The earthquake hit at 8:00 a.m. It was a Sunday and I was at home. My two–year–old sister and 80–year–old grandma were at the next room. We were Christians so we were ready to go to church at 8 a.m. After having breakfast, we dressed up well and wore shoes at our front door. Then the weird things began to happen!
When I wore my shoes, hundreds of frogs kept jumping on the road in front of my house. I had never seen that before! That was really scary! But this was not the weirdest thing, my two–year–old sister screamed out loud, as she was only two. She couldn’t talk well. But I could still see the fear in her eyes, and then she pointed at the sky. I was shocked too! The clear sky was covered by thousands of birds and bats which usually flew at night. I immediately realized that something was going wrong, so wrong. But we decided to continue our journey to the church, hoping that the people there could tell us what was happening.
Suddenly, the land was shaking violently. My grandma fell down on the street. Things inside the shops were all on the floor. Spoons, forks and plates covered the floor of a restaurant. It was an earthquake! I ran to my grandma and carried her to the side of the road.
“What’s happening? Why is the land shaking?” My grandma asked me out of fear.
“I think it’s an earthquake. But don’t worry.We’re all alright and safe now. I answered her firmly, trying to calm her down, and I hopedthere wouldn’t be any aftershock and other natural disasters.
After five minutes, we decided to go back home as my grandma could not walk well, neither could my little sister. But unfortunately another strong earthquake took place. Glass and windows crashed and the earthquake lasted for three minutes. When I thought that it was the end of the disaster, I realized that it was just the beginning!
Buildings behind us started to collapse as they could not withstand the violent shock. We moved faster, hoping to find shelter to hide. Many people ran out from different buildings screaming and crying in horror.
“Let’s go to the volcano behind our home. I remembered that my teacher told us to go to an open space when an earthquake occurred. The piece of land at the lower part of the volcano is barren. Let’s go there,” I suggested.
Grandma hesitated for a moment but nodded her head at last. I carried my sister on my arm and held my grandma’s hand to walk towards the barren land. On our way, we returned home and got some of our important personal belongings.
We finally arrived at the barren land, but I noticed that the caldera evolved much gray smoke. I climbed up a little bit to have a closer look and I found that it was volcanic dust and smog! It was the least thing that I expected to happen. The largest volcano in Bali was going to erupt!
We began to run towards the sea as we lived in Nusa Dua in Bali, which was an island surrounded by the sea. We hoped that the volcano could give us some time to run away from the lava ejected from the cane. But this was not the case. The volcano was so cruel to us and its lava ran towards us.
“You two run. I can’t move fast. Run for your life, my dear grandchildren!” my grandma stopped her move and said. “I won’t leave you behind. We will always be together!” I grabbed her arm tight and tried to pull her. “No! We’ll all die. Run with your sister! Save her please…” Tears streamed down her face. She used her remaining strength to push me away from her.
Reluctantly, I turned my eyes away from my grandma. I carried my sister and ran fast. I dared not look back, fearing that I would collapse taking another glimpse of my grandma. I just kept swearing that I would protect my sister from any kinds of harm. Finally, we arrived at the beach and we were supposed to be safe at that time. I couldn’t feel my legs anymore because I’d run for two kilometres. There were many people there on the beach. All of them looked shocked and depressed. I was so worried about the safety of my grandma. I really, truly hoped that she could escape from the volcanic eruption. Meantime, I noticed there were some tourists from Malaysia and we spoke the same language: Malay.
But this was not the end of the story. The sea water retreated quickly. Many fish and carol reefs were exposed on the beach. Some people walked towards the sea and tried to find out what had happened. And my sixth sense told me not to do so. The waves suddenly grew to a height of 17 metres high.
“Run! It’s tsunami!” A local resident shouted.
I immediately grabbed my sister and began to run again. The situation was chaotic and the people ran to all directions in panic and extreme fear. And I decided to run towards the main street in our district. The shops on both sides of the streets might help slow down the speed of the destructive waves.
I had never run that fast because I did not want to lose one more family member anymore. My parents both died because of the volcanic eruption occurred a year ago when they worked on the field, and I was so lucky that I was not at home at that moment. Therefore, I must protect my little sister. I must save her life!
But the waves just came too quickly. I could see people being swallowed by the huge waves when I looked back. That was really horrible. Some locals stayed on the roof of the houses, because their experience told them it was safe to stay on the roof when huge waves arrived.
At that moment, I was totally exhausted and I decided to hand my sister to one of the locals on the roof. They held my sister tightly and I wanted to climb up to the roof too. But there was insufficient space for one more adult to stay there. I just beggedthe local woman to take good care of my sister. I kissed her forehead and I started to run again, hoping to find a safe place.
The waves just kept chasing me, they frightened me to death. I ran into a resort centre finally and I decided to give up running. I jumped into a swimming pool just one second before the waves crashed me into pieces. I tried my very best to hold my breath under the water. I did not know if I could make it or not, I did not open my eyes like I prepared to die. And after two minutes, I ran out of oxygen and raised my head above the water again. I made it! I survived after the three disasters. I immediately got out of the swimming pool and tried to find out if there were any survivors like me.
The whole region was totally destroyed. Houses collapsed, bridges and roads were broken, and it was a miracle for me to stay alive. Luckily, I found a first-aid camp where injuries were sent to (as the hospital had already collapsed). I immediately searched for my grandma and my sister. The camp was full of injured people. You could hear people crying and screaming, and you could see people covering their faces with their hands hopelessly. Tears continuously ran out through their fingers. The whole region was surrounded by sadness and sorrow.
Suddenly, I caught sight of a familiar person sitting on a chair looking worried. That was my grandmother! I ran to her and embraced her. I had never hugged her so tightly before. She said she had hidden herself into a cave where she used to go. The lava did not flow into the cave.
“Where’s your sister?” She asked me.
I couldn’t hold back my tears, and I said, “I’m sorry, grandma. I handed her to a local woman on the roof, but I don’t know where she is now.”
“There you are, my friend,” I turned my back and that locals was standing in front of me, with my sister in her arms.
“Thank you so much,” I hugged my sister so tightly again like I never wanted to lose her again.
“I said staying on the roof is safe, see?” One of the locals said. We all laughed together after all.
After an hour, we tried to find our home, but it was totally destroyed.
“Nevermind”, I said, “I still keep the most important things with me.” I wore a satisfied smile on my face.
“You two are the most important in my life,” I continued.
We hugged together again and we were not sad although our home was destroyed. I understood that as long as we three stayed together, it was the best home ever. I had never realized how important my family was to me, until the disasters came. For the rest of my life, I would cherish my family every moment because nobody knew when another accident would come.