To all the people out there who did not experience the Christchurch earth quakes, I will try my best to try and make you feel like you were actually there. By Grace Munro The time the earthquake hit, this is what happened, and this is my story. I was with my great uncle Michael from my dad’s side and we were at the Animates pet shop picking up my dog Rummy and his dog Izzy. Rummy was sitting on the floor tied up by a chain, while Izzy was just getting her last locks cut off. I was walking up and down the aisles, looking at what was for sale. When I overheard a lady say “fancy this weather, so sunny one day and cold and miserable the next, perfect earthquake weather you know?” After about 10 minutes of browsing I went back to the groomers and asked for the bill. The groomer was just looking for it when the earthquake hit. I heard this huge rumble; it was deeper and louder than the usual aftershocks. The ground started moving beneath my feet, I thought straight away that we have to get to a safe place. I thought that the shake was just an aftershock but it continued. As soon as I realised that it was an earthquake I ran under the door way inside that shop, where my Great Uncle Michael was already standing. The power went off and all the equipment on the shelves was flying off and landing on the floor. Then all the dogs, birds, mice etc. Started making barking, chirping and squeaking noises. All the fish tanks started falling over and there was water glass and stones everywhere. After the earthquake had finished I ran out crying, so scared wondering if the rest of my 6 member family was ok. After about 20 seconds there was a huge aftershock. A man looking so frightened ran up to me and said “can you please run in and save as many animals as you can”. So I ran inside and was picking up all of the fish off the floor, because all the cages we locked and I didn’t have a key. I ran back outside after I found as many fish as I could. I was standing there when I saw a lady running out with a dog, then I remembered, the dogs! So we ran back inside, while Great Uncle Michael grabbed his little Westie dog, I was to rescue Rummy and bring her outside. Since there was glass on the floor everywhere I had to ask a man to help me carry Rummy outside to safety. Once everybody and all the animals were safe out of the shop, I started remembering that this was reality. I looked around me and saw adults crying with worry in their moans about their children, wondering If they were ok at school, or scared about what had happened to their loved ones. I started trying to text my mum and dad but they wouldn’t answer, I started thinking straight away the worst. About 10 minutes later my mum pulled up in the car park and I ran into her arms crying and shaking with shock. She was proud of me, since that I have a fear of natural disasters. I asked her if my dad Ian and my youngest sister Kate were ok, and she said that they were fine. Then she had to carry on driving because my other younger sister Abbey was at school and my older sister Lucy was at the mall. Luckily Lucy and I had teacher strike from 12:10 onwards because there was a certain meeting that Christchurch Girls High School teachers had to attend. After about an hour I was notified that my whole family was safe and ok. So back to the story. On the way driving home we were stuck in traffic, and you could smell and hear a huge gas leak. Not a long time went by before there was a huge fire on Papanui road which the investigators say was caused by a gas leak. It is now a week after the earthquake and the death toll is just continuing to rise. It is now up to 160. Everybody knows at least 1 person who has died, or you know someone who knows someone else. Like for me example, Christchurch Girls High School, Lucy and I principle Mrs Taylor, her husband, Brian Taylor died because he was outside the ctv building . Christchurch is just at its worst. It is not a nice place to live in right now. Buildings are continuing to fall down after every aftershock. And seeing dead bodies on TV is just so depressing. But thankfully we are all safe for now. Hopefully there will not be anymore, and I think it is fair to say that Christchurch has been shaken enough, Don’t you?