THE EARTHQUAKE

Gabriel was a young man who was in love with a beautiful girl called Silvia Delgado. Unfortunately she
only wanted his friendship: he was just like a brother for her. Besides, she was going out with Marco, who was
rich and handsome. However, he was not as good as Gabriel. In the end he proved to be selfish and mean.
But an earthquake which shook the town made Silvia realise who her real love was.

Chapter one: Two tickets

Gabriel was a young man who had a kind face and intelligent brown eyes. Although he usually had a
friendly smile, he wasn’t smiling that day. He wanted to be good-looking, rich and attractive like Marco. He knew
that Silvia thought he was kind and nice, but Marco could afford expensive presents and expensive dinners.
That evening he intended to take Silvia to the movies and he had already bought the tickets. On Thursday
they had arranged to go to the Plaza together that Sunday evening. But Silvia had forgotten about it, so when
he went to her flat, she apologised and told him not to be angry but to return the next day, instead. Gabriel
realised she was going out with Marco and told her that Marco was not a good person. Suddenly he found
himself talking to the door. He threw the rose to the ground and put his foot on it. Behind him he heard a
Marco’s laugh. He was wearing an expensive looking suit and was carrying more than twenty red roses.
Mockingly he said he would perhaps have better luck.
Gabriel walked away down to the street. A lot of people were sitting in the parks and drinking in the
cafés. Young men and women were talking and laughing and holding hands. The sight of these happy people
made Gabriel very unhappy. So, he decided to go to the cinema all the same, as Silvia Delgado was a fool and
he wasn´t going to spend his time on her (in fact, he was jealous!)
The Plaza was a big old building in the centre of town. There were crowds of people standing outside
waiting for the doors to open. As soon as they opened, they hurried inside to the tickets office but Gabriel didn’t.
Just at that moment, 8:27 p.m., the earthquake happened.

Chapter two: A table for two

At the door of Silvia’s apartment Marco watched Gabriel go. He had to ring the bell twice because Silvia
didn’t answer the first time. When she opened the door she looked angry, her face was red and her hair wasn’t
brushed. He realised Gabriel had told her something. Marco had a drink while she was getting ready. He liked
the apartment which was comfortable, with beautiful pictures and expensive furniture. The Delgados had been

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a rich family. Silvia’s father had had a good job, friends and money. But now he was dead and Silvia lived with
her mother, who was a sick woman. She sometimes needed to go to hospital, the doctor often came and she
needed good food and expensive medicines. But Marco didn’t know the Delgados had very little money now.
While Marco was waiting, Silvia’s mother asked who had come. Silvia lied it was Gabriel so Marco realised
Mrs Delgado didn’t like him. Anyway, he didn’t care because he knew Silvia liked him very much. Ten minutes
later Silvia came into the room. Her dark hair was straight, her big brown eyes were full of life, her dress was
pink and very pretty and now, she was smiling happily.
Outside it was very hot. Marco drove his car fast and Silvia felt the wind in her hair. He was taking her to
the Oasis Restaurant, the best in town (of course, he said nothing was too good for her).
The restaurant was a mile outside the town. There were a lot of big cars outside it. Inside it was nearly
dark with soft light coming from pretty little lamps on the tables. In a corner a man played quietly on a big white
piano while some people were dancing. The manager came up to Marco and greeted him. Marco said that he
had called that afternoon and wanted a table for two. The manager then led them to a table in a corner at the
back of the restaurant near the door to the kitchen, in the way of waiters going in and out with trays of food
and drink. Angrily, Marco said he didn’t want that table and demanded a better one, near the dancing, as they
would want to dance later. The manager replied they were busy that evening and told him to come early next
time. Marco got very cross. The people began to turn round and look at him. Silvia felt very ashamed and looked
at the floor. Marco was always like that: he always wanted the best table in a restaurant, the front seat at the
theatre and the best place at the football match. She touched his arm and said the table was OK but Marco
wouldn’t hear. So she went to the ladies’ room. She had to walk among the tables to get to the door at the other
end of the restaurant. She saw young men and women dancing and older people who were talking, laughing
and having a good time. The ladies’ room was outside the restaurant in a small garden. Once she was outside,
the earthquake happened.

Chapter three: Silvia’s story

She heard a terrible noise and felt the ground shaking under her feet. Suddenly the lights went out and
the screams began. She realized it was an earthquake and prayed to God for help. After the second movement
she noticed a long crack running from the bottom to the top of the wall until it opened. She could see the people
inside trying to escape. She could see the little lamps still burning and people’s hands pushing and pulling.
The wall fell and the roof came down with a loud crash. The Oasis Restaurant was now a big pile of debris
(stones, metal and broken glass). She could neither move nor scream. She thought of Marco, the manager and

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all those people who had been so happy a moment before and were now trapped in the ruins. Suddenly Silvia
remembered her mother. It wasn’t easy to get out of the garden into the street. As her shoes had high heels,
she had to take them off in order to be able to climb a broken wall. Her pretty dress was dirty and her feet were
cut. Crowds of people were running about. A few men were trying to pull some stones and steel bars from a
falling building to rescue a little boy. But Silvia couldn’t help them as she had to find her mother.
Everyone wanted to get out of town into the country, so cars didn’t stop. She knew she would have to
go alone and so she began to run. Buildings kept falling and fires were starting everywhere. Despite the disaster
all around, Silvia was determined to find her mother. She finally got to the centre of town where some houses
still stood and the big church clock still showed the right time. However, the hotel was only a pile of smoking
stones. The Plaza was a ruin. Firemen and policemen were carrying people out of it, but the roof had fallen in
killing hundreds of people. Silvia wanted to believe that Gabriel hadn’t gone, but she preferred not to go on
thinking because the idea of Gabriel’s possible death was too awful. She ran faster towards her building on the
other side of the town centre. Silvia’s neighbours were pulling pieces of concrete trying to dig out their families
and friends, but the Delgado’s building still stood.
A big crack ran up the front wall and some windows were broken but it looked safe. Although a man
told her not to go in because it was too dangerous, she didn’t stop. It was dark inside as there was no electricity.

Chapter four: Neighbours

She ran up the stairs and went into her mother’s bedroom, but Mrs Delgado’s bed was empty, so Silvia
sat down on it and began to cry, not knowing what to do. Then she went into her own bedroom and found some
comfortable shoes. When she started to take off her dress, there was the noise of another building falling, so
she decided not to stay inside. She must find her mother, she couldn’t think about either Marco who was lost
in the ruins of the Oasis or Gabriel who was perhaps lost in the ruins of the Plaza.
In the street she saw Mr Enriques, who lived in the building next to hers. His face was white and his
hands were shaking. Tears were slowly falling down his face: he had lost everything: his family and his home.
He told Silvia that Mr Garcia, the neighbour from the second floor on Silvia’s building had taken Mrs Delgado to
Liberty Park because it was safe there. Silvia kissed his sad old face and, without thinking of the danger went
back into the apartment to look for her mother’s medicines, a blanket, a cushion and a few clothes, as her
mother needed to be warm and comfortable. As all the cars and taxis were full, she started walking.

Chapter five: Liberty Park

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 She was soon tired because she wasn’t used to walking. She heard a man talking about the Grand Hotel
which was now a ruin, as well as the Oasis Restaurant. A lot of people had been killed but the manager was
alive. He was not badly injured because he had been at the back of the restaurant and that part was the least
affected. Silvia asked the man about the customer who was talking to the manager when the earthquake
happened. But he told her not to worry, he had helped Marco to get out but he didn’t even say thanks. He was
only worried about himself and his car. Although he only had a few cuts on his face and hands, he wanted to
see a doctor at once, while other people were dying. Silvia was glad that Marco was alive but now she
understood he she had been a fool. Now she could see she didn’t love Marco, in fact, she didn’t even like him.
She realised she loved Gabriel, instead, but wondered whether it was too late.
At midnight there was another earthquake. It was 12:30 am when Silvia arrived at Liberty Park.
Thousands of people were sitting on the grass standing or talking. There was a little moonlight but the air was
filled with dust and smoke, making it difficult to see. She spent an hour looking for her mother. Then she lost all
hope and decided to start again in the morning. Suddenly she heard Mr Garcia calling her name. Her mother lay
on the grass with Mr Garcia’s jacket under her head. Silvia gave her some medicine, put the cushion under her
head and covered her with the blanket.

Chapter six: Gabriel’s story

Concerning Gabriel, the fact that he had already bought his ticket saved his life, as he hadn’t gone in as
everybody else. He heard the first noises of the earthquake. Then, as a stone had hit him on the head and, for a
long time he lay unconscious on the ground. When he came round he heard two men wondering whether he
was fainted or dead. He couldn’t move his arm because it was broken and he felt a terrible pain. He thought of
his mom and dad but there was nothing he could do about them because they lived in another town. He
immediately thought of Silvia, but he couldn’t help her either. So, as Mrs Delgado was alone and sick, Gabriel
considered his duty to go and help her. He was very weak and had a headache. Then, a woman ran into him and
hit his arm. The pain was so terrible that he fainted.
When he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the street but lying on the grass with a lot of other people.
He saw doctors and nurses moving quietly around. A nurse explained to him that an ambulance had taken him
to the garden of the hospital. They had covered his broken arm with a bandage. In fact, he was one of the lucky
ones. Although his knees felt weak, he could walk, so he left the hospital and started walking slowly back into
town.

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 Chapter seven: Thieves
The sun was already rising when he got to the apartment. A group of men were digging, trying to rescue
a child. Gabriel offered to help, but they didn’t let him because he was hurt. He then went up the stairs to the
Delgados’ apartment without thinking of the risk he was taking. Then his foot touched something soft. He looked
down and saw his red rose by the front door. It belonged to another world; it was the symbol of other life.
The door was opened and suddenly, two thieves ran out of the sitting room. The first one was down the
stairs before Gabriel could stop him but then Gabriel put out his foot and the other man fell over it. Mrs
Delgado’s jewellery box crashed to the ground. There were necklaces, bracelets and earrings inside it.
Apparently the thieves hadn’t had enough time, as the pictures were still on the wall, Silvia’s camera was still
on the table and the room looked tidy. Then Gabriel saw Silvia’s dirty shoes, so he realised she was alive. Perhaps
she had come home and taken her mother to a safe place. He felt happy and thought of going to the country to
find them. But then he realised that, if he left the apartment, other thieves would come. So, he decided to stay
in order to guard the place. He drank some milk and felt better, so he went to the street in order to be able to
help the other men.
All that day and the next he worked with them. There was a broken water pipe from which he got water
for them and a shop on the corner with its windows and doors broken, where he looked for food. The
shopkeeper was dead. In the meantime, the workers had succeeded in rescuing the child from the ruins. She
was safe now in a car o her way to hospital. There was another child crying because he couldn’t find his mother.
Gabriel gave him some food and water and played with him until his father came and took him away.

Chapter eight: Home

On the morning of the third day soldiers and firemen arrived with big machines to remove the debris.
For the first time Gabriel sat down to rest and soon he felt asleep in front of the Delgados’ door. That day good
news came to Liberty Park. There was a message from the Government saying there was no danger of another
earthquake. A city engineer was visiting every house and a white cross was painted on the buildings that were
dangerous. So, Silvia and Mrs García decided to go home because Mrs Delgado needed her bed. Their journey
back into town was slow because fallen walls blocked the roads.
All the time Silvia kept wondering whether she would ever see Gabriel again. When she finally got home,
Silvia saw there was no cross on their building, which meant it was safe, so she went upstairs. Then she stopped:
there was a man asleep in front of the door. He looked thin and ill. His head was bandaged and so was his right
arm. Silvia recognised Gabriel and called his name. He woke up and jumped to his feet. He didn’t see her clearly,

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he only saw a person trying to enter, so he thought it was another thief. Then Silvia spoke again and he
recognised her. His head was burning and he felt weak, but he didn’t want to faint. Not now.
Silvia noticed he was holding something in his hand. It was Gabriel’s dirty, dead rose. She took it out of
his hand, thanked him and said it was beautiful.

Apart from showing he was deeply in love with her, Gabriel proved to be unselfish and brave. In my
opinion, he soon got well and they started dating and soon got engaged. After all, the earthquake had been a
blessing in disguise!

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