𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐘𝐂𝐀𝐓 ┆ short stories

𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 :: the day of disaster

     It felt like a wall of water was approaching me, towering over me, and I couldn't do anything about it. The eerie sound of a roar echoed around me. It sounded like a jet flying through the sky.

     You might be confused. Here's a little welcome to my world. Hi. I'm Spencer. Spencer Alves. I've lived an ordinary life in California for fifteen years until today, it became not so ordinary.

     "Ms. Alves?" My teacher calls, snapping me back to the present. "What do you think the answer is?". I look down and can't remove my eyes from my twitching fingers. I stare at my empty worksheet, focusing on the sounds of pencils scratching.

      "Twenty-seven..?" I answer with a very unsure tone. Just by her facial expression I can tell I already screwed up. The whole class erupts into laughter. Shame sets my cheeks on fire and vomit rises in my throat, a volcano ready to erupt. My head goes down as the volume of my classmates' laughter goes up. Indigo's hand shoots right up like a rocket.
     "Indigo?" My teacher asks.
     "One over thirteen!" Indigo exclaims with the cockiest tone ever. I feel a severe urge to smack that smug look right off of her face. My teacher grins at Indigo.

     BRRRING! sounds the bell. I dash out of the classroom with my face as red as a tomato, and rush out of the school. It's raining. The sky is a downcast gray, reflecting my mood. I take out my umbrella, focusing on the pitter-patter of raindrops hitting it.

     I reached my apartment building. I take the elevator. I get off on floor 10 and continue to my apartment. I hang my sopping wet umbrella on a hook and proceed into the kitchen. I am home alone- my mom has not come home from work, which means I have time to grab a book, run to my room and plop onto my huge, soft bed. When I'm reading, I'm in a whole new world, where anything can happen, and anything is possible. The second I open a book, all my problems melt away and I drift into another universe. It's magical, and that's why I love it.

     BEEEPPPP! My phone vibrates, shaking my nightstand. A notification illuminates the screen. The sharp, blaring sound continues for an eternity. A message appears on my phone stating, "EARTHQUAKE WARNING!".

     No. No. No. No. This cannot be happening. Right now is literally the worst time for an earthquake to happen. I've had a horrible day, I'm home alone, and I've never seen or been in an earthquake before. My day couldn't possibly get worse. I know I have a habit for overthinking, and overthinking doesn't help in these types of situations. Being the headstrong person I am, I can't manage to stop myself. A small tremor in the ground shifts my feet, or maybe the quivering is mine- I look down at my hands, which are writhing uncontrollably as if they don't belong to me. Fear builds up inside of me, welling up in my throat and behind my eyes. A tear slips out and trickles down my cheek. I watch the tear refract the sliver of light escaping the eerie gray clouds before falling to the ground. Each gust of wind signals a brewing storm. My intensifying terror glues my feet in place, making me feel numb, even though I want to run for my life. I don't know what to do.

     I finally come to my senses and scurry under a table. I tarry under it. My heartbeat pounds in my chest and rings in my ears. The earthquake will eventually stop, I tell myself. But no matter how many times I repeat this phrase in my head, I can't get my emotions to comply with logic. I suck in a breath and start counting.

One, two, three, four....

     Sixty seconds pass before the rumbling ceases. I peek my head out slowly. When I've reasoned with myself that it is alright to come out, I rush to my phone. Who am I kidding? I am still not convinced that the tremors will start again. I grab my phone and duck back under the table.

     Woah! 23 missed calls and 96 texts- that has to be a record. I notice a missed phone call from my mom and briskly call her back to let her know I'm okay. She tells me that, unfortunately, she can't come back home because she has to stay at work and help those who got injured during the earthquake, so I will be alone for a few more hours. I sprint to my TV and turn it on. All the news channels are discussing the earthquake, which isn't surprising.

     "We're getting news from Jonas Lapinski down near Crescent City about tsunami signals." News reporter Linda Rake states. She says a lot more but that's the only sentence my mind processed. No way that I could survive a tsunami all by myself, both physically and mentally. Then, once again, I hear an omen, a sound condemning me to doom. BEEEEPPPP!

     This can not be happening again. No way. I thought my day couldn't get worse, but the horrifying message "TSUNAMI WARNING" appears on my phone, proving me wrong. The more devastating information about it I read, the more tears spill down my cheeks. Maybe I should pretend it's not real, like I can simply open up a book and make this dreadful reality disappear, like I did earlier. I take three calming breaths and force myself to think, think, think. I rush to the elevator in my apartment building and press the button, focusing on the sound of my knuckles cracking as I wait.
     "The elevator isn't working honey, we need to go to a different building as soon as possible!" A lady exclaims.
     "Thanks," I say, my monotone voice and placid expression threatening to falter.

     I ran outside. I hear the sound of a baby crying and come screeching to a halt. The sound rings in my ears. I can't leave now- I know I would be overcome with great remorse if I didn't help. I run around the entire building searching for the baby, until, finally, I manage to track her down. I barge into the bathroom and slam the door wide open. The baby is sitting there in a stroller, her face so red it looks like it could burst any second. I pull my sleeve down and wipe the tears off her face, shaking her side to side, hoping to pacify her. I pick her up and bolt outside, rushing into the nearest building. I jump up the stairs. It's funny- it's like I'm in a ninja movie or something.
     "ALICE?" Someone shouts. It takes me a second to process that she's talking to me.
     "Excuse me?" I reply
     "Sorry, that's my baby, thank you so much for bringing her" the lady exclaims jumping on top of me giving me a giant hug. The warmth of her big puffy jacket comforts me.
     "Oh! Of course, I did what anyone else would do" I exclaim. Before I can ask any more questions, she takes the baby and runs away. I don't think much of it. Everyone's crowding away from the window, so of course I'm stuck next to it. I manage to sneak a couple peek's of the wave forming. Somehow, I think bringing Alice did really calm me down. Normally, in these types of situations, I would be freaking out, but I'm not. I jinxed it.

     WEEEEOOHHHHWEEEOOOHH! The building alarms go off. Lights are flashing everywhere, I gasp for air, feeling like I might just pass out. The waves combine, rising higher and higher, growing taller and taller. Like their ganging up on me. I don't know what to do, I scurry to a corner and close my eyes. Breathing in and out heavily, I feel like I'm in that one cliche movie you know? The one where something really terrifying happens, on the worst day ever, and it never gets fixed. And that makes me wish all movies aren't hours long. I hate the suspense, I just want it to be over. And for once, the world listens to me. The relieving sighs of people around me manage to relax me. Until someone finally announces,

      "It's over" I can't believe it. I can't believe that now I can say, I have been in a tsunami. I have seen a tsunami, and I have made it through a tsunami. 

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