Thursday, June 24, 2010

Magnitude Part 2

The time was around 2:15 and, as I said before in part 1, I was watching the Bourne Ultimatum. The house was empty, not a mouse was stirring, not even a mouse. I, however, was stirring…a cool and refreshing drink for myself, that is. I walked over to the couch and resumed the movie. It was around this point that the couch started to shake. I could feel a light vibration rocking me back and forth. As I sat there, shaking, I took the time to look around me, there was no explanation in plain site. Still shaking, I tried to explain the rocking to myself. Perhaps the dishwasher…or the washing machine, but in order for one of these appliances to move the entire house they would have to make much more noise….and fire. Suddenly, the shaking stopped. Still, unaware of the source of the rocking, I got on my knees and looked under the couch. There was nothing there either. I would have investigated further if I wasn’t in the middle of a movie, but I was.
Shortly after resuming the movie I received a text message from my trusty Italian stoolie, Francesco. The text message wrote:

“Eh pison, you feel that earth-shake. Holy cannoli, I was just a spinnin’ my pizza dough when it happened. Now I got olive oil and pizza sauce all over my kitchen and pizza dough on my ceiling. What am I a gunna do?”

I tried to call and assure him that everything was going to be ok but these Italians, you cant talk sense to them, so I just hung up the phone. I knew that I needed to find out if there were any other survivors from the earthquake so I finished up my movie and turned on the news. I found myself watching testimonies of the survivors, many of them still walking about the streets, probably because they lost their houses. Then I saw some of the most shocking imagery of my life. (Note: if you are reading this aloud and there are children in the room you may want to continue reading as it is advised that young children are read to regularly.) There was a pharmacy in Ottawa that suffered major losses when over five bottles of shampoo fell off of the shelf. There was no word on whether or not the bottles broke but I assume they were rushed to the nearest hospital immediately. The image kept coming on to the screen, I just wanted it to stop. I called my friend Ryan about the earthquake but it seemed that he had been knocked unconscious by the earthquake hours before it struck and wasn’t awake for it.
The events that occurred on June the 23rd, 2010 should never be forgot. I am collecting donations that will go towards a memorial for those lost on this sad day in our lives.


Music:
M.I.A.

2 comments: