Leo - Rumble

The earth rumbled this morning. It’s happened before on occasion. The ground shakes, leaves and coconuts fall to the ground. On rare occasions a home falls over but our huts are light and easy to rebuild. People hardly get hurt when the earth rumbles, except when a coconut falls on an unfortunate victim. Makes for a really bad headache.

Something was different about this rumble though. There was an eerie stillness in the air when the ground stopped moving. Not a sound could be heard. No birds stirring in the trees, no bugs or other creatures rustling in the foliage, even the sea was still. It was as if the world had exhaled and was at the bottom of its breath bracing itself for the inhale. And when the earth took a breath again strange things happened.

The waters began to surge up onto shore. Whitewash covered the sands and reached the edge of the surrounding jungle. Then the waters receded far back into the sea. So far back that the shallow areas of the reef I often swim through were exposed. Then the water surged high onto the shore again and receded back. This continued for quite some time.

I've never seen the sea behave like this before and I started to worry if things would return to normal. I watched the waters surge and recede when I spotted something on ocean surface rapidly approaching the island. It was some sort of invisible force rippling across the waters surface. I still don't know what it was but when it hit the shore a gust of wind ripped through the island. I was knocked to the ground and the wind blew with such force I had to shield my eyes. My senses were completely blurred as the wind roared past like a battle-cry.

As quickly as it came, the mysterious force left. When I stood the sea was back to normal. Waves gently washed onto the beach and receded like always. Trees swayed in a soft breeze and birds flew overhead. I cannot recall ever hearing of such a phenomenon occurring after a rumble. It was very strange.