Four o’clock in the morning, and I was awake. Not awake as in I might be able to fall back to sleep, but awake and ready for the day. Still, I stalled. With only six hours of sleep, I knew I would be a zombie before the work day ended. By four-fifteen, I gave it up and threw back the covers.
I finished the usual morning rituals: brushing teeth, taming hair, making coffee, and letting Willie, the dog, out. I poured a cup of thick, black coffee and sat down to write a short story for OurEcho. I took a sip of coffee, set the cup on the table, and placed my fingers on the keys. That’s when I heard a truck on the highway outside, or at least I thought it was a truck.
An eighteen-wheeler came rumbling by, and rumbling by, and rumbling by. At first I thought perhaps there were several trucks, and then changed my mind when I realized my feet were vibrating against the floor. Simultaneously, Willie started barking at the back door. It wasn’t the normal, “Woof, I’m ready to come back in now.” This was a frantic, “LET ME IN!” Having experienced the 1968 Illinois quake, my mind finally came to the correct assumption. Earthquake! Having a flash of me in the basement with the house on my head, I jumped up and ran to the laundry room at the back of the house. At least that room was actually resting on terra firma.
Willie was still barking at the back door, with his nose stuck in the crack, waiting impatiently for me to open it, so I did. He came barreling in, nearly knocking me down. His hair was styled into the ‘mean dog’ look. I guess he was planning on taking a stand against the approaching monster. I think he may have changed his mind since he spent the next thirty minutes lying on the floor next to me, shaking like a bowl of Jello.
After the dishes stopped jingling and the floor stopped dancing, I sat down at my computer. I looked at that steaming cup of coffee, considered adding a little something from the liquor cabinet, and then remembered it was probably a little early in the day.
Having heard about the earthquake on the national news, my daughter called to make sure we were still alive. I assured her we were, and then gave her the blow by blow accounting of my morning’s adventure.
Curious as to what everyone else thought when they were so rudely awakened, I asked, and they were happy to tell.
“I was sound asleep, and then I was standing up. At first, I thought a train had derailed. I worried about the train finding its way into my living room. Then I thought the ethanol plant had exploded.”
“At first I thought it was a tornado, and then I looked out the window. No one was outside. None of the neighbor’s lights were on. Then I thought it was the Rapture and everyone had gone on without me, which meant I must be going to the other place.”
“I wondered what was going on. Why was my bed shaking?”
“I opened my eyes. The lamp shade was shaking. I rolled over and went back to sleep.”
“I hopped up and went outside. The birds were making a lot of noise, darting around, almost flying into each other.”
“I woke up and said, “What the? Then I thought it was a tornado.”
“I thought a train derailed, and then realized it was an earthquake.”
“I hadn’t felt that much shaking since my last prom date.”
“I was walking down the hall, on my way to the bathroom. What the?”
“I woke up. I thought it was trucks. The windows were rattling. The dishes in the china cabinet were shaking. I thought it was an earthquake, and then I thought it was the end of time and my loved ones were gone, but I was still here.”
“I was alone, so I started talking to God. I told him I was kind of afraid, but this was kind of cool.”
“I thought a tree fell on the house, but we don’t have trees.”
“I was awake. Before the ground started shaking, my cockatiel was going crazy. I thought it was having a stroke.”
“I thought someone was under my bed. I jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, and looked.”
“I was in bed. I thought the walls were shaking. I put my hand on the wall. It was shaking. I went back to sleep, and then I was late for work.”
This one is my personal favorite, “I was dreaming about The Exorcist. I woke up and my bed was really shaking.”
There isn’t much excitement in our little community. It’s normally fairly quiet. So, instead of the usual gossip, the earthquake gave us something new and unusual to talk about. Stories about the Illinois quake of 2008 will be told, exaggerated, and retold for years to come. Since there were no injuries, I too found the experience “kind of cool”. Still, if I don’t feel the earth move for another twenty years, that’s alright with me, and Willie.