I am in my excited moment again and have begun reading, revising, re-reading and writing. I have decided to put a few paragraphs on the blog in hopes of getting some feedback on it.
Who knows, if I can get about 2 hours of uninterrupted quite per day maybe I'll - oh who am I kidding?!?
: )
To give you a little bit of the background, the main character is "Dahlia." She is a young girl who has the misfortune of being in the thick of the Haiti earthquake. She has a mom and a little sister who are in two different locations of Port au Prince during the catastrophe.
Chapter III
I could die in this store. Full of pastries and cakes, cookies and drinks. I wanted it all but didn't have a gourde to my name. The walls are bright and clean and the windows don't have a single smudge on them. There are pictures of the countryside along the walls and plants lined the shelving. It's cool in here and the drinks in the refrigerators are very inviting. In one corner stand tall stalks of sugar cane that could keep you company for hours. We walk around the store admiring and craving, the owner does not look pleased to have us walking around his store. I look down at my watch and it is 4:50pm, almost time to pick up Colette. “Marie, I have to go.” I say. “Not yet, come and look at this wedding cake” A three layer master piece. Roses made of sugar circled each tier. Red, yellow and white. Little silver beads sitting on the petals. “I want a cake just like that.” I say out loud not knowing Roudmy is right behind me. He let out a laugh and buckles over saying “And, Who is going to marry you Dahlia?”
I roll my eyes and begin walking towards the front of the store when suddenly I feel a sharp jolt that dropped me to the ground. Before I knew what was happening the shelves, coolers, paintings and ceiling are falling all around me. I can't move, I am terrified. I scream but the noise around me is overpowering. The tiles on the floor seem to jump up and down as the ground shakes violently. I could hear screaming but it seemed to be coming from all around me. It's suddenly dark and I am aware that I was unable to move my left leg. I can't understand what is going on. Are the walls coming down around me? I am on my face praying for the shaking to stop. And then, just as quickly as it began it stopped. Coughing, crying... I can't stop. I am so afraid. My head feels heavy and the screams seem to echo around me. The sounds are muffled, like I am under water. My head aches. “Manma” I whisper in between coughs. She is not here, but I want her to be. I can't see, but something above me sounds like it is falling, slowly...creaking, then darkness.
I was on my fathers lap the day before he died. He was tired but allowed me to read to him pages from my favorite book. “Are you listening?” I asked. “Yes, dear continue” His eyes were closed but he opened them every time I stopped reading. “Ok, Dahlia. Enough” My mother said as she ushered me to bed. He reached out and grabbed her hand “OK?” He asked her. “OK” she replied and kissed my father on the forehead. Mom wasn't feeling too well lately and slept a lot. Dad said that she might have a surprise for me. Huh? They seem to speak in code about things they knew I didn't understand. They seem to enjoy this very much because they did it often. The next morning we had mais mouline (corn meal) for breakfast. My mother would not eat one bite. She frowned when I offered some to her which tickled my father. He left for work that day and never returned. I cried for weeks.
(3am)
How long? How long have I been asleep? How long have I been lying here? I opened my swollen eyes slowly, hoping that I would see something different. I can't quite move my arms, they hurt.
Crying. I could hear crying and it sounded like Roudmy. Oh my God, we are in the pastry store. I can't see around me, but I remember. “Roudmy!” I don't think I was loud enough. He is still crying and did not answer. I begin to cry again. What has happened. Maybe a bomb has gone off and now we are all going to die. I think of Colette, she must be so frightened. Are we trapped here? Who will know that we are here? Where is Marie? Oh my God! “Jesus” I cry. I begin to recite psalm 23 to myself. “The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures...” I am comforted after saying this psalm and think of my mother. She would be sick with worry. I can't get out. I can't see.
(10:15am)
I'm not sure how much time has gone by, but I decide that I've done enough crying. “There is no point to all this crying” manman always says. I can hear others weeping, screaming. I'm not sure where they all are. There are things on top of me and I'm covered in dirt. My head feels heavy. I have to lift it. I want to move but I'm afraid. The skin on my face stings, its scratched. My lips and gums are bleeding and but I don't suck the blood off because they are also thick with dirt. I have to get up, I have got to get out of here. I struggle for a while, only to get a few heavy pieces of the ceiling off of me. I reach up and can feel some space between me and the two large pieces of wall forming a triangle above me. What if it falls?!? The thought terrifies me and I lie back down. I stayed there for what seemed like forever. I sang all the songs I knew. I talked to God and asked him to help me survive. The pressure on my leg makes it ache. I ask God to help my mom and Colette. I pray until I fall asleep.
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