Volume 1.1 Fruitful End of Life

A lifetime ago...

"Mama! Welcome home!"

Myrene glanced at the pair of mother and daughter just next door. The daughter, a little girl with two pigtails, happily jumped and locked her mother in an embrace.

"How are you, Anna?"

"I got a perfect score on our quiz with Ms. Jennifer!"

Myrene simply averted her gaze from the mother and daughter pair. She opened the door of her house. And soon as she entered, shadows of the past couldn't help but play in her vision.

***

"Myrene! You've done a great job. Here's some of your favorite Oreos!"

"You're the best, dad!"

"Alright, you two, dinner is ready."

"Yes, mom!"

The child Myrene and her dad giggled at each other.

***

Myrene switched on the light, eliminating the memories that had flashed through her mind.

The deafening silence welcomed her, throwing melancholy over her once wounded heart. Above the shelf in the living room was a photo of her mother and father. She took out a candle and lit it.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home," she whispered, her eyes downcast and a slight smile on her face as she stared at her parents' cheerful smiles in the portrait.

It has been 10 years since they died in a car accident, leaving her an orphan with no one but the lawyer who promised her that whenever she reached the right age, she would inherit her parents' inheritance.

All alone and in pain, there was no one to console her lonely and broken heart. Since she was an introvert, she was really not able to make any friends either. And now she was working as an assistant instructor in a local gym.

In her bedroom...

"Finally I can rest." Without changing her clothes, Myrene rested her tired body. The only thing that consoled her now was the comfort of her bed. Her eyes started to get heavy until she let herself succumb to her sleep.

Crash!

Myrene eyes wide awake, jolted up from her bed when she heard a loud sound of an object that shattered. But there was no time to look for it, as everything around her was falling and shaking everywhere.

'An earthquake!'

Her body instinctively shifted to the table near her bed, as she had always done during the earthquake drills back in her school years.

She held the table's legs as she waited for the earthquake to stop.

'This is quite a strong earthquake compared to the ones I had before.' She thought. Myrene could see how her once tidy room became a complete mess as everything kept falling one after another.

After almost three to four minutes, the earthquake finally stopped. Myrene immediately grabbed her bag containing her wallet, ids, and her cellphone.

She went to the main power supply of her house and turned it off. Before she completely left her house, she grabbed the portrait of her mother and father. When she thought everything was alright, she didn't expect that the outside would be much worse.

People were running with fear in their eyes. As she observed them, they were all running in one direction. Like they were running away from something.

She grabbed a teenage boy on his left arm, stopping him from running.

"Why are you running?" She asked in a demanding voice.

"A Tsunami! They said there is a Tsunami coming!" He yanked the hands of Myrene and ran away.

'A Tsunami!' Fear surged inside Myrene. "Then that was really not a simple earthquake." She calmed herself first, 'I need to go to higher ground. That newly built building in the second district, I can stay there.'

Myrene made her way there without wasting any time, but as soon as she stepped out to the road...

Boom!

There was a loud explosion that made her tumble on the ground.

"Mama!" It was followed by a cry of someone.

'That voice! It was the little girl next door.'

Myrene immediately stood up. She saw the little girl trying to enter the door where smoke was visibly coming out.

'Mom! Dad!' Memories of when Myrene was in the hospital and the doctors trying to revive her parents flashed in her mind.

As if her feet had their will of their own, she grabbed the child out of the fire, "Wait here, I'll go get your mom!"

Anna, the little girl nodded her head. Myrene could see the trembling of her body. "You're name is Anna, right?"

Anna nodded her head. "Don't worry, this big sis will make sure you will not live alone."

Myrene rushed to the house. She wet her handkerchief with the bottle of water she had in her bag. Covering her nose, she quickly glanced around. There was some debris that had already fallen.

"Anna's Mother! Create any sound if you hear me!"

Clank!

Clank! Clank!

'There she is!'

Myrene followed the noise and entered a room, the fire was rapidly spreading already.

Clank!

She heard the noise again under the rambles. Buried in the stack of books she saw a bloodied hand holding a shard of glass.

Without a moment of delay, she hurried and removed all the books. There she saw a woman lying.

"Anna," Myrene heard the woman mutter.

"Hey!" A small bookshelf was toppled above the woman.

It must have fallen to her during whatever the thing that exploded. I needed to get us out here.

Myrene carefully pulled the shelf up. "Ma'am, can you hear me?"

The woman meekly glanced up at her.

"I'm here to help you, Ma'am," Myrene said as she started to carry the woman with the support of her right shoulder.

She steadily but quickly trod the way out avoiding the debris falling. After a few moments, she could finally see the way out.

Just three more steps to the way out...

Boom!

"Argh!" Myrene fell off on the ground face-first from the wind blast that came from the explosion from the other room.

The woman she was carrying stumbled on the ground as well.

Myrene without wasting another time stood up. She winced when she felt a strong sensation of pain in her back. But she still made her way and picked the woman up. She forced herself out of the house.

Anna, seeing them finally coming out, rushed to their side. "Mama!" The girl cried out.

"Anna," the woman said meekly as she reached her hands towards the cheeks of her crying daughter.

'The worst situation is not yet over.'

Myrene was not yet complacent in the situation. She grabbed another man who was running towards them. The said man was with another woman. They seemed to be a couple of sorts.

"Hey, you two bring these two to the New Era building in the second district. All of you would be safe from the Tsunami there!" Myrene yelled in one breath.

The couple exchanged glances at each other. They were now indeed troubled on where they could go with the news that a Tsunami was approaching.

They nodded their heads towards Myrene. Myrene let the mother of Anna be carried by the man.

The other woman gasped as her eyes flickered with fright when she saw Myrene's back.

"Your..."

Myrene glared at the woman which made her shut up. Then she went to Anna. "Take care of your mother, alright?"

"I-I will!" Anna said.

"Good." A small smile escaped Myrene's face as she patted Anna's head.

"Now all of you, get out of here!" She shouted as she pushed the couple. The couple gave her a brief complicated gaze before they went on.

"Yes," they could only nod their heads in the end. The man carried Anna's mother in bridal style. Then the woman held Anna's hand.

Myrene watched as they hurried away without looking back at her. Their elongated shadow gave Myrene a melancholy sense. 'Please be safe,' she couldn't help but just smile faintly as she looked at their disappearing backs.

When she couldn't see them anymore, she dragged her body to the shattered picture frame of her mother and father.

Myrene picked the photo from the shards of the frame. Though some shards cut her skin, she didn't care anymore.

"Cough! Cough!" She sagged on the ground, blood oozing from her mouth. "Regardless of what happened to me, you still have the same smiles on your faces." Myrene caressed the photo of her mom and dad.

She attempted to reach the object behind her back. Though she couldn't see it, she knew there was a huge piece of sharp wood impaled on her back. She obviously received it after the second explosion.

Myrene laughed dryly as she glanced back at the photo she was holding. "Mom, Dad. I miss you so much."

Her body finally limped on the ground, feeling weakened and numb.

'Finally, I will be able to see both of you again after all this time.' Her last thoughts before darkness consumed her consciousness.

***

Name: Myrene Villaforte

Age: 22 years old

Gender: Female

Marital Status: Single

Job: Assistant Gym Instructor

Case: One of the unfortunate victims died on the April 19, 2033 earthquake when the Manila Trench in the Philippines moved.