Quake

• Lisa Wright, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2011

My wife was late that day. She failed her work case. It seems like she was punished for it. In a way. It still terrors me to think about it. If she was able, this would be her story...

Engines and sirens rumbled. Early sun, coming up above the skyscrapers. The city was waking up from an endlessly noisy sleep. The black rats climbed out of brown paper bags, ready for a day of uneventful scavenging. Offices opened, work began, another toneless day. No rhythm. Several minutes later, my coffee mug crashed from my desk to the floor. The big quake was here. It lasted very few seconds. The longest seconds of my life. I heard screams, shrieks. Then darkness fell. The world was gone. I was trapped in my own micro-universe.

I woke. I felt hard, cold stone against my cheek, like it had been there for hours. I could not move. I was paralysed. My legs were clearly smashed. I could just move my eyes. I felt that my work mates hand had fallen on to mine. He was looking at me from under stone. His eyes were filled with terror. Then more stone fell on to his head. Just like that, his eyes lost life. Instinctively, I tried to move away. But my fingers were unmistakably crushed. Seconds, minutes, even hours went by. The excruciating pain would not leave my soul. I saw a single, round drop of blood next to my eyes. So simple, perfect. Like from a paper cut. I did not know what was happening outside my cage of unbreakable stone. My hand still touched my friend. If I could have, I would have moved it. I was touching an empty shell. Then it happened all too quickly. Like a shooting star. You can never see it in slow motion. There was a solid crack, and my head split when the ceiling fell. It had to happen. I floated towards the luminescent light. It was my unpredicted destiny. I could not hold on. I could not breathe. Once again, I was trapped. The white light encompassed me. I was free once more. Happy.

By Lisa Wright
Huntingdale Primary School
12th March 2010