Vesuvius

It all started with the shaking.

The Earth shook. Rumbled. It trembled like a weak frightened puppy in the relentless cold, or a furious monster holding back from unleashing an outrage. No one had payed attention to the signs. The warnings. The threats. When the first screams of terror rang out, the rampaging destruction had begun and then suddenly there was no escaping. No changing the fate of the inevitable.

Fire ripple ferociously across the roofs of the buildings, igniting everything in its grasp ablaze. The people unbeknownst to this took shelter in their houses, ducking under their furniture and waiting for the chaos to stop. The chaos never stopped. The chaos grew.

A boy and his mother sat dead silent in the corner of their home, protected only by a simple table. They were aware of the panic in the air. The death. But they blocked it out. Wafts of choking smoke spilled into the room as a large crash bombed somewhere near them. Splinters of wood and pieces of tephra exploded at the house’s entrance, sending one of the walls toppling down as if it was made of cards. The mud bricks collapsed, bringing a shelf of fragile pottery with it. The petrified mother and child watched. Watched in silence.

“M-Ma,” the boy whispered, making an effort to break that strangling silence, “your favourite vase broke…”
The woman clutched the child closer to her thundering heart, “I know, sweetheart…”
“Is that why you’re crying?”

The boy caressed her cheeks gently, wiping away her hushed rolling tears she was too numb to feel, “Don’t worry Ma, when Pa gets back, we can all fix it together!”
The mother couldn’t help but smile. It was a smile full of hopelessness. Desperation. Yet determination to not let her only son see her fear too. “Thank you… I… I’m sure my vase will be as good as new…!”

Hungry tongues of fiery claws had seeped into the building circling the two and eager to consume. The smoke and the ash flooded the house, suffocating. The mother and son were sent into a fit of coughs, the radiating light playing with their bobbing shadows. The ground beneath them continued to jitter.

“J-Just you… Wait Ma…! It’ll be great…!” The boy strained to speak between his coughs.
“I’ll be waiting, sweetheart… I’ll be waiting…” The woman replied quickly, tucking him into a tight embrace that made him giggle faintly. If this was truly their last living moments, her precious boy’s giggling was the only thing she wanted to hear.

When the giggling stopped, everything was gone.

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