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