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“Emma! Before it gets to when you start making unrealistic promises to each other” Mummy said giving me a stare while I wondered where this was headed.

“Before it gets to when you can’t go a day without seeing or thinking of each other” she continued with me still lost at sea.

“Before you make up your mind to spend the rest of your life with her” then suddenly it clicked.

“I must get down both knees and talk to God about it?” I asked interrupting my mother wearing a fake broad smile across my face.

“Yes… you should talk to God about it. Nothing is too small for Him to handle if only you will lay it at His feet.” Daddy answered though my rhetorical question wasn’t directed at him.

“Yes!” his wife responded nodding “But you must also bring the girl home to spend some days with us. So I can examine her”

“Mummy is that really necessary?” John my younger brother inquired looking a little disarrayed.

“Yes, it is. In fact, she would spend at least a week with us to give me enough time to properly…”

“Properly interrogate her like a suspect in custody?” I provided her with the remaining of her sentence.

“Your mother doesn’t mean it that way; she has your best interest at heart. Your number of days in this world will be largely determined by the woman you choose as wife”. Daddy added with the rest of us nodding in appreciation of his ever fresh words of wisdom.

“I don’t want to chase your wives-to-be away” Mummy continued as compassion slowly appeared on her face. “I just don’t want my lovely boys to end with the devil in a beautiful dress”.

“Mummy, should I bring my husband-to-be home too?” Mary asked trying not to be left out and that resulted into a long laughter.

“Yes honey, you will bring him home too, so your father can spend some time with him”. Returning to face us, she continued “I just want all of you to enjoy that special kind of bond I share with your father”.

She said giving him a wink, he returned her kind gesture with a broad smile, then reached for her hand on the table. Immediately his hands met hers, we heard a sudden sharp and deafening explosion just outside our house like an airplane crashed into our backyard.

“Jesus!” Mummy exclaimed already panicking.

“Daddy, what was that?” I inquired confused myself.

“Could it be one of those large tanks the size of a four story building located at the petrol depot close by?” I wondered.

“I don’t know son” Daddy responded desperately looking around in search of glue to what just rocked our not so long ago quiet world.

Few seconds after, the table and everything on it began rattling like a freight train just passed our house. The surface of the glass of five-alive juice in front of me became unsettled. John looked at me, eyebrows raised and fright evident in his face.

In that moment, the floor began moving like the earth was experiencing a convulsion, shivering up and down with vigorous strength. Making noise like an extended thunder, only worsen because the vibrations were coming from below.

“Take cover! Get under the table quickly!” came a familiar voice and in responds we all went under the table. The vibrations intensified, books fell off shelves, glasses on the table and shelves smashed. From under the table, I watched the outstanding framed picture of my father in his police uniform, wearing a broad smile fell off the wall heavily on the terracotta tile, smashing into pieces.

Together we scrambled for the table’s legs, pulling ourselves underneath while the floor shook with more noise than a quarry detonation, releasing the tension of eons. Suddenly, the lights swung violently from the ceiling and flickered rapidly before going out totally. Cracks appeared from the ground beneath, on the walls and ceiling. It gave out a loud deafening sound. Our screams lost under the earsplitting noise as some parts of the ceiling came down in chunks; some landed heavily on the table we were underneath. Our hearts took a nosedive into our stomach, as fear and panic gripped us to the bones.

“God, is this it? Is this how am going to die? I have always prayed and thought my death would be a peaceful one, where I would sleep after a beautiful meal with my family and never wake up. I never saw myself trapped to a grisly death by crashing but here we are. Anyway it came, I was fully ready. I have been a faithful child, doing everything the holy book says will lead to heaven”.

Still lost in thought, the ceiling fan that once provided us fresh air began swinging violently till it fell off and landed heavily on the floor right beside us pulling me back to the unending nightmare. The table began jumping over the floor like it had a mind of its own. More parts of the ceiling came down as the cracks widened.

I knew whether we live or die depends on whether the house stands or falls, either way our fate was a joint one. We will either walk away hand in hand or perish in the rubble.

“Out-side! Let’s go! Let’s go outside! Before the house comes crashing down on us!” the familiar voice screamed again. Almost immediately, we reached for each other’s hand and scrambled up to our feet but in a flash, lost balance and were reduced to crawling as we fled outdoors.

Outside, the atmosphere was hot and covered in clearing black smoke. A mixed smell of smoke, dust and death lingered in the air. The earth’s convulsion and shaking had stopped but its impact was still very much felt and evident.

I took a slow 360 degree turn to discover that buildings that stood for centuries had crumbled into their foundations. Many homes and offices had collapsed, trapping people under tones of rubble; dead or alive, no one knows. My neighborhood was now an impression of a war zone. Not far from where I stood, the earth had torn open, intensive heat and smoke proceeded out of it. The wailing of infants, cries of women and pain filled shout of men could be heard all over.

On the other side of the tear, a two storey building of magnificent size was reduced to dust, mere sticks and blocks. From where I stood, I saw my neighbors struggling to dig out some of the occupants with bare hands. It was a homeless task as all they pulled out were mangled and dusty corpses. The more lifeless corpses they dug out, the louder the cries and more intense the screams.

Moments after; a strange calm wind that swept through the street, picking up papers and every other material of light weight. The wind washes over me and left a paper at my feet.

“What could be on the paper?” I wondered. “Could it be a sign from above, from God? Way out of this unending nightmare?” to unravel the mystery, I stoop low and turned the paper and was shocked to the bone to discover it was the same picture of my father that had fallen from the wall a while back.

In that instant, it occurred to me that I was the only one outside. I swiftly took another 360 degree turn, this time keenly in search of my dear father.

“Where could he be? Where had he gone to? Did he even make it out alive? I questioned myself as panic drill into my heart.

“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” I screamed as I slowly walked back to our house. Just few steps from the broken door, I suddenly heard a terrible rumble from deep in the belly of the earth like it was hungry for more destruction. All these did was struck fear into my heart, sent chills down my spine and soon my skin crawled with goose bumps.

This was followed by a loud dragging sound, like a metallic train applied brakes as the house I once called home slowly toppled into the open mouth of the evil earth. All I could do was stare emptily. I wanted to shout but my words fail me. Tried to cry but tears won’t come. Prayed my heart stop beating but it continued pounding in my chest. I just wanted to see any of my family members alive.

“Where was everyone? Am I the only one that made it out alive?” I questioned myself with my eyes closed as I began to feel something cold on my face and a familiar scent evident in the air. Gradually I opened my eyes to see the familiar wallpaper of our Lord Jesus on the wall of my room. Instantly, I knew I was in my bed and Cooky my dog licking my face.

“Thanks my love” I told her, have never been happier to have her wake me up. I quickly asked her out of my room, promising to let her back in once am done tackling this strange dream.

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