little moon - cube smp au

earthquake - chapter 1

- Leila -

I was sitting on the grass in the massive backyard that belongs to my parents when it happened, I remember it clearly.
I was sitting there. It was about 4 AM and insomnia was being a bitch.
I was looking up at the little moon.

The moon is a funny thing, isn't it? It's just up there. And only a handful of people have actually been on it. So many people will never know what it's like to be up there, to be up on that little moon, walking around. Or, rather, floating. Space is weird. You get out there, and it goes on for literally forever. You could try to find the end of it but you never will. It goes on and on and on, and there's probably so much more out there that we've never found and may never get the chance to find.

Anyway, there I was, staring up at the moon and stars and sky, thinking all of these things when everything started shaking.
I remember standing up and looking back at my parents' house and watching it rattle. I was miles away from it and luckily for me, miles away from anything that could crash down and hurt me.
But it was terrifying. Living in California, I was used to earthquakes. I thought I was used to earthquakes but I had never, never felt one like this.
My anxiety kicked in and I felt my body being pulled to the ground, my feet being swept out from under me and I felt a painful thump as my back hit the earth. I tried my hardest to get up but with all the shaking in my body and the environment, I could only manage to prop myself up on my elbows for short periods of time before being knocked back down.
I watched as the roof of my parents' home began breaking apart. Pillars were falling and crumbling to the ground. Most of the water in the pool had sloshed out and I watched the force of it break the windows and fill the house.
The walls collapsed. The house caved in and the roof crashed down on top of it and anything or anyone inside. The place I called my home, I knew inside and out, was now a giant pile of rubble, being flung everywhere due to the ground still shaking. I looked to my right and watched telephone poles fall over, one by one like dominos. To my left, I could see beyond the trees, cars crashing and some falling off the bridge that was a ten minute's drive from my house.
I was completely helpless. I was watching the only life I had crumble to the ground and I was completely helpless. And all I could think was that I should be thinking of others, not just me or my life. Someone was dying. Someone was already dead and there I was, so far away from death and just worrying about myself.
The pounding in my ears from the ground moving so quickly wouldn't stop. The dry grass was practically cutting through the little skin I had exposed but some rock had definitely cut my face. I could feel a stinging sensation across my cheek as my tears fell, spreading across the wound. I pulled the sleeves of my sweater down over my hands and grabbed my knees.
And then I screamed. I screamed because my waste of a life was right here, flashing in front of me, and after this was over I would have nothing.

I screamed and cried and yelled about how scared I was, begging not to die, and now I was grabbing on to the ground, clinging on to it as if my life depended on it.

And then it was over.

It stopped. Everything seemed calm for a moment. I looked up at the little moon to make sure it was still there where it belonged.

It was.

I was still crying and bleeding everywhere. I didn't have my phone so I couldn't call for help, Cars were still falling and helicopters were above the area.

I screamed at them. I cried out for help and then I felt a pounding in my head, but not a pounding like the earthquake had given me. It was more like I was losing too much blood. I yelled again as loud as I could and then I passed out.

When I woke up I was in a hospital bed. I heard people yelling and shouting that I was up. I looked around, I was hooked up to a computer and my head was clearly bandaged. I couldn't see it, but I could feel it.

And then they started talking to me. They told me I lost everything. They told me my parents were dead. They told me not to panic but of course I was fucking panicking. I had lost everything that day.

Later on, they let me out and they put me in a hotel kind of thing. People were constantly checking up on me, bringing me medicine and food. I recognized most of them; friends of my parents. They came in and gave me money, food, cards, balloons, prayers. Most stayed by the door and cried, while someone else brought me the 'gifts'. I couldn't get out of bed. They wouldn't let me.

Eventually people left me alone. My friends never texted me any more. A lot of them were still recovering as well, which makes sense.

One night I was alone and I started to go through the letters. I skipped over a lot and only opened the ones that caught my eye. One at the bottom of the pile, though, caught my eye despite it being the only one without little doodles on it. I opened it up, inside was an address and a key. I kept that under my pillow until today. It's been a couple months since the earthquake and I have been able to walk around and take care of myself. Nobody comes to see me any more.

I creep out of the hotel room and go down the stairs with a backpack filled with all of my belongings. Obviously there isn't a lot, but there's enough to make it fairly heavy.

I open the door to the building and hold the card with the address tightly in my hand. It's about 2 AM and the little moon isn't very little tonight. It's actually very full.

I start finding my way around town, seeing somebody drive by every now and then. I find the address, it's an old apartment building but there are lights on and I can see people having a party.

I go and find the number that was left on the card and unlock it using the key. It's completely empty and dusty, and looks really neglected. The hotel was going to kick me out eventually.

I throw my bag on the floor and lock the door behind me. The lights turn on, surprisingly. There's an island, and a fridge and microwave, and a bathroom but no mattresses.

I begin to look through all of the closets and cupboards. I find bed sheets, a couple cups, a can of blue hair dye, a little desk fan, and a handheld mirror.

I shouldn't be here, this is breaking and entering. I mean, from the conditions of the house, nobody should have been up here in months. Quickly, I turn off the lights to keep anyone from suspecting anything.

This is my home. This is my new life.