The IndUS Network e-magazine

It slowly sprung to prominence ...
story - part 3


Image credit:unknown

Read part 1 story from March Spring issue here
Read part 2 story from April Showers issue here


Last scene from part 2

On reaching the hospital his heart really broke. The entire hospital was in shambles… It was the same scene as in the market place. He looked around for his mom, sister, baby and dad. They were nowhere to be found.

Continued ...

The sun was slowly setting on the horizon oblivious of the happenings around the place. It was becoming darker and darker. The tremor has knocked down the electricity and the whole town was without artificial light. Luckily it was not a new moon day and hence the moon was providing a minimal light to the whole place. The entire town was filled with cries, wails and sobs. There was panic around and everyone was searching for one of their loved ones. The onset of night was depressing for everyone as it was not easy to search anymore.

Rene was grief struck. A big lump of sorrow was forming near his throat and tears were rolling down his eyes. He could see the panic around the place. It was the same situation as it was at his house. He did not know where to start. The entire hospital had collapsed. The area was filled with bricks, concrete blocks, rafters and roofing material. He was also not familiar with the complete layout of the hospital. He tried hard to remember how he used to enter into the hospital and which direction he took to reach the pediatric section. With that mental map he walked around the rubbles towards the north east part of the rubbles.

The entire area was surrounded with people. Everyone was trying to clear the rubbles by hand and calling their loved ones. With minimal moonlight it was difficult to recognize the people around. As Rene was wondering what he must do, he could hear Max barking. He could not appreciate how much he loves to have Max around in this moment of great disaster and grief. Rene tried to find Max in that crowd. Max has found his dad, mom and sister and he was barking to get Rene! Rene could not hide his moment of joy and was relieved to see the whole family again. He rushed towards them and hugged everyone including Max. What a help from Max!

In that moment of happiness Rene forgot about the little baby girl. He looked up and asked, ”What happened to the baby”? His sister immediately started crying and his mother was trying to console her to be strong. Rene could sense that something is really wrong. His father explained, “When I came to meet them we all stepped out of the hospital building for a brief moment when the entire hospital collapsed. We are unsure what happened to the baby girl. All we are doing is trying to remove the rubbles from this spot at this time”. Rene surveyed the concrete and brick rubbles and was wondering how to clear this. He recollected the construction excavator operating at the front end of the rubble and decided to seek help from them. He asked his dad to continue what he was doing and he went to get the excavator help.

Rene was back in 15 minutes with the excavator. The excavator helped removing the rubble one after another. It was a slow and cumbersome process. For every few minutes it had to pause as they discover an injured person below. Minutes were ticking, hours were passing, but there was no sign of their sister’s baby girl.

[Story will continue.. in the June Issue]


Second World War

Teacher: When did second world war occurred?
Student: From page number 26 to page number 34 in the history book.


* The characters, settings and happenings are fiction only.