Tuesday, March 1st, 2015 2:35 pm

I opened the door and found myself looking at my front yard, where Piper and Thomas had been playing and running around since early in the morning. It was a beautiful day; neighbors were out taking their pets for a walk, flowers were blossoming to let everyone know how vivid they were, bees buzzed around and you could hear several birds chirp to each other from a distance. There was a slight breeze that made a warm day like this feel pleasant but there was something... something did not feel right. Thomas and Piper kept playing together when Mr. Robinson came by to say hi and have a quick chat. The sky darkened quickly and had a purplish color near the clouds. It’ll probably rain soon, I thought to myself. I told my children to get inside as soon as it started raining, even though we weren’t exactly in the rainy season. Rain poured, and the house got cold, when suddenly, it struck. The fright and terror consumed me as houses crumbled that looked as fragile as a pyramid of cards. In just a couple of minutes, the amount of dead or missing people went from hundreds... to thousands... to millions. People ran around in the streets and more than one car crash could be heard from far away. As I grabbed Piper and Thomas’s arm and exited the once-safe home, I woke up. Nightmares have not left my sleep from the day it actually happened.

Several more have died this week, and I can’t stop myself from wondering for how long this torture will go on. I am aware that we are doing better than lots of other refuges, but that doesn’t stop me from being constantly concerned when it comes to my children, or even Mr. Robinson who has not been feeling well recently. I never would have imagined that an earthquake could cause such damage to so many people. Families who once had it all, have been reduced to nothing.

I have not spoken to the mayor about the time he found me in his room while looking for some medicine that would cure Thomas. I suppose he did not expect me to be there for that reason, anyway. Doubts on the mayor keep emerging every time I see him, which only makes it more difficult to anticipate any good deeds from him. In times like these, uncertainty fills all the refugees’ minds, including mine. I decide to confront him after dinner, I can’t suppress the thought that if he is capable of hiding medicine from all of us, he could be hiding even more.

“How is Thomas doing, Samantha? Has he gotten any better? You wanted to speak to me, didn’t you?” His left eye twitched as he spoke, and it took it as a sign that his sudden “interest” on my son was just an act. It angered me that he would have the nerve to ask anything similar to that knowing that he could do something about it.

“He’s the same, but thanks for asking,” I told him with a straight face “I... I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead,” he seemed fearless but calm, and that made me decide to come clean.

“You know, the other day when I was in your room, I was actually looking for the medicine that I know you have hidden. Why wouldn’t you tell any of us when you knew how bad things are?”

As soon as I finished speaking, I regretted it. It was not my place to ask him questions of that sort. He was the mayor, after all, and I was just his secretary.

“Samantha, I knew what you were doing, and I’m sorry to tell you that I have my own reasons to do what I do. Also, I am afraid that just by knowing that you may know too much and questioning me like this only proves to me that you doubt my actions and I can’t work with someone who won’t be loyal to me. I appreciate your years of work for me, but I’m going to have to fire you and ask you to leave the refuge,” answered the mayor.

I was stunned by his answer, but I did as he said. The man I had admired for so many years turned out to be a completely different person, but I suppose that it is the effect that disasters and tragedies have on people. I was heartbroken, but there was nothing more that I could do, and perhaps I could find a somewhat better refuge for my children and I. As I turned my back and headed to the refuge, I heard a click that frightened me. I turned around to where I had been talking to the mayor, and he pulled the trigger of the gun he had been pointing at me.