{"id":1771,"date":"2014-02-18T00:38:09","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T00:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web02.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters2\/archives\/1771"},"modified":"2015-05-24T07:10:38","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T07:10:38","slug":"an-earthquake-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/archives\/1771","title":{"rendered":"An earthquake in life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The earthquake hit at 8 a.m. It was a Sunday and I was at home. My two<\/span>–<\/span>year<\/span>–<\/span>old sister and 80<\/span>–<\/span>year<\/span>–<\/span>old grandma were at the next room. Grandma was playing with Mary, stroking Mary\u2019s chubby cheeks with her long wrinkled finger<\/span>s<\/span> before the earthquake and I was just busy checking out the newest songs on the <\/span>I<\/span>nternet. Dogs were barking outside and neighbour<\/span>s<\/span> were chatting. Everything was so peaceful and normal. It all seemed to be just another regular day when I felt sudden shudder. It was short, lasted only for 3 seconds, but quite shocking. I had no idea what was going on, thinking the shudder was just the drilling from the construction site nearby<\/span>.<\/span> I glued my eyes to the screen once more. However, a sort of strong vibration started again and pictures started dropping from the walls. Books flew off the book shelves and loud clashes were heard. It was then I realized that I was experiencing an earthquake and immediately I covered my head and ducked under my bed. Feeling terrified, my heart pounded hard and my eyes reddened, wanting to cry. <\/span>\u2018<\/span>Where are my parents when I need them?<\/span>\u2019<\/span> I shrieked silently but I knew that there was no time to complain or panic. I ha<\/span>d<\/span> to leave this house as soon as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Summoning up my courage, I c<\/span>rawl<\/span>ed out of my bed and screamed for Grandma and Mary. They didn\u2019t answer me. I yelled at the top of my lungs over and over <\/span>again <\/span>but still there was no reply. Despite the loud earthquake and the <\/span>collapse of things in <\/span>my house, I could hear no human voice. My heart dropped like an elevator, descending to the very low bottom. <\/span>\u2018<\/span>Are they \u2026dead?<\/span>\u2019<\/span> I wondered depressingly. At that particular thought, my whole body weakened, as if someone had captured my so<\/span>ul<\/span>, I dropped down to the dust and rubbles, with streaming tears. I know I should make a run for the door and leave this house before I g<\/span>o<\/span>t squished by it but I was unwilling to take another step. I was too devastated that I actually wanted to give up my own life.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Crashes of furniture and cracking of buildings continued but I just s<\/span>at<\/span>on<\/span> the floor soullessly. Clutching my head, I cried my eyes out and formed pools of muddy water on the floor, with the bits of dust and cement in it. As I looked at my tiny reflection, I thought of all the great memorable times I had with Mary and Grandma. Pictures of <\/span>ours<\/span> going to the park, eating ice-cream and playing games flooded my head. Suddenly, I saw Grandma talking to me, <\/span>\u2018<\/span>What are you doing here? It\u2019s dangerous now. Darling, you should never give up your life like that<\/span>. C<\/span>herish it, I mean<\/span>. Y<\/span>ou only live once, right?<\/span>\u2019<\/span> And her face faded.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That certain imagination was the wake up call I needed and I bounced up and rushed to the door in a split second.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When I <\/span>left<\/span> the home containing all my childhood memories, I looked back to bid farewell. Just after I turned my head back to run away for help, a ginormous \u201cCrash\u201d was heard. My dear house had crashed down. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I could not even think about Grandma and Mary inside the house, fearing the more I th<\/span>ought<\/span> the higher chance I would faint. The earthquake finally stopped but it left my heart shuddering greatly. Not far away, I saw a group of neighbours assembling and I joined them. Neighbours were comforting and hugging each other, all releasing their fear. My next door neighbour<\/span>,<\/span> M<\/span>r<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span> Yeung<\/span>,<\/span> saw me and hugged me tight. Tears streamed once more and my head spun but I could feel a little comforting<\/span>,<\/span> which I lacked for the past 10 minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/span>It\u2019s alright dear<\/span>.<\/span> I know it\u2019s horrifying and frightening, but at least your whole family is ok,<\/span>\u2019 <\/span>she comforted <\/span>me <\/span>in a soothing voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/span>My family\u2026<\/span>my family is ok?<\/span>\u2019<\/span> I screamed out loudly, with my eyes wide open. As soon as I finished my question, I could see at the corner of my eyes, two familiar faces, Grandma and Mary.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I gasped in delight as I flung my arms around them. <\/span>\u2018<\/span>Oh my goodness, it is a miracle! You two are alive! You guys survived! How? When? Where did you go?<\/span>\u2019<\/span> I uttered questions continuously, not waiting for grandma to reply. Actually, I didn\u2019t really care if she answered them<\/span>.<\/span> I was just glad that they<\/span> were<\/span> alive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After I settled down my feelings, l looked back at our lovely neighbourhood. Yesterday, it was a beautiful street, with colourful houses and flowers. Now it looked like a junkyard, with dust in the air and gloominess in the atmosphere. However, all of this didn\u2019t matter to me<\/span>. T<\/span>he most important thing <\/span>wa<\/span>s that my family and I <\/span>were<\/span> safe and sound. I grabbed Grandma\u2019s hand and kissed little Mary on her cheek and smiled merely. Tears flooded my eyes again, partly due to the relief I fe<\/span>lt<\/span> as my family <\/span>was<\/span> right next to me and partly due to the shame I fe<\/span>lt<\/span>. I nearly gave up my life, just because of s<\/span>o<\/span>me devastating news. I fe<\/span>lt<\/span> ashamed that this thought had ever popped out of my head, and pledged to myself to cherish my precious life from now onwards.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The earthquake hit at 8 a.m. It was a Sunday and I was at home. My tw<\/span><\/span>yea<\/span><\/span>old sister and 8<\/span><\/span>yea<\/span><\/span>old grandma were at the next room. Grandma was playing with Mary, stroking Mary\u2019s chubby cheeks with her long wrinkled finge<\/span><\/span>before the earthquake and I was just busy checking out the newest songs on .........<\/span><\/p>Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":8474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","language-en","classlevel-others","schoolyear-35"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3405,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771\/revisions\/3405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.carmelss.edu.hk\/buddingwriters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}