Tuesday

It was a Tuesday. At the time it was simple. An earthquake had taken place. It was nothing too dramatic, although unusual for the area. We were not accustomed to quakes in Tennessee. We had tornados, super cells, big spiders, and poisonous snakes but an earthquake was a new one for us.

We had heard the stories about the great quake of the New Madrid. It caused the Mississippi River to flow backwards in 1812. This was a scary thought but so far in the past none of us really considered it could happen again.

When the ground shook the first time in Dickson a few pictures fell off the wall. That was it. Then the animals started flocking. Any person raised in the country knows to watch the animals. If they start acting strange you had better take notice.

The Emergency Broadcasting System came on the radio as I was driving my in Expedition home from work. A report that a 5.6 magnitude earthquake epicentered in Southeastern Missouri was broadcasted with a minor warning of aftershocks expected to follow. I called my fiancée at home to make sure she and the house were okay. She had slept through the quake. She told me the power was out but everything else seemed fine. Our cat Artemus however, was oddly pacing and scratching at the door crying.

I ran through the drive-thru at our Taco Bell and I was told that the power was out there as well. It seemed to be out all over town. I started towards home and had just pulled out onto Highway 70. I looked over to my left to merge lanes. I saw the highway about a quarter mile behind me rip open and cars started swerving left and right. I tried to pull over. As I made my way to the shoulder a semi-truck trailer in the oncoming lane flipped as the highway was lifted into the air. The last thing I remember was watching the truck slide down the lifted highway right into my SUV.

I came to and looked out at the scene around me. Dickson was destroyed. The Taco Bell I had just left was demolished with half of it sitting on a newly formed hillside. I got out of my Expedition and looked around me. Every kind of animal was in full stampede. My upper leg was obviously broken. It had been snapped by the steering wheel. I knew the pain of a broken bone and this was it. I grabbed ahold of my wrecked vehicle for support.

I started to notice that all the animals were running in the same general direction. They were heading towards Nashville. I turned to look in the direction they were coming from. That is when I saw the wave. I could never have imagined a Tsunami cascading across Middle Tennessee. It was a sight that can only create one emotion, absolute knowing. Out of the wave a chunk of debris came towards me.

I saw a light as I began to float. Then as the light subsided I could see the newly created sea. The Gulf of Mexico stretched inland until it met with the great lakes. I had heard the rumors but I never imagined it would really happen. I loved her so much. She showed me what true love was. I hope we find each other again wherever we end up.