It slowly sprung to prominence ...
story - part 4

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Read part 1 story from March Spring issue here
Read part 2 story from April Showers issue here
Read part 3 story from May Flowers issue here

Last scene from part 3

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.

Continued ...

It was dawning and the sun was back on the eastern horizon. The entire town is silent except for the construction truck sounds. Even the excavation crews have stopped few minutes for a break. Rene’s family was anxiously waiting to see what more help they can get. The search and rescue was not moving at the pace they would have liked. There were rumors that government has dispatched military personnel to this area and they will be arriving here very soon.

The excavator operators were back and started their activity again. They picked up another spot closer to the last one. Minutes were ticking and hours were passing. The government rescuers also arrived and they joined the rescue crew.

One more day passed without any news of the baby. The entire family did not eat anything and were staying around the rubbles to see how the baby can be rescued. Rene forced his family to go to the rescue camp to take some rest. He continued to stay around the hospital to see whether anything could be done. More rescuers from various countries were flying into the region every hour. Unfortunately there was no luck for his family and another day came to an end.

It was the third day and Rene was getting concerned about the 22 days old baby. Without food and water can she survive at all? Even though he did not say this to his family, he was losing hope of getting positive news from this rescue. Every day his family spent the whole time at the hospital site except for a few break hours. Third day also came to an end without any news.

Few more days – fourth, fifth, sixth also went without any news. It was the seventh day. Many rescuers were working full time during these past days. They have also established a temporary tent hospital with supplies brought in. As it was the seventh day, Rene and his family have almost resigned to hear the bad news. At that time, a rescue worker came to him and said they have found a baby under the rubbles and they would like him or his sister to come and identify the baby. With their heart pounding Rene’s family went along with him. The rescue team was lowering in a person with a rope to pick the baby up. The family was terrified and was anxiously waiting to see what is coming. The rescue worker came up with a baby and it was the adorable little baby girl but was completely motionless.

The entire family broke into tears and could not stop crying loud. Rene’s mother was trying to console her sister. Rene and his father tried to get the baby from the rescuer. A volunteer nurse intervened and told them to wait until she could examine the baby. The nurse took the baby inside the hospital camp while the family was waiting outside to hear from her. After 30 minutes the nurse showed up again but without the baby. Rene and his family rushed to find out what had happened. She said, “It is a miracle but the little baby girl survived!” The whole family could not believe what she said. They inquired “Are you saying that the little girl is fine?” She said, “Yes, she is fully dehydrated but she is fine. We are currently feeding her. She must be fine in a few hours! Surviving without food after 7 days is a rare occurrence but your family is lucky. The least probable situation has become true for you!”

It was a miracle that every one of his family member survived in spite of the worst natural disaster he has to encounter. Rene could not stop himself from thanking all the gods he knows. Now the family has to figure out how to reconstruct their lives all over again!

[The End]

Weeds ...

"A man's children and his garden
both reflect the amount of weeding done
during the growing season".
-- Unknown

* The characters, settings and happenings are fiction only.