Moving Day

The mudslide that forced Devin's family to move out of their house was added several years into the project. Originally, Devin's family decided to move so that they could be closer to family. Therefore, in the early versions of The Narrows Escape, there was a "moving scene" in which the family packed up their stuff and left. The purpose of the scene was to help the reader feel the conflicting emotions Devin felt about moving to California. On the one hand, he was moving closer to his cousins. On the other, he was leaving behind his best friend, Kevin. Although the move isn't a key plot line in The Narrows Escape, it is one of the main themes in the second book - currently entitled "Drake's Treasure." Here is the deleted scene:

Devin said “good-bye” to the friends who came to see them off. Then he climbed into the passenger seat of their jam-packed, maroon station wagon. His mom was driving, and his sisters were bunched up in the middle seat. The back seat was down so that they could cram more things into the car. Dad and Shane were driving the camper, which was stuffed as full as a Thanksgiving turkey. Even then, they had to rent a small trailer, which hooked onto the back of the truck, to help transport all their “necessities.”

“I don’t know how the pioneers did it,” said Mom after she and Dad finally managed to slam shut the back door of the station wagon.

“They didn’t bring dollhouses,” Devin said, glancing back at his sisters.

“Or Star Wars stuff,” retorted Kendal, even though the dollhouse in question belonged to her younger sisters.

“At least Star Wars stuff is cool,” Devin retorted defensively. Ever since Return of the Jedi came out the previous month, he and Kevin had gone on a collecting binge. Although the figures didn’t take up a lot of room, his dad had also made a comment about how they might have to rent another whole truck for Devin’s Star Wars stuff alone. Devin knew he was kidding, but he didn’t appreciate Kendal giving him a hard time about it too.

Devin’s mom shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. Devin quickly rolled down his window and waved “goodbye” to his friends as the car slowly picked up speed.

“Don’t forget to write!” called out Kevin.

“I won’t!” Devin yelled back. He wondered if Trey and Brady would mind if he and Kevin borrowed one of their old DTB codes to write letters in. He knew Trey wouldn’t care, but Brady could be a bit paranoid about such things. But only if he finds out, realized Devin. He decided that what Brady didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him.

As they turned the corner, he felt an emptiness fill his chest. Although he had known for several weeks now that they were leaving, it hadn’t really sunk in until now. Suddenly he felt the gloom wrap around him as he thought about how much he was going to miss his friends, his house, his home.

Minutes dragged into hours as Devin successfully parried his mother’s attempts at conversation so that he could sulk in peace. It wasn’t until they reached St. George that his mind began entertaining thoughts of sunny California, and how much fun he and his cousins were going to have. Slowly at first, the gloom faded away, and was replaced with the excitement of beginning a new life, in a new house, in the state he had always dreamed of living in “when he was older.”

By the time they reached the California border, he could almost taste the excitement that swirled around the car, coloring every aspect of their conversation. He even joined his sisters in a cheer as they passed the large sign welcoming them into their new state.