Name : Wiranti Rahayu

Nim : E1D019213

Class : 5TP3

The Earthquake

At the time, the sun rises accompanied by the cool air that still surrounds the beauty of the
island of Lombok. The crowing of the rooster woke me from a deep sleep. I got up and
opened my bedroom window. The fresh air that greeted me in the morning was a sign that the
routine was about to start. My routine is like a teenager in general, namely going to school.
At that time I was still in high school. I am one of the students who likes to join organizations
inside and outside of school with the main goal of making friends and experiences. That
morning during school break, Rahma and Santi approached me and asked me to practice after
school. We will practice traditional dance for the show. Our training time is one month. We
were trained by a dance teacher named Bu Sri. Every day when I came home from school,
my two friends and I practiced until the afternoon. At that time we trained very hard.

A few days later came the day when we will perform. The location is not far, namely in a
building in central Lombok. That day the sun shone on my clothes so it felt hot on my skin.
That afternoon, my two friends and I, that is Santi and Rahma, were getting ready to perform
at night. A few hours passed, we were ready to go to the location of the show. From behind
the car window, I sat comfortably listening to music while looking at the sky which looked
cool and very beautiful with a mixture of clouds that seemed to follow me at that time. It
didn’t take us long to finally arrive at the location. I got out of the car and started walking
towards the building. From a distance, the decoration of the building is clearly visible. Many
colorful flowers that amaze every eye that looks. At that time there were so many types of
dishes with delicious aromas that immediately made my stomach feel hungry.

Many guests came in formal and neat attire. From backstage, we waited and prepared to wait
our turn to perform. At that time I was a little nervous because it was very crowded. A few
moments later, it was my turn and my friends to appear. Traditional music combined with
modern music produces a beautiful sound that accompanies our every move. Graceful
dancing fingers made the audience seem to enjoy our performance. I always smile throughout
the show. Everyone looked happy.

In the middle of the show, everyone in front of me suddenly fell silent and looked confused.
Suddenly they stood looking at each other. I was getting flustered but kept the show going. At
that moment, people were running towards the exit. And that’s when I realized there was an
earthquake. I immediately ran to find a way out. From behind me, I could clearly hear many
sounds of objects falling from above but I didn’t dare to look back and kept looking for a way
out. There was 5 doors. 2 doors on the left, 2 doors on the right, and one door in front which
is the furthest distance from the staging stage. All the doors to the left and right were full of
people pushing each other to get out first. Seeing that, I ran towards the door in front where
there weren’t too many people. As he was almost at the door, the power went out and the
atmosphere became even more gloomy and very dark.

Moonlight was the only source of light that night. Screams and cries filled my ears. I was
very scared myself and tears kept flowing as my lips trembled in prayer. At that time, I and
the people in front of the door did not have time to get out of the building because the
shaking was getting stronger and the roof of the building began to collapse. At that moment
beside me was an old woman sitting in a wheelchair who looked resigned. Behind the old
woman was a young woman who hugged her from behind and said “OH MY GOD, pity my
mother!” He was very worried and sorry for the condition of his mother who was in a
wheelchair and in the midst of an earthquake that shook with the darkness of the night.

With my body limp and scared, I finally got up the courage to run outside while looking up to
avoid something that might hit me. Thankfully I managed to survive even though some
thorns pierced the soles of my feet while running outside that time. Out of breath, I looked
around to find out where the old lady was. My heart was very relieved when I saw he
survived without the slightest injury. I immediately looked for my teacher and friend because
we were all separated while saving ourselves. We finally got together and cried while
hugging each other. After that, we immediately rushed to return to our respective families. It
didn’t take long for me to finally get home, my mother was very worried because she
couldn’t call my cell phone. That night my family and I gathered and slept on the terrace of
the house in case of aftershocks.

Day after day passed, the earthquake was still felt even though the tremor was not as big as
the night before. It was a difficult time for me because day or night I felt as if I was terrorized
by something I didn’t know when it would come to greet me. This caused the school to be
temporarily closed. One day when the situation was conducive again, school activities began
to run normally as usual. I participated in fundraising for earthquake victims. In the morning
my friends and I walked in school uniforms down one office to another to collect donations.
At that time we managed to collect a lot of donations in the form of money, clothes, and
blankets. This touched me because even in the midst of a disaster, there were many people
who were ready to help each other even when they were in trouble.

The next day, my school teacher and I, as well as my friends, went to the earthquake-affected
area to distribute donations. At that time I was in a dilemma because when I asked my
mother’s permission, she advised me not to go to the location because she was worried that
another earthquake would happen. However, I went anyway because I really wanted to help
channel donations. Feeling a little uneasy I continued to pray silently during the trip. It’s far
from my house. After a few hours, we were getting closer to our destination. Many ruins
were scattered on the side of the road that filled my view at that time. My eyes filled with
tears when I saw it directly at that time.

The closer to the destination, the sound of the call to prayer was heard, indicating that the
time for the Zuhur prayer had arrived. My group and I rested at the mosque to pray. Just as he
was about to rush on his way, an earthquake shook violently again mercilessly. My feet are
difficult to run from the building. I grabbed the wall little by little to help me run. It was
much more prominent than at the previous staging location. Although the scale of the first
earthquake was bigger than when I was at the epicenter, but because at that time I was at the
epicenter of the earthquake, the earthquake was much more pronounced so it was very
difficult for me to walk because of the shaking. At that moment, the ground there seemed to
crack. Out of fear, my entourage and I hurriedly continued our journey to the donation
distribution site.
Suddenly our car stopped when we saw a little boy crying while running alone. My teacher
and I went down and approached the little boy and asked him where he was going alone, but
the little boy continued to cry. I tried to calm him down so he could talk. “My mom can’t get
up,” the 4-year-old said. We tried to understand what the little boy was trying to say because
he kept crying. We took him to the car and gave him a drink. When he calmed down, the boy
told him that his mother was trapped in the rubble of his house. We went there according to
the direction of the little boy who turned out to be very close to his house at the time.

When I arrived, I saw that the legs of the boy’s mother could not move because of the rubble.
The mother screamed in pain and asked for help. Me, my teacher, and my friends together
lifted the rubble of the house and finally succeeded. Mother’s legs were covered in blood and
she almost fainted. The little boy continued to cry for his mother’s condition. We
immediately took the mother to the nearest hospital. The mother was apparently one of the
residents of the earthquake point location that we were going to visit. We rushed to the
epicenter to inform his family because we couldn’t reach his family by phone. Soon we
arrived at the location of the epicenter. We immediately informed the mother’s family that
she was in the hospital. It turned out that the mother was trapped because at that time she was
about to take something from her house that collapsed due to the earthquake at that time.

A few hours passed, my teacher and friends started handing over donations at that time.
There they can be seen where they sleep and rest on plastic sheeting which feels hot in nature
during the day. There are many children. At that time they were bathing in the river with their
happy faces splashing water on my clothes. I just smiled seeing their cheerful and innocent
faces. There, I got to know the children and then spent time playing with them. I asked them
to tell me about the good times they had. We joked and laughed and took pictures together at
that time.

Time seemed so fast and finally me and the group went home. I am very grateful because I
get to know the children and the people there. Even in difficult circumstances, they share
food with each other. They look so adorable when they feed each other. I am very sad and
touched because at a young age, children have experienced such a big disaster, but they are
still strong, cheerful and so warm. It was an unforgettable moment and I will never forget it.
From there I learned that disaster is not a time to be sad about giving up, but to take care of
each other, feel the beauty of togetherness, and keep fighting. I feel lucky to have met them.
Because of that, I realized that behind a disaster or a test there is always a lesson that can be
felt.