Another piece of writing from Georgina who is 8 years old and loves writing.

1998 Queenstown Earthquake Nightmare!

The 1998 Queenstown Earthquake was a tragedy. Millions of  people died. I was lucky to survive. It was so long ago but the memory plays vividly in my mind.

I was in school when it happened, as I was only seven. We were doing Maths and I was nearly  dying of boredom. I was drifting off to sleep when I felt the earth shift and I heard the windows smash. I realised it was an earthquake which meant the tectonic plates were moving. My classmate screamed beside me as glass spiked her. But I wasn’t listening. I was thinking about my mother. She died in an earthquake, and now I will die the same way. I felt a feeling that I have never felt before. Fear.

 “Get under the desks!”  My teacher yelled, “because the roof is falling.” Everyone scrambled for their desks but I couldn’t move. I was paralysed with fear. I heard my teacher calling , then I heard the roof creak, and strain to stay on top of the school, it was a  battle between the roof and the earthquake but, finally the roof  surrendered and fell on top of me. It felt like I was in a really fast jet boat in the water and I fell out and broke my back. A bit like that. But 1000 times worse. I winced with pain. I tried to get out but my feet were trapped by an iron beam.

At last, the earth sighed  and the earthquake stopped, and then it was silent. Hmmmmmmmmm. The sound of  a  electric drill filled the air. Hmmmmmmmmm. It sounded like people were searching for survivors in the school!  “ Survivor!!” Someone yelled. “Hang on kid, we’re coming!’ A painful hour later they found me but they couldn’t get me out because I was trapped by a iron beam, not a wooden one.

 

When all hope was lost a man came up with an amazingly genius idea! “Let’s slip her shoe off!”

“Brilliant”

“Fantastic”

“Genius”

They slipped my shoe off and I was free! I was so happy until I came out of the school. Rubble and corrugated iron was all over the place and  lifeless bodies lay on the concrete. A man came up to me and said he would walk with me to another town. I was glad he offered and I gratefully excepted. We walked to Dunedin and now I still live there and I am 50 years old. I feel like I will live forever.

Georgina