This is the second part of an ongoing series covering the Tokyo Earthquake and it`s aftermath from my eyes. This may develop into a short novel, however that (for now) is in the air from my end.
You can read Part 1 here.
Everything had changed since the shaking stopped. Our hurried escape down nine flights of stairs had left us standing near a bridge over the immense Sumida Gawa river.
The news that my wife and young son were home and safe was a relief, however along with cell service, the Tokyo Metro would be out of service until they had scoured the tracks for cracks and dangerous bends in the rail line. There would of course be aftershocks. A quake like that is always followed with aftershocks of incredible force. And until that had run its course there was no way home, and home was over 25 kilometers away.
My Apple iPhone`s battery was beginning to run low, only 7% left after desperate attempts to get in touch with my wife and family. We needed to find a charger, and soon.
"Isnt there a convenie near here" I said, using the Japanese slang for a convenience store.
"About two blocks from here, its a Seven Eleven" my friend said pointing in the direction opposite the river.
"I need a charger and I gotta figure a way home, I cant stay here" I replied, thinking only of my young wife at home with our son. Worried about more quakes. Worried about too many things to mention.
"Alright bro Ill lead the way" he said immediately trucking down the brick sidewalk, both of us wearily looking up to the buildings for more shaking.
After 15 minutes of hurried walking we found ourselves at the Seven Eleven, surrounded with people all looking for supplies, looking worried. I noticed an old Japanese woman with her elderly husband. She has a frightened look on her face and was tugging her husbands sleeve.
"まだホントに危ないですよ” she said meaning "it`s still really dangerous".
She was growing frantic, unreasonably so it seemed. However, she succeeded as only an old Japanese おばあさん(grandmother) can. By dragging her complaining husband out of the store by the cuff of his sleeve.
Just then, as if predicted by that old woman, the sidewalk began sliding from side to side as if we were on the deck of a ship in rough seas.
The buildings were shaking once more.
You can only react.
I quickly grabbed a guardrail, holding on for dear life. My friend grabbed the base of a traffic sign as the ground heaved and moved under our trembling feet. Seeing the buildings swaying in the air right above us added to the already disorienting feeling under our feet.
The world was moving, and it seemed that it would never stop. But again it slowed.
Again it stopped and all of us looked around at each other in stillness once more. It was over for now, but I still needed to get home.
And I needed that charger, so back into the Seven Eleven we went, almost expecting the world to begin shaking once more. But it didn't for now.