Disaster

Her name was Shwu Yuan. At a tender age of nine, she had lived through her first earthquake of China. Fled death, and lived to tell her story. She had experienced at first hand the trauma of living through one of Mother Nature’s notorious catastrophes. It taught that life is unpredictable and should be cherished intensely.

Shwu Yuan was living with her grandmother then. She remembered thinking what a beautiful and tranquil day it was, what resembled the calm before the disaster. Shwu Yuan was waiting for her grandmother to get ready to go to the supermarket. As they got off the bus, they immediately headed off to buy some pig’s muscle and chicken wings.

“Grammie, do you know what day today is?”

“Of course I know. Your parents will be back here from their Taiwan business trip in 1 hour.”

“Yes! I can’t wait! I miss them so much!” Shwu Yuan rejoiced while she skipped to the fruits section.

While skipping, Shwu Yuan was careless and lost her balance, resulting in a sprained ankle. She thought she was feeling dizzy, but it was not her. She felt the earth crumbling and shaking beneath her. She watched as cracks started appearing on the ground.

Turning back, she saw her grandmother on the floor with her basket of groceries, the food had fallen out and was all over, and the ceiling was falling. In awe, she got on her feet and immediately rushed to help her up and they rushed to the exit together. They struggled with other people who were trying to escape, many fell and some were crushed by the falling ceiling.

Right in front of their eyes, they watched the whole scene of a falling building with people being crushed by the rubble. Despite her weak knees and old age, Shwu Yuan’s grandmother lifted her up with her all might. Shwu Yuan’s grandmother was well aware of what was taking place, an earthquake. With all her strength, she ran for their lives with Shwu Yuan in her arms.

The streets had been torn in the middle, opening up the earth. Shwu Yuan’s grandmother was able to maintain her balance. Tragically, some others fell inside. Cars and buses were crushed, people ran and screamed for their lives. What seemed like a movie had turned into a reality. Shwu Yuan could not believe what was happening. She hugged her grandmother even more tightly, eyes closed as she rest her head on her shoulder, feeling confused.

“Grammie! Are you okay?” Shwu Yuan cried as she helped her grandmother up. Instead, she pushed Shwu Yuan away as she saw a piece of rubble falling towards them.

“No! Grammie! Grammie!” Shwu Yuan called out, gently patting her grandmother’s bloody cheek as she was crushed by a piece of rubble. Fast-flowing blood covered nearly her whole face while it dripped onto the floor.

“Go, save yourself. It is very dangerous here.” Shwu Yuan’s grandmother was gasping for breath. At the very last breath she had, she smiled and said, “I love you always, my dear.” Overcome by pain, her smile faded away slowly. Shwu Yuan did not know what to do. Dumbfounded, she stood rooted to the ground. Her grandmother shouted out and pleaded for her to flee the scene. With tears in her eyes, brave Shwu Yuan ran as far as her legs could carry her, leaving her grandmother behind.

Playing back memories of her with her grandmother in her mind, Shwu Yuan cried. She walked to a safer place and waited for help. Ever since then, Shwu Yuan realized life is a precious gift and that you should cherish every moment of it whenever you can. She also regretted not spending enough time with her grandmother. From then on, she lived her life to its fullest potential.