A/N: This is a short story I had to write for English and I though I might as well put it up (: Hope you like it (:
Earthquake
Annie's hair was getting too long, the dark black-brown strands falling into her eyes and blocking her vision. She swept her hand over her bangs pushing them back. She heard feet slapping loudly against the pavement behind her and turned to see the fast moving figure that was her brother Sam. His matching black-brown hair and emerald green eyes marked them as siblings but they were more than that they were twins and best friends.
Born only minutes apart they had been together ever since. Growing up they stay so close they were practically insuperable.
"Hey Ann, I'm going to Lucy's." He exclaimed happily, Annie could tell by the wide grin that spread across his face. Lucy was one of the Girls in their year who he liked and Annie knew for a fact that Lucy liked him too, so something was almost garneted to happen. She had seen this coming for a while and even though she didn't like Lucy she was going to have to put that aside because as far as she could see she made Sam happy.
"Okay sounds fun, I'm probably going to head to the shops." she forced a smile at the thought of the long lonely walk to the shops.
"Cool I'll see you later then." Sam called already walking away; he turned once to flash his signature Cheshire cat grin before jogging over to where Lucy was standing.
Annie turned suddenly as a wave of emotion enveloped her; she angrily got her IPod out of her jean pocket and plugged it into her ears. Walking along the street slowly she thought about how Sam had ditched her to hang out with Lucy. Recently they had been together less and less. Maybe it was because they were 15? Or perhaps it had been happening gradually for months?
All she knew was that she didn't like it…
Annie didn't go home instead she went out in to a field out the back where she lay down in the tall grass sifting through my thoughts which were like an untamed horse, wild and uncontrollable. From her view the sky seemed to be an endless ocean of blue waves crusted with cloudy white spray all hovering above her suspended in perpetual silence. She missed the ocean, her family moved here four years ago from Kiama. From her old bedroom she could hear the sound of the waves when she went to sleep and when she woke each morning, for her it was a calming, soothing sound.
She blinked up at the sky confused, thinking her eyes must be deceiving her. The sky was shaking, moving quickly back and forth. It was then she came to a realization. The sky wasn't moving…
She was.
Annie tried to stand up but the ground slipped from under her feet and she ended up on the ground again. She heard trees crashing to the ground and objects falling everywhere as the ground shook harder and Annie instinctively curled into a ball to try and protect herself just like a hedgehog.
Time passed Annie wasn't sure how long it seemed like forever and a day to her though. She stayed in her protective position in the middle of the field, curled up, waiting for the earth to its stop shaking.
Slowly the world ground to a standstill. Annie attempted to stand but her legs wobbled and failed her. She stood up this time carefully and slowly so as not to fall over. She glanced around the field seeing tree toppled over their roots ripped from the ground. Then a thought smashed into her sending her mind into a screaming meltdown.
Sam.
It was all she could think about. Where was he? Was he okay?
Before she even realized it she was running over the uneven ground, hurtling towards the road. She had stopped all reasonable thoughts, she didn't think about how dangerous it would be to go into town after the earthquake, nor did she think about where she was going to look far Sam.
She just ran.
As she ran down the empty street into town tripping occasionally on the scar like gashes left in the road by the earthquake. She passed the wreckage that used to be the town it is quiet but not in a calm peaceful way. This silence presses in making you nervous and jumpy; it seems too thick, too tragic. Like the earth itself was taking a moment of silence for all the damage just caused while the people start to deal with the aftermath. Annie almost had to push herself on when she saw the pile of grey-brown rubble that was previously the school. She swallowed slowly, closing her eyes, trying to calm herself before she pushed on continuing at a jog. Her mind was a mess of emotions twisting, curling and slipping through her mind like smoke.
Then she heard a scream that made her blood run cold not even the best actor could replicate the emotion behind this sound and it hit Annie to the core, it barely sounded human. She instantly diverted her path toward the sound following it to the place it originated.
The sight Annie saw of the person who made the sound was a glimpse around the corner of messy blonde hair. Her instincts were instantly on high and she ran faster to the place the girl stood.
Tears poured down her face making her mascara run her face was twisted into a mask or horror and terror; she was hardly recognisable as the bubbly, happy girl Annie knew as Lucy.
As the thought of who it was sunk in Annie stood still, unbelieving. If Lucy was here where was Sam?
Upon seeing Annie Lucy threw herself at her attaching herself to Annie as she sobbed harder into Annie's shoulder.
Holding her at an arm's length and looking into her eyes Annie slowly asked the question whose answer she was dreading.
"Where is Sam?" She pronounced each word slowly and carefully so as the terrified girl would understand.
"H-h-he." she hiccupped "H-e did-n't get-et ou-t."
Annie's whole world shattered at that short stammered statement. Time stopped existing for her. All that was clear to her was her emotions clear and raw. The most pronounced one though was sadness. A deep, dark sadness that enveloped her whole mind. She had the sensation of falling into a lightless pit without an end. Her mind went into a perpetual free-fall.