Suddenly with a shake I woke. Strangely, everything was a blur. I thought it

was a dream so I dozed off. Then it got worse. My room started shaking. I

was screaming but nothing really came out except a tiny whisper. Mum came in

screaming ‘It’s an earthquake!’ Following her was the rest of the household

shivering with fright. ‘Wake up!’ they shouted. I tiredly and wearily got

out of my warm, cosy bed. We turned on the news and a voice was mumbling

‘7.1 magnitude earthquake.’ I looked at my Dad’s alarm clock. The blurry

numbers read out 4:35. I slumped down the stairs where my Mum was already

under the table with a blanket and pillow. She was holding a lantern that

was attracting all sorts of bugs.

Later on, our Aunty came over, a torch in one hand and my two year old

cousin in the other. Tears were pouring down his face as he had woken up not

knowing what was happening. We calmed him down. Then Dad went around the

sub-division checking on all our elderly neighbours. Luckily they were all

alright. We slept under the table for most of the night, moaning and

groaning when there was an aftershock. My family were sick of them already!

Then we climbed into Mum and Dad’s bed. It was squishy but just big enough.

The shaking subsided after a while.