Brian Donovan might have slept through the earthquake if it hadn't pitched him from the bed to the floor. Of course, had he been in his bed in his room, he would not have ended up in such an undignified position. However, an issue with bed bugs found him sleeping with his little sister, Sarah, and like most girls, she had hogged most of the bed, leaving him to hug the edge, hanging on for dear life to the tiny corner of the blanket she allowed him.
That being the case and his position precarious, the first of the quake did indeed send him to his sister's floor. He awoke just in time to rub his smarting elbow and cup his head protectively as the room seemed to cave in around him.
Alarmed, he tried to get to his knees. His sister had woke up screaming, and he tried desperately to get to her before giving up and hugging the floor in terror. It seemed like it went on forever, raining dust on him from the ceiling, leaving him to wonder if the whole damn roof would cave in. He later found that the quake had lasted two minutes, and he wasn't the only one who had been alarmed over the roof. Seven people had experienced a roof collapse. Fifteen had the whole dwelling destroyed.
All in all, e over twenty people in the town who were injured, and six wound up dying.
When the earthquake struck, all he knew his sister was crying, and he thanked God for that because it meant she wasn't dead. She was a pain in the ass, but all little sisters were pains in the asses. Being only a kid himself and just recently hitting the prestigious thirteen, he understood that the code of siblings clearly stated he could act like his little sister was a doody monster, but in real life, the life of grown-ups the life he figured he would live, his family was precious and needed his love and protection.
Just as the shaking stopped, his mother appeared at the slightly leaning doorway, white-faced and screaming for them. When she saw they were more or less okay, Brian was in the middle of the room a fair distance from the bed and covered in ceiling grit, and his sister was hugging the bedsheets, still screaming in fright. Some of her books had crashed down on her leaving her with a bloody nose but no real damage. He didn't even notice his bruises until his mother tearfully scooped him up with one arm and his sister with the other before hugging them, sobbing.
His father had spent the earthquake passed out drunkenly in front of their TV. Unsurprisingly, neither his mother nor he and his sister gave the old man a thought until later. In fact, they didn't think to check on him and merely gave him a curious glance as they made their way through the trailer to the front door.
Outside looked like a doomsday movie set. Almost all the trailers in the little park were leaning this way and that and debris, broken branches, and fallen palms were everywhere. Bewildered, they stared around, unable to believe what they saw. Earthquakes didn't happen in Florida. It was too flat and was more of a protrusion on the ass of the United States. They knew about hurricanes and floods, shark bites, and turtles on the road but earthquakes? Maybe the world was going to end in the year 2021.
"Mom?" Brian's voice was shaky, which was funny because he felt okay and why shouldn't he?
He was perfectly fine. He had just escaped death and at any moment the earthquake could come back and finish the job. His mother was okay, and his sister looked okay too; at least she was alive and...
He cleared his throat, surprised to taste tears, and tried again. "Mom?"
She looked at him sadly, perhaps comprehending the scope of the disaster more than he did. "God has warned us, Brian. We lost any chance to mend our ways, and we'd best be lookin' to his mercy."
That said, she hugged him and his silent sister harder to her breast and began to weep.
