The Day the Earth Shook | Teen Ink

The Day the Earth Shook

February 13, 2008
By Anonymous

Early morning the sun just barely coming over the never-ending outline of the Indian Ocean. Jaco and his daughters Sirebella and Eramony wake up and start getting ready for just another long day of work. Sirebella and Eramony first get started with the endless chores needed to be done around the house. Jaco worked in one of India’s largest crops to be shipped throughout all of India. He would work from the earliest rays of morning to the latest rays of the afternoon. He saved every penny he made for the hopes of one day bettering his family. After the death of his wife just a few months ago all the money to support a family fell on his shoulders, and as a dad he would do anything for his daughters to have a better life than what they had. As the morning grew brighter and the day started to progress Jaco felt the strangest of vibes like something wasn’t quite right. Although everything seemed to be in place like always, Jaco very rarely would forget something quite valuable to make him think twice. After a while of thinking he shook it off and tried to clear his mind and focus on his work. But, still he still felt the same he just couldn’t figure out why he was feeling the way he was feeling. Then without the slightest hint of warning the Earth floor started to shake with just the tiniest shimmer of force. This force captured the attention of everyone in India and today brought something that not only Jaco but anyone in India also and it was way more than could’ve ever imagined.

It seemed as though the city sitting on the coast had made their way to ocean. Jaco could hear people screaming at each other to move so they could get a better look at what ever it was they were looking at. Tourists had their video cameras out filming the ocean. From what Jaco could see he thought nothing of it nothing could be seen other than the picture of the sun over the Indian Ocean. His thoughts were telling him to calm down and think nothing of what was going on it was just all in his imagination. He quickly turned around and tried to return to his normal self again. When suddenly screams were coming from behind him some saying its coming and others just screaming to release the emotions of what was all going through them at the moment. Jaco turned around quickly to see and just on the furthest edge of the ocean something so gigantic and enormous that took up all of Jaco’s sight that he didn’t know what to think of it. It could be anything he just couldn’t grasp the thought of what it might be. It was rushing toward the shore at the speed of sound if not faster and Jaco knew he couldn’t waste any more time because that was one of the many things that he didn’t have at this very moment. He sprinted home to quickly grab his daughters and get him and his family to safety which at the moment was probably further away than they would’ve liked it to be.

His panicking daughters were throwing questions at time that at the time Jaco just didn’t have the thought and time to answer he just held on tight to his daughters one in each hand and they ran as hard as they could away from the treacherous shore. He could hear everyone around him screaming in agony and pain. He couldn’t believe that at the beginning of the morning that this would be the way his day would turn out. The powerful thud of the water coming ashore shook the ground with such force people lost their footing and didn’t have any time to get back up until their lives were taken by the sea. Water flooded the streets of the city so quick you would blink but never open your eyes again because you life would be taken without warning. Jaco, Sirebella and Eramony were caught in the sea people running away from the sea itself taking lives every second it was on the ground. The water trapped their legs which made it harder to run away. Every step they took their legs grew weaker and the harder they ran the more they were out of breath and wanted to give up and just let the sea take them too. Although they still fought with everything they had not letting their thoughts take over their body. The water level was getting higher by the minute. The dark murky water filled with bodies that would hit them on the side as the rushed by the water. Suddenly, a rather large object hit Eramony in the side as she released her from her father’s hand screeching in pain. Jaco yelled after her with all the air and energy he had left. Swimming after her, hoping he could catch up to wherever she was, but it was hopeless it seemed as though she was gone. His emotions got the better of him this time he yelled in remorse and sadness her name over and over again. How could he have lost another one of the most important people in life after just losing his wife? The water rushed by him as he stood his ground and used all his leg power to stop himself from being carried away by the powerful water. He held on to Sirebella for dear life he wouldn’t be able to go on if he lost her too. He had to stay strong for her. Why had all this happened to him? He kept asking himself the question. He looked after his daughters and wanted to give them the best. He did nothing but protect his daughters. So why had all this happened to him? Why? He couldn’t figure it out. He hugged Sirebella tightly crying so hard he made all the water around him look like just a small puddle after a light rain. He carried Sirebella the rest of the way and ran harder than ever to the safest place he could get them. The rush of water made a loud thundering sound as it rushed past him, but he could hear something else. Something so light just the outer edge of his eardrum could hear it and even then it was still pretty. He could hear the distant yells of someone calling for their dad just over and over again. He followed yells hoping for the best maybe some kind of miracle would happen and there would be his daughter. It turned out that his miracle was made complete because there, just 10 feet way with a thundering grip on the tree that saved her life was his daughter, Eramony. Still using all the energy left in his body to fight the current, the sea battled him. He gave it his all, letting the objects in the water run right into him to end up just ignoring the fact that they were there. Just a couple of feet away, now he could feel his body giving up on him but still finding something to give him the courage to keep fighting. He gripped his daughter’s body and put her over his shoulder along with his other daughter. He now carried both of his daughters one on each shoulder and no ounce of body energy left in him, he fought again. He was a man built out of courage, today facing challenges that some people might not ever know how hard he fought and the standard he put up as a father were beyond incredible.


Not long after saving his daughter the water level had lowered down and they found some higher dry land to rest on. He held his daughters with him to keep them warm and they laid and rested there till the next early rays of the morning were coming over the horizon.

He and his daughters were weak beyond imagination as they walked back to the shore. Destruction of everything was around them their feet sank into damp mud that was left. Buildings all around them were completely destroyed some all the way to the ground some with the only thing left was the foundation that held some of the strongest buildings in India. He and his daughters joined the other survivors that made it through and helped them start looking for other survivors that might have made it through. Jaco realized how much more he had grown into a dad and how much he loved his daughters and would do anything to protect them. He looked at them with totally different eyes now and these eyes were going to make sure that nothing would ever come close to taking them away from him again. He realized everything can change any minute but the ones who make it through are the ones ready to fight for the things they care about they stand courageous and never give up and during the process maybe learn something that they didn’t even know about themselves.


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