The Moment You Reach Out

You are living in the city, close to a fault line, right in the heart of the busiest part of the city. You feel happy because you are centrally located. Close to your job at the Law Firm of Cooper, Drew, Polite and Curiosity.

You are getting ready for your first day, you are excited to have found this place for next to nothing and having an excellent job surely can build one's confidence, to say the least.

As you are heading out to walk the 3 blocks to work, you feel a jolt, then a second jolt, then a third. The third jolt is what knocked you backwards, right into a gaping hole, deep in the middle of what was sidewalk. You are now several feet below the sidewalk, but not within earshot of anyone hearing your shouting.

You have a flashlight, pulling it from your upper jacket pocket, shining it on the area that you fell into. You begin to hear some other people that may have fallen into other holes close to where you are.

The shouting turns into screams and moans, as most of the unfortunate victims are feeling the aftermath of what could be an earthquake. You are okay, more like a few scratches or a bruise or two. You start to dust off your jacket, then a fourth jolt thrusts you downward into a darker part of the hole.

You noticed you have misplaced your flashlight, which you placed on some concrete that was closest to you. Too late to worry about this now, you need to figure out where you are and how far down you are.

This last jolt exposed wires and water pipes, along with some debris that may be from the last major quake to strike the city in 1906 and then the quake of 1989. Yes, you live in the quaint but mysterious city of San Francisco, California. They had always said be careful where you step, never know what you may stumble upon.

As you feel your way around in the darkness, you hear the screeching of rats and are terrified by the thought of unwelcome guests, coming to feed on your fear. "Can rats smell your fear?" "Which part of you will they feed on first?"

You try not to think about what may or may not happen, much whether rats feed off fear, you are more worried about getting back to the top. This is a feat that you know or think you know is impossible. The darkness is working on your vivid imagination, and you begin to wonder how you will see daylight once more.

This is crossing your mind when you hear several voices, asking, "Is there anyone down here?" "If there is, please shout as loud as you can, so we can find you."

You try to shout, but your voice is not heard, not by you or anyone else. You are beginning to feel trapped, feeling hopeless and depressed at the thought of you being one of the unfortunate people to die down here, a slow painful death.

You are moving around ever so slowly, noticing a piece of metal or something sharp and cold to the touch, protruding from your body, and a wetness that is running down your body on your left side. You must have been injured when the fourth jolt shook the area you were in.

You are feeling dizzy, nauseous, starting to shiver and shake from being wet, not sure what happened from the first time you fell into the gaping hole that crossed the sidewalk. You are unsure if you will be found, or if anyone will care enough to find you, much less search for you.

You are unsure what time it is, unsure how you managed to get into this mess, are unaware of the day or remembering where you were headed to this morning. This seems more like a dream, more like a memory of something from the past.

You hear the voices again, shouting, "Is there anyone down here?" "If so, please shout loudly, so we can find you." This time the voices are clearer and closer. You try once more shouting, screaming or yelling, but you still cannot hear your own voice, neither can those who are trying to find survivors.

The moments seem to go on forever. You begin to go numb with your body trying to warm itself. It is to no avail, and you sense death is close to paying you a visit. You slip into unconsciousness, hoping to feel something soon, before you completely pass out.

You start to pray. Start to pray that you will be found. Pray that you will be one of the many who have survived and are able to hear about all the others who are found alive. You are starting to imagine, like a mirage of something that is not there.

You raise your hands upward, hoping to feel something above. You are touching something that you can't make out in the dark. You are unable to go too far, because of the cold object that is in your body. You fall unconscious once more.

Then as you finally pass out, you feel a tug on your jacket. First the hands are solo, then there are more hands grabbing hold of you. You wince in pain as the object you felt was a stop sign post partly protruding from your right side.

One of your rescuers says, "You are one of the lucky ones." Another states, "You were farthest from the blast area, and if it hadn't been for the bodies that were piled on you, you would have likely died."

You try to stay awake. To see what happened and the damage. You look in the direction of what was now an open space, where you assume your apartment had once stood. You noticed the area was filled with chaos and mayhem. Lots of people, all of whom you knew none.

You were truly lucky as the minutes turned into hours. You were in a dark area, with no streetlights, no signs of movement except by the people rescued or the ones who rescued them.

The explosions had taken place from the tremors or jolts of the earthquake, which had triggered the gas lines and brought the city to its very knees. There were vehicles and people's bodies everywhere. It looked like the aftermath of a war zone.

You were approached by a man, reached out to shake your hand, then moved on with the quickness of a panther. You did not know who he was nor where he had come from, yet you were feeling DeJa'Vu and it was causing you to have a major migraine.

You looked over your shoulder, with no success, as you still had the piece of metal, protruding from your right side. You were then feeling weird, as the sheet was placed over your face and head.

The police officer, who was shaking his head, stated, "Shame we could not hear this one, he was closest to the surface, in plain sight."

That day you died, literally and metaphorically. All because you had decided to go the way you did, just to try something new. Today was the ending to the rest of your life and your premature death too.