Somewhere in between 3

12.

There it was again.
The earth shook.
This time it was more violent.
As if the houses were about to collapse.
It was the middle of the night and suddenly this tremor.
Picture frames fell off the walls.
Vases smashed on the floor.
People were torn from their sleep.
The mother woke up in a panic and looked around.

What was that?
Was it another earthquake?

Her heart was pounding wildly.
The picture she and her husband had taken of their wedding day had fallen off the wall and was now lying in pieces in front of the bed.
She looked outside into the dark night. It seemed quite peaceful.
But it was quite the opposite.
She slowly got out of bed and slipped into her slippers.
She had to check on her son.
She carefully opened the bedroom door and scurried over to the neighboring room.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw her son cowering in bed.
"My baby," she whimpered and hugged him tightly.
"Mommy! I'm so scared..." he sobbed and held onto her tightly.
"It's going to be okay, sweetheart. Nothing's happened," she tried to reassure him and stroked his hair.
But she was worried.
The second earthquake in a week.
Something was wrong, she knew that for sure.
"Can you stay with me a little longer?" asked the little boy as a tear ran down his cheek.
"Of course, my darling. I'll stay as long as you need me," she replied gently and wiped the tear from his face.
She looked over at the bedside table and noticed the superhero magazine she had once bought him in the supermarket.
A smile spread across her lips.
But at that exact moment, it happened again.
The earth shook again and this time so violently that the mother lost her balance.
Her son panicked and began to cry violently.
She panicked too and could barely contain her fear. But she had to do it. For her son.
When the shaking stopped, she jumped straight up and hugged her little boy tightly to her chest.
"It's okay, my darling. It's okay. Mommy is here. I'll protect you."
It was amazing how calm her voice sounded under all that fear.
Her son was still crying hard and barely calming down.
Then she took the superhero magazine from the bedside table and suggested he leaf through it with her.
"What do you think?" she smiled.
The little boy wiped away his tears and nodded in agreement.
They both crawled under the covers and switched on the lamp right next to them.
The boy snuggled up close to his mother and gazed spellbound at the drawings in the notebook.
"Look at this. That's Iron Man...and that's Captain America...""And that's Dr. Strange!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, making his mother laugh.
She was there for her son at that moment and would protect him.
But she hoped that Spider-Woman would show up soon and protect them all.
Including the planet.
She was their last hope...
The quake subsided and after a while they were able to calm down again.
But what happened that night was not ordinary. What happened to the planet in this power was terrible. It was cruel...

- The next morning -

The panic of the night has subsided somewhat, but the topic was on everyone's lips.
Too many earthquakes have happened recently for anyone here to call it "normal".
Questions have been asked and theories put forward.
But there was no plausible answer to any of them.
But what nobody seemed to notice that night was all over the media the next afternoon.

⚠️WARNING⚠️
Cracks have appeared in the ground. Already up to 7 meters deep...

———————————
A little appreciation to all the mothers out there that put their own feelings and needs aside to be there for their little ones🫶🏼
Go and hug your parents <3