Kid Ethnic: 103 Days At Sea: The Earth Quakes

The Earth Quakes · 4 November 04

The glass doors shook last night while I was half-asleep.

At first I thought a truck was passing. The windows rattled louder. They don’t make very large vehicles in Japan, so next I thought, typhoon.

But there was no rain. And I seemed to be moving side to side.

Then I thought, I am sleeping. Someone is shaking me, and I’m not waking up. I should wake up. Someone is in my apartment and needs me awake.

But I turned my head side to side, and felt awake, and was still shaking.

The room was moving.

I did not know if earthquakes struck Kyushu. It was dark, and my pulse increased. I thought some more.

I am not a tidy guy. I place things at random.

How many people die from something falling on their head in an earthquake? Could a ceramic bowl left on a corner of a desk fall to my futon and do me in? A coffee mug? A Japanese-English dictionary?

What if the ceiling fell? That would be interesting: a ceiling falling around me, me crashing to the ground. A day off from work. A bit on the news. A cool story to tell.

But my horizontal movement stopped. I looked around in the dark, and saw, of course, nothing. I fell back asleep. Woke up unsure if I’d dreamed it. There was no evidence of a quake.

Talked to a coworker about it this morning. She laughed. Apparently they happen a couple times a year.

I will henceforth be more careful with where I put my dishes.

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Don’t worry, dude, that “quake” was just God putting the world on notice that his man is back in office.

Heaven help us all.
— Jim Ray 1950 days ago #

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