Confessions

13. It won't stop shaking

Wednesday 3rd of June 2021

Stefania had fallen down on her bedroom floor, twisting her ankle at the same time while she tried to catch herself with her arms. The whole house continued to shake, as she tried to stand up again gripping onto her bed with one hand to find some balance, her other hand still holding her phone. She heard her papa screaming "Stefania! Get down here, we need to go outside," making her way down the stairs, holding onto the railing so she could keep somewhat of a balance.

"Papa!" she shouted trying to find him, her eyes scanning the room. She made her way to the front door where he was holding onto the doorknob, reaching his arm out for his daughter. Grabbing onto his arm, she felt herself being pulled by her father, safely making their way out of their house.

They were stood in the middle of the street, families and pets surrounding them. "Papa, are you okay? Are you hurt?" she worriedly asked, scanning him up and down to see for her own eyes. "I'm fine bambina, are you?" rubbing his daughters back, holding her close with his other arm. Her ankle was throbbing and thought it was best to not put her full weight on it til she could hopefully cool it later. "It's just my ankle, I fell when I wanted to go downstairs,"

Her papa wanted to bring them both down to the floor but Stefania quickly stood up again, scared of the way the shaking of the ground felt while sitting down. "Pa- papa I can't sit down," her dad comforted her, pulling her into a hug. Her papa had experienced earthquakes before, for Stefania this was new.

After five minutes the shaking stopped. "Come on bambina, let's sit on the ground for a bit. You need to lift your ankle up," but his daughter wouldn't cooperate. "It won't stop shaking. I can still feel it, it's still shaking," her breathing started to get heavy. She was losing control, her anxiety taking over. She tried to come back from the anxiety taking control over her and let her mind wander to a special someone.

"Dani- I want Danielle," she managed to get out. "Stefania," he held his daughters face, "You need to sit down with me now," he said firmly. The change of tone in his voice instantly making her obey her father. He brought his daughter down, putting her ankle on his lap, she winced in pain while he did.

To Stefania, it still felt like the floor and therefore her body was shaking. It was like her body couldn't calm down. With a big earthquake, after shocks were bound to happen so everyone in the street gathered together, handing out some drinks and food. Children slowly started playing together.

"I just spoke to your brother and sister, they're all fine," he said with relief lacing his voice. "Okay okay, that's good," she replied, her shoulders slowly becoming less tense knowing that the rest of her family was okay, at least for now.

A few hours had passed by, people slowly making their way back inside. Stefania and her papa saw that their family home, from the outside, was still intact, much to their relief. The inside however, was not as it was before the earthquake. Decorations hung on the wall had fallen down, some jars with herbs in the kitchen were all over the floor. That however, did not matter as much as their priced possessions that were luckily still safe and intact.

Cell services were down, 30 minutes or so after the earthquake. Luckily, they were able to get ahold of their family before, knowing that they're safe. Stefania wanted to call Danielle, to let her know that she was okay. She had to stifle a giggle, finding it quite ironic that she was worried about the blonde while she just experienced an earthquake.

After cleaning up the house she cooked a meal for her papa who was feeling the after affects now, suddenly being very tired. While he was asleep she made her way outside to see if she could help her elderly neighbors. She had known them since she was a child. They were grateful for her coming over, helping with cleaning up the house.