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Just something I wrote


I felt odd all day, I had this feeling of anxiety, a premonition that somethng was going to happen. Something big. Something good, something bad, something life-changing. It could be anything. All I knew was that something was definitely going to happen. It kept me on edge all day even when I was out having dinner with some friends of mine.

It was around that time, that I felt like the chair I was on moved a bit, the table seemed to have wobbled too, but it didn't seem like anyone else had noticed, so I just put it down to feeling a bit light-headed. The conversation and laughter at the table continued uninterrupted until it happened again, but this time, everyone noticed. The table was shaking violently, as were the chairs we were sitting on, the dishes seemed to be trembling and the spoons and forks rattled. Suddenly, everyone began to scream and run helter-skelter. It was an earthquake and we were on the top-most floor of a posh restaurant. Many made a dash for the staircase, some crawled under their tables, some just stood rooted in their spots, shocked, not knowing what to do. I ran and took shelter under a huge wooden table that was in a conference room just off the main dining area. I closed my eyes and began to pray. Everything around me shook violently, I could hear things clatter to the floor, the floor seemed to be cracking. All of a sudden I felt someone beside me. The electricity had gone off, so I could see no one, but I could definitely feel a human presence by me. "Is someone here?" I called out loudly, hoping to be heard over the crashes, booms and the screams. "Yes," a voice replied. I soon began to feel the floor beneath me, give way and I screamed. A hand reached out and grabbed me, "Hold on to my hand," the voice shouted out. I found myself tumbling downwards, things falling, tiles, cement, stones. All the while, this stranger held on to me. He seemed unafraid. Maybe it felt that way because I couldn't hear much of anything other than the crashing building. I found myself buried under mountains of debris, entwined in the arms of this stranger. We had miraculously fallen in a small space through which we could breathe. During the fall, however, I hurt my leg and my arm, my chest felt bruised and every breath I took, made me shudder in pain. I was sure I had broken quite a few bones. "How badly hurt are you?" my strange companion asked, gasping for breath. "I don't know. I think I may have broken some bones. What about you?"
"I've hurt my knee and my back for sure. And I've hit my head, other than that I seem to be okay."
I nodded, though it was so dark, I am sure he didn't notice me nodding. "Don't let go of my hand," I whispered, fear apparent in my voice. "I won't," He promised. Minutes, passed, then hours, soon we lost track of time. For a long while we could hear the screams of others trapped like us beneath the rubble, shouts of people above the ground, later we could hear the dull thud of people lifting up and throwing away large boulders.