unusual

I woke up peacefully at 6 in the morning feeling this day would be good. I never had a clue on what it would turn out like.

For an hour I did my hygiene and at exactly 7am, breaking my usual habit of 6:45, I went out and waited patiently at the curb where I usually wait for a jeep with decent vacant seats to pass by. While staring unconsciously to the passer biers, I was all wide-eyed and my brain was going for a stroll when a woman about her forties called out from her car to me asking if I was from “San Carlos”, the name of the University of which I go to.  though my uniform  implied that I was, I was quite unsure whether I was really the one she was talking to, but I nodded anyway. Then I received an unexpected gesture from her, she told me to get in the car with her cause she was also going to the same destination. Now it would seem legit if she was my relative or a parent of a friend or a neighbor but she wasn’t and as surprised I was with her offer, I took it.  I don’t know why, but I just did. Maybe I was looking for adventure or something that could possibly get me into trouble but you see, its human instincts for us to not let ourselves go through danger. And that I thought she and her nice car wasn’t a form of one. My reason, she was decent enough, the tint of her car windows isn’t so dark that I could actually see what’s inside of it and it was full of girly things like bear stuffed toy and I even saw a Hannah Montana pillow. When I got in, I didn’t actually know what I was thinking. I smiled and muttered thanks and went to see through what my choice had in store for me. We had a little chat about the heavy traffic, the location of which she found me standing, my first class and my teachers. She revealed to me that she works in the university too and that she often offers students to ride with her though they’re a bit reluctant and in doubt with her offer and never gave her a positive response. She was quite taken by surprise when i actually accepted her kindness but never the less shrugged it off because she was the one who offered it. While the whole ride, I was actually comfortable. I did think about those nasty kidnapping thingy but thought that hey, she looks decent, she knows the teacher in my first subject, and maybe this is one of those kind gestures that good strangers offer without expecting an exchange. We were in the school’s street when the traffic lights went red, and I saw beth crossed the street and thank the good lady as I went out of her car. I happily walked with my friend and smiled at the realization that earth isn’t a hopeless place afterall.

Two classes passed and a pocketbook in hand, we were already heading for our third subject. As me and my blockmates were entering our classroom’s door, the 4^th floor shook and whoa! Everybody else went panicking out of their rooms, performing the earthquake drill. At first I just went at ease after doing the sign of the cross. Strong quakes were kinda usual to me considering ive been to a place were the Pacific Ocean is literally connected to our beaches and that our lil town is just hanging in the side of a big continental rock. But this thing was new to the people in the big city, ofcourse they were alarmed and well, shakened. We didn’t have a class on our third subject and we happily skidded in the library. While at there, we were all discussing about the strong tremor, I asked some of my friends whether they were okey or not by sending some group messages and informed my mom about it. A few more strong and short tremors passed and our classed were all suspended and the feeling in my gut became more and more dense its twisting my insides. But I just decided to shrug it off but I kept on saying something to God, praying He’s hearing my pleads every once in a while. Me and Beth decided to finish our project and went out of the school grounds to looks for some internet cafes. Not a minute passed when we finally sat in our computer units in the third café weve looked in, beeping and shouting erupted outside and we went flying from our seats. We went out to hear about it saw nothing but traffic all jammed and people running everywhere shouting that the water level had gone high.

You know that scene in the movie where a place is getting crunched and all the people were running like ants and you think its all cliché and funny? Its not. The fear was raw, everybody was in panic, my diaphragm started to work in an unusual pace, my eyes were trying to register what was happening, my hands were reaching for my friends’ and my mind couldn’t decide whether it was all a big joke or not. After a few seconds, it hit me. Im not lounging in our home’s couch anymore facing the flat screen, or in a movie theater where all my feelings about a movie is heightened. This wasn’t a movie. What’s happening was real, and I made a run for it.

All that my mind could take in is that we were running from something we don’t know whether it was true or not just to save our lives. And worse, we’ve got no one to run to.

Me and beth are making through the crowd when we decided to run back to school. People are going in all directions, I asked the security guard of the real deal the moment I set my foot in our school grounds and he muttered something like there was no news stating about the water level but my mind was thinking that he could be wrong. Me and Beth proceeded on the 4^th floor anyway while I contacted more friends and asked God for guidance. We stayed there for an hour or so, getting information that the panic had all slowed down and decided to go home.

Anxiety was still in me when I decided to catch a ride back here in the apartment, though its where Im staying, its not really my home. And that defeats my point of finding a place here in a big city of where I would feel safe and hide me from all the chaos, cause really, home is far away. And home is the only place where I could calm my horrors and find comfort.

But then, I have to make it through. As ive said earlier, its human instincts for us to save ourselves. It is our nature to do anything to live, and to be able to live, we have to make the best of the least we have and to do more with it. We are not alone though, God us with us, cause if without Him, all this coping is pointless as He is the one who has the power to give or take our lives.

As of this moment, its 8:45, and there are still short shakings from the ground and im all alone in the apartment. My family keeps on sending me SMS asking me if im okey and commanding me to just calm down and pray. Im scared. But im trying not to be. I keep on reminding myself to just enjoy the internet, cause my family is caring for me, and my friends even. and God is guarding me.

-geianne