The Day I Jumped

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Aurelia

I sat bolt upright in bed, my heart racing as a sudden siren reached my ears. Tsunami. I hadn't ever heard the siren go off, but it was unmistakable. I jumped out of bed, grabbing my phone and slipping my feet into my fuzzy slippers as I reached for my wallet and car keys which sat on the nightstand beside my bed.

Rushing out of the room and down the stairs I ran for the door, pausing at the little table just inside of the main door. I grabbed the photo of my Father and pulling open the front door, rushed out for the car.

The sound of panicked people reached my ears, the neighbors were also running out of their houses, desperate to get to whatever high ground there was on the big, but rather flat island of Kona.

I pulled open the door to my car, climbing in and jamming the key into the ignition I tore off down the road, heading for the road that led up to the volcano, the only high ground close enough to reach in time.

We lived mere minutes of a drive from the beachfront, and I knew my house would be one of the first to be overcome by the forceful waves of water. Traffic was a mess, and I tried not to panic as I realized that if a miracle didn't happen, none of us stuck closer to the ocean would make high ground in time.

Would the car float? Would it sink right away? What could I do? I turned onto the highway, it was moving, but far slower than it was supposed to be. I jumped off at the first side roads, the upside of living on an island for my entire life, besides the tropical aspect of it, was that I had learned every sideroad available to us drivers.

I hit the gas and sped down the nearly deserted road, there were a few other drivers but they were in as much of a hurry as I was to get up and away from the water that was now probably moments away from hitting.

As I reached an intersection I could hear the thundering of the powerful waves behind me. Closing my eyes and gripping the steering wheel I sent a prayer up to anyone who was listening.

It hit like brick wall. The car jerked forward when it hit and tumbled into it's side, I could hear the metal straining under the pressure of the water as I was tossed beneath the waves and carried forward. The speed at which the water carried the small car was incredible, and a moment later I heard it hit something. The sound of glass shattering was barely audible under the deafening sound of water rushing into the car. I was going to die.

Quickly reaching for the box cutter I kept in the console incase of emergencies I slashed the seatbelt and broke free, tumbling around in the car as the car kept tumbling around in the water. The windows, and windshield had been shattered, and during a moment where the car wasn't tumbling every which way miraculously I managed to pull myself out of the broken windshield and away from the car.

I had never felt so helpless as I did now, being carried along in the current of rushing water as a feather was carried in the wind. Kicking towards the surface of the water I took in a deep breath of air, the burning sensation in my lungs being quenched as oxygen reached them.

It was like the whole town had turned into a raging river. Cars, buildings, and other structures could be seen floating, as well as people. Dead and alive. Fear pulsed through me as I realized I had to get out of the current before I was impaled by something. I'd heard the horror stories of people who had gone through tsunami's, or died during them. Most of the injuries or deaths were due to careening into something, or something careening into them.

I finally spotted it as the water pulled me closer to where the main town stood. I had lived a little outside of it, a couple miles. The water had pulled me farther than I thought. The parking garage, made out of solid concrete and metal stood strong as everything else around it crumpled. It was a matter of mere seconds, if I was lucky, minutes before something was bound to run into me, or me into something.