My town was a little town near the sea, with only a neighbouring town up the hill,a 30 minute drive up. Many people i knew lived there, many people in real life. It was a quaint yet modern town, but not small enough, so you would meet someone new every month or two.
It seemed to be a norm, this gathering and parties in our spacious but dimly-lit town hall. Everyone would be there, and the town would be empty. That night was no different. Everyone was in that dark, blue-tinged hall. The waves crashed behind us as it always has. Each crash was a simple notification that everything was working,,clockwork-ok. But not that night. It crashed, then there was a deafening silence that slowly worked its way around the hall, muting chatter and raising question marks. i remember the feeling of sudden realization, relating it to a pre-tsunami situation where the waters get sucked into the the crevice in the ocean floor caused by an earthquake. that ugly silence. True enough, a warning came in saying a tsunami was going to hit and we had 30 minutes to get out of town to the nearest town on a hill.
Oddly, everyone seemed rather calm as they exited the hall, strolling out, chatting amongst themselves. i bumped into CherryE. who introduced me to her beau, a fair, pasty, fragile looking boy with delicate features.i somehow had the impression then that somehow her unity with him was something quite shameful of which she was proud off,unfortunately. She mentioned his name but i never quite got it. I mentioned that he reminded me of tofu, and that riled his emotions quite a bit and i was engaged to hear the soft and gentle albeit feminine speech but never did quite absorbed what he was saying to defend himself. i grew tired of him and excused myself for i had more important things to tend to.
I walked home, and spotted a couple of family friends who stated that they weren't going to pack or leave. They never did say why. Reaching home, my bags were quite packed,some small mattresses, and i felt i needed to pack photographs. i couldn't decide at first, there were so many. i finally settled on a single family take and a portrait of myself that i don't have in real life.My family and ShengL., who was with us for some reason piled into my dad's Mpv, mattresses and all. Somehow, we were all quite calm,and yet we understood that time was running out.
As we drove up the hill, the waves started crashing,somehow layer by layer, barely meters away behind us as we went. We looked back in silence and a still anger. We reached the top, right in the backyard of a media/newspaper office. Just as we got over the edge onto flat ground the waves stopped right behind us, leveling what was once atop a hill to a sudden seaside location. We grimaced as we got out of the car, taking in the blue sea that had just swallowed my town. I had no words for the waters that seemed like cut-out paper waves.
We hurried into the office through its back entrance. My dad had already hurried to the chief editor's office demanding why none of this was found out earlier. The discussion went on while i waited for my mom outside the ladies and handed her a Styrofoam cup of Boh tea. I had one myself. i looked around at my cousin and siblings and wondered in silence.
i woke up, trying to understand the meaning of it all.
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