Q is for Quake

I'm doing flash fiction for this year's A to Z challenge, hope you enjoy!





Quake



It starts off slow; tiny shakes, like someone is thundering up and down the stairs. A picture on the wall slips so it hangs lopsided.
The tremors deepen, and the whole house begins to shake. Ornaments fly off shelves, the sound of glass smashing fills the house.
We’re at the crescendo now, and it’s like the whole house is alive; furniture moves, doors open and close, cracks begin to form in the ceiling.
And then silence. Is it over?
No, there are still the aftershocks, though these pale in comparison to the real thing. A couple of surviving trinkets jump from their shelves, crashing onto the floor.
Finally all is still, silent. I move through the house carefully, stepping over broken things, making my way back to the bedroom.
Still you sleep, soft and warm in bed; no doubt you’ll be annoyed in the morning, when you find out you’ve missed another one.

Comments

  1. I love Cake . . . . . . AH DAMN sorry Miss Laura.

    Rob Z Tobor

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  2. That was a great final line! How common are quakes in these parts?

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  3. I wouldn't believe anyone could sleep through something like that, but in the hurricane of 1987 my husband says he woke up in the morning with a tree just above his face where it had come through the window of his bedroom. He had slept all the way through it. :)
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  4. Hehe! This makes me think of my brother. I remember when we were growing up, and I'd hear his alarm clock going off in the morning. I'd march down the hallway and find he'd just be lying there asleep as the thing blared into his ear. Wish I could sleep like that. ;)

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  5. Wow, someone can sleep through all that!

    Annalisa, writing A-Z vignettes, at Wake Up, Eat, Write, Sleep

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  6. last line is a bit of conundrum?

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  7. Never witnessed an earthquake and I'd be sorely disappointed if I slept though one!

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  8. Both my kids slept through the last big quake we had here. I always lie there, wondering if it really is an earthquake and whether I need to go and get the kids to safety. Then it's over before I do anything….

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  9. My family can sleep through mosts things - not sure about an earthquake, though :)
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
    FB3X
    Wittegen Press

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  10. Lovely unexpected twist at the end! It's amazing what people can sleep through. A friend of mine slept through an incredibly noisy fire alarm at a hotel once--the alarm was going full throttle, people were pounding on her door. She didn't wake up until someone actually entered her room and shook her.

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  11. Ah! I love it. The ending is phenomenal and I want to hang out and read through all your posts...but a baby is calling. *sigh* Where did I misplace that time stopper?

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  12. I love the ending and how it just slips in after the wonderfully described quake! :)

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  13. My hubs would sleep through anything! Atomic bombs, earthquakes, etc. :)

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  14. Hehe, yeah, those who don't experience the "excitement" build it up to more than those who've lived through it. That's always the way.

    Visit me at http://chriskelworth.com/blog/

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  15. Ha! I do know people who would sleep through an earthquake, I'm just not one of them.

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