That unfortunate earthquake

I was listening to the news when I heard of the event, a 7-scale ritcher earthquake struck West Java. It started from the city of Tasik, but the impact rippled to Jakarta and other cities. I quickly texted my family to see if they're alright. Their reply was very light. They were having Chinese food for lunch at Mom's favorite place. When they felt the ground shaking beneath their feet, they did not followed other people who were running out from the mall for safety in screams. No, instead they sat there wondering if the chefs drugged their food.

They seriously suspected Mom's favorite tofu dish to be the culprit, knowing how Mom would definitely order it and distribute it accordingly to the others. I can imagine them sitting there in contemplation of which food was drugged, and why anyone would want to drug them in the first place.

With that image in mind, I turned off the news and biked to school in the rain.

I woke up this morning, turned on the news and here it is. Death toll reaching 57, searches are still being conducted to the buried villages. They expect noone to be alive while they dig and search through the rubbles. At that moment, a pang of seriousness hit me. I just realized the devastating result of the quake when I saw little faces looking straight at the cameras from below rescue tents. The look on their faces wasn't fear, it was blank. Of unawareness, of not understanding what happened, of not knowing the next steps. Those whose houses were shattered have nowhere to go, those whose houses were still intact are too scared to come back.

I heartfully hope help is on the way.

In any case, I know how resilient you are as a country. We survived a series of unfortunate attacks this past few months, from terrorism to natural disasters. Let these tragedies bring us even closer, uniting us as human beings, as citizens of the world.

All my best, all my heart.