“Kyla! You’re it!”
I taunted, touching the back of my friend. Soon we were all running away from her. I felt the wind on my face as I ran, my friends running with me.
“Lindaaaaa! You’re so unfair! I was eating turon!”
I pointed my tongue out to her, and began to run. I ran as fast as my seven year old legs could. When I saw mother, I hid under her skirt. She began laughing and held my head, hiding me from my friends. She then went inside, bringing my baby sister with her. My friends continued to run around, with Kyla still not tagging anyone else. I hid behind the chair now, as my mother came out of the house. I giggled as Kyla almost touched my other friend, but failed.
“Ha! I can see you Linda!”
Kyla suddenly said. She was about to reach out to me, when everything seemed to shake. I saw the little houses sway before me, and my mother lifted me up, my legs dangling. My heart began to beat super fast as my mom took me to the street, my head getting dizzy because of the moving.
“Stay here okay? I have to get your sister from upstairs.”
Just as my mom turned to leave, the earth shook harder, and a small crack showed on the ground.
“Mooooom.”
I said, my body quaking with the earth. She turned to me, and as she did I saw our house crumble down like stacked leaves. My mother’s face froze, her eyes never leaving mine. When she turned around, she collapsed on the road.
“Mooom! Mom!”
I ran to her like crazy, shaking her body. That was when I heard a small wail from a baby, and I remembered my sister. I quickly ran towards the crumbled house, the earth still shaking from below me. The cries began softer and softer, as if the nearer I got, the fainter her cries. I flipped everything I could get my hands on, the rocks, the wood and everything else. The earth stood still now, but I still felt my legs shake I was aware of my sore foot, as I lost my slippers somewhere in the rubble. I tried to listen for my sister’s cries, but my heart broke when I was met by silence.
“Oli?”
I said, trying to get a reaction from her. The earth shook again, this time softer and shorter. I looked around the Chocolate hills that were not that far away, and I was surprised to see a crack there too. Something so beautiful now had a damage. I pried my attention towards finding my sister, when I felt something soft upon my feet. I looked down, and saw that it was her pillow. I frantically dove into the pile of rocks, looking for my little sister. She had to be here! The tears in my eyes blinded my eyesight, but I still sobbed my way through. Suddenly, my hand felt something. Her hair. My hands immediately went stiff, my eyes wandering through the rubble.
When I saw an open eye looking at me, everything went black.
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The island of Bohol is just a boat ride away from our island, so when the 7.2 quake shook, we felt the house rocking like a chair-rocker. This story is fully fiction, although I could imagine it being more near to the truth as ever. Please pray for those in need, as we are wounded more than ever.
I could completely imagine your story being true and that is scary – I hope the Philippines come out of this ok.x
I am very glad that this story is fiction. You write so well that I am never sure if it is true or not.
Well done…thank you for sharing
I'm so glad that didn't really happen to you! I couldn't imagine something like that happening to me. All those poor people, may God be with them.
You are so skilled in writing! I just adore your stories…even when they have some sad elements like this. It has us hanging on your every word!
Wow! What a great story! I really want to read more!
Thanks for this. It helps others imagine what it was like.
WOW you had me sucked in with just a few paragraphs!!
Having been in several earthquakes myself in Southern California, this felt very real to me.<br /><br />My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the people in the Philippines that have been impacted by this recent earthquake.
We get a lot of small earthquakes here, but I don't know how I would react to something like this. Great job telling the story though! It really had me hooked.
You have great talent as a writer… wow!
Wonderful story. I love reading them so much! You're a great writer!
This gave me shivers to read. How absolutely terrifying! Really well written piece.
another very beautiful story to read from you,keep up the good job.
You have a wonderful way with words, this was haunting to read. Prayers for all suffering or affected by this. 🙁
Omg that's so scary! I love the way you wrote this as well. I hope you and your family are all okay x x<br /><br />www.belle-jeunesse.com
I actually just read about that earthquake on another blog. I had no idea that it even happened. I'm so out of touch with the world at times. Great story once again.
love this story and how you weaved in real life items into what you're writing right now.
What a gripping story, made me hold my breath hoping she found the baby. Earthquakes are terrifiying and horrific. I pray for those affected, lost and the ones left behind.
This is very scary because a lot of natural disasters have been happening around the world in recent times. Hopefully, some of the prevention that we learn before these things happen will prove to be useful if it ever does.
I love reading your stories. They are always so captivating. So glad you were not in any way impacted by the earthquake.