FEBRUARY 6, 2012
The scene was in total chaos.
It looked like the end of the world.
God, I thought the city was filming a scene for a sequence to the movie 2012—except that there were no cameras around or any special effects. It was for real. I stood there outside of the shops trying to think straight.
What are they doing?
What’s going on?
I was starting to feel uneasy. People were running around like crazy. Some were screaming “tsunami”. Others were obviously scared and out of their wits. And some were crying for the things and people they had left.
This was a dream. A nightmare, I thought. But for like a millisecond, reality sunk in. I turned to see my companion uttering a prayer. With a nod, the three of us joined the mob. We ran. It was like the only choice we could make as of that moment. If we stay put or walk, we might get hurt and trampled by the people and vehicles. Running for awhile now, I felt completely out of breath.
This is no use, I thought. I might faint if we don’t stop.
“Let’s ride a jeep!” I blurted out to my companions. I stopped to look for a jeep, but the only visible ones were speeding away. Catching our breaths, we decided to walk. People have become restless. The look on their faces showed fear. I winced. This isn’t helping at all. If I have to stay calm, I have to focus—I shouldn’t let other people sway me. Taking a deep breath, we sped up again.
Lord, is this it?
I silently asked. If I were to die, I thought. I do not want to die afraid. Then, like an answered prayer, a jeep came and the driver was shouting for us to hop in. Of course, we didn’t think of anything except to accept his offer.
Calm down. Calm down. Think.
I took my phone and texted a lot of people—my friends, teachers, my mom who was in the same city as me, my siblings and dad who were miles away from me.
It all happened to fast, I guess. During lunch, there was an earthquake. Not strong enough to destroy a building, but at that time, it somehow left an impression that, that day wasn’t going to be one of our typical school days. Hours later, everyone thought it was over. We first decided to go home, but then changed our minds since we remembered we had a project to accomplish. And while we were already in one of the stores to buy some supplies, it happened. I did remember myself saying that what I fear most would be the effect of the earthquake—what if a tsunami comes?
I shook my head.
You and your crazy ideas. You can’t die yet. You still haven’t fulfilled what you’re meant to do, Shane! Pull yourself together, will you?
It was a shock to know that our place wasn’t the only one who had an earthquake. The neighbouring islands did too. As we rode the jeepney, my thoughts began to race.
What about mom? Dad? My siblings? Are they okay? What about the others? Are they experiencing this too? God, let them be safe. Please keep them safe.
I closed my eyes and breathe deeply—I was about to cry. My phone vibrated. I opened the message.
MOM: Don’t panic. Pray. Meet you in the boarding house.
I exhaled. Whenever the phone vibrated, I felt more relaxed. The jeep was now full of passengers; they were trying to calm each other down. I smiled. I just realized how funny it was. My two companions were trying to ease the troubled passengers. A few were babbling about the coming tsunami. I wanted to yell.
