobile, and Miranda sees her family standing at the door when she knocks. Tom confirms that everyone is alive and explains that they will get the bags of food they were entitled to from previous weeks and four bags a week from now on. Miranda’s mother cries and Matt thanks Tom. Jonny asks if they can have dinner and their mother says they can eat from now on.

On March 20, the family celebrates Miranda’s birthday. The electricity has been coming on sporadically, and though they are still worried about food, they have to be grateful that they are still alive and that things seem to be getting better. Miranda says she has to hope that the rest of her family is still alive and that things will get better for them all. She remembers Jonny asking her a while back why she wrote in her journal. At the time, she did not know. Now, however, she says that she writes to “remember Life as We Knew It, as we know it, for a time when I am no longer in the sunroom” (337).