Irreparable Ruins

A disaster is now taking place. Although the reasons why it is taking place are not related to any crime committed by humanity, although it might seem as a natural one, the worldly test we are going through in the aftermath of that disaster has made it possible for us to face some unexpected facts.

In fact, earthquakes are events that are as natural as the wind or the rain. However, what is left behind is not natural at all. A common emotional state is shared by those who have been there during that terrible event, and who have actually survived. And this emotional state leads to different reactions depending on how badly it hurt. 

        
Earthquake is a living thing. It may even be viewed as a creature. He is fast asleep under the depths of the earth, and if he ever decides to come onto the surface, he does that rather cruelly. He has neither mercy nor sensibility. He only destroys, oppresses, leaves you helpless, leaves you desperate, makes you await in darkness and thirst with little hope. And once you see the sunshine once more hours or maybe days later, he lets you face resurrection. 

       
The Earthquake does not permit those who are left behind to mourn for the lost ones right after. An injured man is not allowed to mourn for his lost wife, while waiting for his children to be saved from under the ruins. Either death or the breath: the man desires to find one. And once he finds it, he is either tied to his own life with tighter bonds, or is completely ruined.

As he tries hard to lift the bricks and stones with his fingers covered with blood, he has this one prayer echoing inside, repeatedly, even unconsciously: 'God, please bless my loved ones. Bless my loved ones, give them back to me. Give them back to me.”  Yes. A blessing.

What kind of crime has a man committed, to ask for a blessing at that very moment? Although the earthquake has never been a punishment given for a crime, it usually gives the survivors a bizarre feeling of guilt.

How dramatic are those first hours right after the disaster. As the hours go by, the tension rises more and more, making it unbearable to wait. As the hours pass, there comes a moment when the tension seems to lessen with a hand, a breath, rising from beneath the ruins. 

You are asleep. He is coming. First, you feel his breath, his inhaling and exhaling sound with cruelty and violence.  He is hungry, and he is coming. If he really is, there is no turning back. He would not give up. He comes to you like a nightmare in the middle of your sleep. You try to find consolation in waking up and finding that it has all ended, but your bed has begun to tremble.

Once your child in the next room cries out loud, asking for help, you realize this is not a nightmare. And that is the moment when your conscience fades out with extreme fear and panic.  

The building both trembles and bounces, with each coup coming from below. The earthquake seems to be talking to you in each and every hit; ''Haven’t you torn down yet? Haven’t you? Haven’t you? Fall apart! Tear down! Divide!”

Despair turns into surrender, and you end up expecting to confront your sound of destiny. In the meantime, you hear the sound of the buildings tearing and people screaming.

This long period of waiting, although lasting only a few seconds, will end up with the answer whether your life will be blessed or you will die like everybody else. Until that very moment, there is still hope; but once the collapse begins, the nightmare turns into doomsday.

This is the day, you begin to think. Anxieties appear on your mind, and sure of your own death, you fear what will come next. That anxiety shifts to one for your children, one for your wife, one for your parents in tiniest seconds. It even ends up in your thinking whether you will come across the formerly deceased once you die.

And once a person finds oneself stuck among concrete ruins, and once he/she begins to hear panic screams asking for help, this is the moment one realizes this is not the doomsday. This is a complete tragedy. Without the knowledge whether his/her family’s safe, one cannot find any relief, seeing that this is not the end of the world. He/she is about to say, “I wish it were the doomsday.” That is because right after the doomsday, there would be no pain, and no injuries at all. There would be no life. Now, however, the life that has been “blessed”, will live on with all the ruins that are irreparable.