The Big One

our isles exist due to tectonic plate movement. the constant movement and evolution of the earth brought aotearoa to the surface. we studied these movements at school. the backbone of my island is rippled by the alpine fault; in geography lessons this would be the cause of The Big One.

before dawn we learnt, from our car radio (the best $3 ever spent), that the earthquake measuring 7.3 was centred in darfield, some 50km from my home.

but heck, i live an hour and a half's drive from the alps! darfield, even on a bad day, wouldn't take me 40 minutes! what was this, fault? and heck, what are you talking about, aftershocks? we didn't learn this word at school!

once brave enough to venture outdoors to face that morning's new truth we were to learn many new ideas of normal. but heck, what had we to moan about? by midday there were no reports of any fatalities. earlier that year there'd been an earthquake of similar magnitude in haiti that killed people in their thousands...

in fact, we were quite pleased with ourselves. we'd been prepared, after all, and had supplies as simple as water. our road was a little broken, but nothing too bad. our house had a few new cracks, but nothing too bad. we'd just survived The Big One.

oh, yes, those pesky aftershocks. they numbered in their hundreds. and then their thousands. they woke us when we didn't need waking. and while they shook us night and day they always revealed themselves beforehand with their ominous rumble. they shook my fear of lightning out of my soul.