Matches, torchlight, candles, biscuits, radio, important papers, documents, chargers, solar lamps - check. She said to herself. Laila ran to the front door and looked out. The sea was calm for now. Her cottage was near the beach. It was a lovely house. Her dream house. Tears welled in her eyes. She hoped that the tsunami, if it did come, would not destroy her home.
She stood for a few minutes and, with a determined look, took her suitcase and a carry bag with essentials and locked her house. She made her way to the car. The weather was good, and there was no sign of any unnatural event. Her neighbours waved at her. They were also evacuating after the warning had been issued by the authorities. Laila had heard about the warning a few hours before, and she was too numb at first to react. Then it was a scramble. Meanwhile, she had to answer phone calls from her family, who were making sure she was safe.
Laila looked back at her house once more and then looked at the sea as if praying that her house be spared. It was then that she noticed. The sea was drawing back slowly. She started the car and looked at her neighbor, who was now way ahead.
It was real. The tsunami was approaching. Laila drove fast and reached the main road. The traffic was unreal. People had lost their cool. There was chaos everywhere. She got out of the car and stood on top of it and screamed. that the tsunami was fast approaching. Somehow, the police solved the traffic issue, and the cars moved on. She remembered that she had to get to higher ground. The time was less, and she did not want the waves to hit her. She reversed her car and drove the other way towards the church on the hilltop nearby. It was not too high a hill, but it was better than the road.
The pastor and a few others greeted her. They all prayed that the waves would not do much damage. They stood together and held hands, and watched the wave coming slowly. It was a small wave when they watched it from the hilltop. The cars on the road were still trying to make it to the next town. She hoped her neighbours would make it.
Laila felt a lick. She glanced down to see her neighbour's dog 'Tiny'. Tiny had been left behind in the confusion. She bent down and picked him up. He was so moved that he held on to her as if thanking her with all his might. Together, they watched the wave coming ashore and not stopping.
Laila and Tiny sat close and watched the news reporters narrating the horrors of the tsunami. A few days later, she went back to see what was left of her house. Laila almost cried because it was her house that was undestroyed as the reporters had described the miracle. Laila walked in with Tiny.
image - AI generated
Sayee