Ronan Burke, a well-man in his thirties, is attending his 8 year old son's play in his school along with his 14 year old daughter. This is a very important time for Ronan to spend with his children because his wife, their mother, just passed away a few months ago. He quit his international sales job to take a much-less paying but one that offers him a lot of extra time to spend with his children.
On the stage, his son is dressed as a tree along with other kids dressed as birds, animals, flowers, who are being chased by kids dressed in black dresses with different placards hanging on their necks. They have a different name on each placard - pollution, global warming, industrialism, etc. As one of the kids dressed in black begins to chase his son, Niki, and is just about to catch hold of him. There is suddenly a huge tremor. All of a sudden the entire school auditorium begins to shake and it doesn't take long to figure out that a strong earthquake has hit the quiet town of Hastard.
The ground begins to crack open and things hanging on ceilings start falling down. Ronan quickly ran towards his son, his daughter right behind him. Grab hold of him, and started to run towards the exit. As they were about to reach the exit door, the floor cracked and several of the parents who had come to see their children perform as well fell into the crack. Ronan grabbed his son and daughter in each arm and started running towards the nearest window and jumped out of it. As soon as he jumped the other side of the auditorium behind him just collapsed. He was having a difficult time keeping his footing but he kept running towards the playground.
Slowly the entire school began to crumble in front of his eyes, and both his kids started to cry uncontrollably. After a while, the shaking stopped. He put his son down from his arms, and started to calm them down. After the kids had calmed down a little, he started looking out for other people. He could here people shouting and crying for help, but he didn't know what to do. There was the headmistress stuck under a pillar. He ran towards her to free her, but the ground started shaking again. It was an aftershock and it appeared to be even stronger than the real earthquake. Before he could free her the ground cracked below her and another set of rubble buried her entire body. He was taken aback seeing her dye right in front of him. He ran back to his kids and held them tightly. The aftershock caused the floor of the school playground to crack. He had to run away again, and he started to run towards the school gate.
The crack in the playground started following him, and right when he about to reach the school gate, the entire pavement in front of the gate caved. He tried to stop and turn back but it was too late the crack had started to widen. Then he saw a man dressed in black who jumped to the other side. He realized, he too had to jump to the other side. But he couldn't decide how to do it with his two children wrapped around him. He took a few steps back, asked his daughter to jump first. His daughter was scared, but somehow managed to clear the gap. It was his turn now. He grabbed his son, asked him to hold him tightly. He took a further few steps back and went running, but just as we has about to jump the ground caved and he fell.
On the stage, his son is dressed as a tree along with other kids dressed as birds, animals, flowers, who are being chased by kids dressed in black dresses with different placards hanging on their necks. They have a different name on each placard - pollution, global warming, industrialism, etc. As one of the kids dressed in black begins to chase his son, Niki, and is just about to catch hold of him. There is suddenly a huge tremor. All of a sudden the entire school auditorium begins to shake and it doesn't take long to figure out that a strong earthquake has hit the quiet town of Hastard.
The ground begins to crack open and things hanging on ceilings start falling down. Ronan quickly ran towards his son, his daughter right behind him. Grab hold of him, and started to run towards the exit. As they were about to reach the exit door, the floor cracked and several of the parents who had come to see their children perform as well fell into the crack. Ronan grabbed his son and daughter in each arm and started running towards the nearest window and jumped out of it. As soon as he jumped the other side of the auditorium behind him just collapsed. He was having a difficult time keeping his footing but he kept running towards the playground.
Slowly the entire school began to crumble in front of his eyes, and both his kids started to cry uncontrollably. After a while, the shaking stopped. He put his son down from his arms, and started to calm them down. After the kids had calmed down a little, he started looking out for other people. He could here people shouting and crying for help, but he didn't know what to do. There was the headmistress stuck under a pillar. He ran towards her to free her, but the ground started shaking again. It was an aftershock and it appeared to be even stronger than the real earthquake. Before he could free her the ground cracked below her and another set of rubble buried her entire body. He was taken aback seeing her dye right in front of him. He ran back to his kids and held them tightly. The aftershock caused the floor of the school playground to crack. He had to run away again, and he started to run towards the school gate.
The crack in the playground started following him, and right when he about to reach the school gate, the entire pavement in front of the gate caved. He tried to stop and turn back but it was too late the crack had started to widen. Then he saw a man dressed in black who jumped to the other side. He realized, he too had to jump to the other side. But he couldn't decide how to do it with his two children wrapped around him. He took a few steps back, asked his daughter to jump first. His daughter was scared, but somehow managed to clear the gap. It was his turn now. He grabbed his son, asked him to hold him tightly. He took a further few steps back and went running, but just as we has about to jump the ground caved and he fell.
*******
Ronan woke up in his bed, gasping for air. He was scared, very scared. And he was feeling very guilty. His wife sleeping beside him hadn't even noticed that he had woken up.
