Heroes For Humanity

A sudden thump, almost a shake, she felt. She turned and changed her side in a calm response, as though she knew she felt something, it still wasn’t strong enough to pull her out of that sweet subtle sleep she was in. Another vibration, her closed eyes twitched a little this time, yet she chose to ignore it. She felt it again this time it had a greater impact. That’s it, whatever annoying thing it is; it had finally broken the spell and had waked her up, which certainly didn’t please her.

She was only rubbing her eyes when she noticed one of her antique figurine kept on one of the corner tables across her bed, shaking. It was just going to fall from the corner, but she caught it right in her hand and kept it on her bed. Anna White just cares about everything that belongs to her too much. Even a little scratch on her possessions can give her a mini heart attack. Last time a photo frame accidentally broken by Chase made her cry for 2 hours. She even tried to hit Chase as bad as she could, though he is 4 years elder to her, but at such situations, Anna believes age is just irrelevant. “Hurt my things and I hurt you back” she likes to call her motto.

She thought that maybe her brother Chase is again listening to his stupid, ear deafening: loud music. As usual, another attempt of Chase to ruin her calm peaceful, very much required for her proper growth sleep. Why can’t he just go somewhere and let her sleep till her heart’s content, she thought to herself almost annoyed with the behavior of her brother. She stood up and just barged out of her bedroom, all ready to shout at him when she had a sudden realization of the most obvious fact. Bugger, she can’t shout at him now.

“Later looser” she mumbled as she went back in her room. This time she again felt a vibration. This one was more elaborate, clearer.

There was no sound of any music so it can’t be Chase, it’s something else. She came downstairs to look for her mother. But everyone was sleeping as it was just 3 am in the morning. So she went near the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. She drank it and kept it on the table. She sat on one of the chairs and started with her homework of writing an article which she left on the table last night before going to sleep. She only wrote about half a page when she felt another vibration. It was stronger than the earlier ones. The water bottle on the table felt down. All the water was now on the article she just wrote. But this didn’t bother her a bit. Now she knew it was not anyone’s music players it was not anyone’s woofers work. She was just in her thoughts when she had another jerk which was able enough to make her topple from her chair and fall on the floor. Before she could react a glass plate kept on the shelf slid and fell on the floor crashing into pieces. Horrified, she understood what it was.

“MOM….DAD” she screamed while still on floor.

“CHASE!!!!!” she screamed out of fear. She knew what was going on. She understood that this was nothing else but an earthquake. She didn’t know what to do.

“CHASE…!” she shouted again.

Chase was on the stairs. He was streaming down when he felt the stairs shaking. He was about to topple on the stairs but he quickly took the support of the railing.

“What was that..?” he said looking towards Anna who was still on the floor.

“It’s an earthquake” Anna answered him.

“DAD!!” Chase screamed.

Their mother, Lisa came down and saw Chase and Anna sitting under the table. She understood that it is an earthquake as she too felt something when she was in her room. She quickly came under the table and asked Chase and Anna if they are ok. They both nodded yes.

“Mom…Where’s dad?” Chase asked looking worried. Anna also got tensed. They both know that their father was a doctor and he had to go for emergency even at midnights.

“He went….For…An…..Emergency….”Lisa said realizing that it was not good. Her eyes got widened.

“omg!! Mom…What…”Anna stammered. Lisa and Anna were going mad on this thought that Mathew was not in home.

“Mom…Anna…Calm down ok. He will be fine. Don’t worry about him.” Chase said trying to handle the drastic situation. But clearly he himself was scared. There were constant vibrations and things were just falling apart. He came out of the table and ran to the couch in their left.

“Chase…What are you doing??” Anna said.

“Come back here…Right now!” Lisa shouted.

He quickly grabbed the phone in his hand and in one swift motion he was back under that strong table.

“I…Am…Ok! I got the phone.” he said while dialing Mathew’s no. He held the phone for about 2 minutes, then again dialed the no. But no one replied.

“What happened he is not answering the phone…” Lisa said with her shaking voice. She was badly paranoid and was not able to think.

“Mom…Please don’t worry he is ok! It’s just because of the networks…You know…” Anna said while holding Lisa’s hand and trying to calm her down. Then there was huge noise. The building that was just next to their building collapsed. Through their window which was on 6th floor they saw it hitting the ground and everything was covered with dust. Anna’s face was pale. She saw towards chase.

He saw towards her but he could not say anything as he too didn’t know what was going to happen. For the next hour, they sat there and saw everything of their house falling and breaking into thousand pieces. Chase was holding Anna, he knew she could not see her house breaking like this the plates, Lisa’s favorite dinner sets the beautiful wooden shelves and the decorative things kept on them by Anna, there photo’s, their traditional lamps that Anna and Mathew were really fond of, everything was laying in front of them as one mess. Lisa was still trying to call Mathew but there was no reply, however it didn’t she stop her.

One of the pillars that were in the corner was going to fall. But it was really far from the table under which they all were sitting so when it fell down there was no threat to them; accept a few pieces of broken bricks which came flying over them. But they were not badly hurt. They now knew that they have to leave the building right now. It was not safe under the table anymore. The pillars are already cracking up, which means that the beams and the slab wouldn’t hold up for long.

“Mom…We have to get out of here.” Chase said.

Lisa couldn’t say anything. She still had that phone on her ear waiting for Mathew to answer. It was a little quite now the earthquake seemed to be gone for a while. Chase came out of the table with his hand on his head trying to protect it. Then he turned and gave Anna a hand so that she could come out as it was a huge pile of mess of broken things all over. Anna also came out with her hands on her head just like chase. Then he saw towards Lisa.

“Maa” he said as he once again held his hand out for her mother. Lisa, still holding the phone, almost consumed in her own self as she stood waiting for Mathew to answer the call.

“Leave that phone MOM!!” chase almost screamed on his mother. She took a breath and held his hand and came out from that mess. They all headed to the main door. It was all a mess around. They got to the stair case. They saw a few dead bodies on the stairs with heavy masses landing on them. Tears washed Anna’s face, she was about to fall. Lisa held her from back.

“Honey! It’s not the time… to cry you know that!… Please you have to be strong. We will just get down…and we will find daddy…and….and..Everything will be ok…right?” Lisa said. While wiping Anna’s tears and wiping her’s as well. Anna stood up.

“And look we have got chase with us….you trust us??”Lisa asked.

“I do” Anna said with her terrified voice.

“So don’t worry ok!! Nothing will happen!” she said and made her stand. They managed to come to the road. Everywhere people were either running or they were dead. They were screaming and crying for help, crying on the bodies of their loved ones. It was all just the leftovers of the shattered buildings all around. There were children crying because they couldn’t find their parents. There were dead bodies with their hands or any other part of their bodies coming out from where they were buried. The beautiful place that they once used to live in was no more there. The place was no less than hell. The people that you know were nowhere to be found. You can’t even say if you will ever see them again or not.

Anna was constantly wiping her tears that were not stopping. She could not see it all she thought that maybe one of those bodies laying around her might be one of her friends. The girl that used to cry for weeks when she comes to know that her doll catches fire from a candle saw dead bodies, saw debris saw people crying, dying. It was too much for her. But she kept her eyes open she was afraid of losing Chase and Lisa.

Lisa was also in a similar kind of state though she was not that week. She was just searching for Mathew here in there. She saw their car standing near an electric pole. It was the same car that Mathew took with him at night. She ran towards it she went there in just a second without letting chase and Anna know that she was not standing with them anymore. The electric pole was a little tilted and could fall any moment. But Lisa didn’t care to notice it at all, all she cared for at that moment was Mathew. The car was badly crashed. Lisa managed to open the door of the car.

“Mathew…!”She said while holding Mathew’s head in her hand. But Mathew couldn’t reply he could never reply back now. He was no more. Lisa’s heart stopped beating. She was shaking Mathew and crying him to wake up. Because of which the door of the car that was just hanging out of the car finally broke and banged with that electric pole as if giving it a boost to fall. It was going to fall.

Anna realized that Lisa was not beside her. She looked around. She saw Lisa sitting underneath an electric pole which was just about to land on her.

“MOM!!!!!!!” she screamed and ran to Lisa. But she was too late, she didn’t stop. The pole was not falling alone it also made one of the big tin sheets to fall. Anna didn’t care about that. Chase saw her running towards the pole. He quickly grabbed her hand and stopped her from letting herself die to save their mother. The pole finally was on Lisa and Mathew.

“Mommm!!!…………”Anna cried. Chase saw there and saw that it was Lisa under the pole. He ran there and tried to remove that pole and the tin from there.

“Mom…Mom…MOM!!!!” he cried. Anna came and saw Lisa and Mathew dead. Her parents were no more. For both the kids it still appeared as though they are in sleep and are witnessing the most horrified nightmares. How can this all be really happening? How can their mother and father die, how can it happen. It definitely has to be nightmare. Chase, as he sat there with her mother in her lap, felt tears trickling down his eyes as he realized that it is real, it has happened. Lumps were forming in his throat as he watched his little sister holding their dead father hand and trying to wake him up as if he is sleeping.

“Dad…open your eyes dad…please dad.” Anna sat there and kept crying and pleading innocently to Lisa and Mathew to wake up.

After sometime Chase stood up Kissed Lisa’s forehead and went to help other people that were under rock like mass but still breathing. Anna saw him going.

“Chas…..”she tried to say. But only more tears came out of her eyes. She saw towards Chase. She couldn’t believe, he just lost his parents and now he is helping other people. Then she heard a child crying. She looked around while sitting with Lisa’s head in her lap. She saw that a young girl was under a big car struggling to stay alive. She saw towards chase again. He was helping a boy to come out of the debris. She then saw towards Lisa and Mathew. Tears were burning her face. She held Lisa’s hand and kissed her forehead. She closed eyes for a second and then she said

“You said it is not the time to cry” she moved her hand in Lisa’s forehead.

“….I…love you mom…I love you dad….”she said while looking towards Mathew. She wiped the tears and went to help that girl. After helping her she went to Chase and helped him in taking people who were still alive out of the debris. They kept helping, others who were in need.

Tears were there in their eyes but they knew that they have to wipe someone else’s tears. They lost their parents but they rescued parents of so many. Nothing will ever replace their loss but they knew that humanity is the biggest relation, we all have.

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