Danger Zone

It was silent. The wind blew softly in the warm summer air. Rabbits hopped around, lightning bugs slowly began to fade as the night went on. It was a typical mid June night on the quiet cul-de-sac where everyone was fast asleep. Little did they know what was soon to occur. A teenage girl and her friends all around the age of 17 had finally fallen asleep after a day of shopping, swimming, and a rather large movie marathon. One of the girls slowly opened her eyes in the dark room to a slight rattling noise. Her friends stayed asleep oblivious to what their friend was hearing. She sat up and turned on the lamp that was next to her, the light hit one of her friends right in the eyes and she was soon glaring at her friend thinking why in the world would this girl be turning on the lights this late at night. She opened her mouth to express her annoyance when she was signaled by her friend not to talk. By the fear in her eyes, her friend knew something was wrong.

She was motioned to listen and as she did she heard the rattling. It began getting louder and louder. The others were soon awoken and told to listen, although by now it was quite obvious as to what they were supposed to be hearing. The slight rattling had progressed into the dresser mirror shaking against the wall. Soon everything around them was shaking. And then everything happened at once. Car alarms were going off, people were screaming, books were falling off shelves, drawers were shaking open.

The girls all ran to the kitchen hoping that the table could provide some sort of protection. As they ran up the staircase they ran into one of the girls little brother, grabbing him and running they were soon joined by the parents of the girl and young boy. There was so much noise. So many things happening. And as abruptly as the violent shaking began. It stopped. It was the first earthquake the small town had experienced since 1864. No one was prepared, nor did they know what to do besides hope and pray. For they were in the danger zone.