4:31

You know what happened at 4:31 in 1994?? The Northridge earthquake. You know what else happens at 4:31 every morning in our house?? A baby wakes up. Fuck 4:31.

Does anyone remember the quake on Jan 17th or am I the only one that suffered emotional damage from that shit? I was absolutely traumatized from the earthquake in 1994 like to the point where every single night I would crawl into my parents room and sleep on the floor. I would say this happened for a good year. My poor parents. I was scared of another earthquake. I know it seems silly, I mean an earthquake who cares but it scared the living shit out of me. I will never forget the feeling or how fast my heart was beating and the sound that the shaking made. I was sleeping over at my friends house when it happened. I've never felt something so strong and so scary. I just remember standing in the doorway when the first aftershock happened and I thought to myself I am going to die. I had never been so sure. As we stood in the doorway my friends mom grabbed the phone thinking I could call my parents but of course the lines were dead. At this point the house was in shambles and we didn't know what to do so we all went out to the car and listened to the radio. I remember listening to some deep mans voice on the radio saying this could be a before shock and that the big one could be coming. Talk about being scared out of my mind. I remember crying to myself just wanting my parents more than anything in the world and wondering if they were ok. I remember the sun starting to come up and out of nowhere my dad is speeding down the street in one of his work pickup trucks. It's weird how I can remember the sound of the truck cause the streets were so quiet. Back at home everyone was fine. The house was a mess and everything from my closets was spilled out into my room. The house suffered so much damage that we actually had to move out for a few years but that's besides the point. Obviously all the electricity was out so my dad powered up the generator and we brought the couch in the garage and toasted bagels and hung out all day while the earth shook. Ya a bit white trash but it worked. I felt safe with my family but it is one of those things in my childhood that I will never forgot. So now I wonder if 4:31 is like this weird curse. As usual I went off on some weird story but this is where my head has been going the last few mornings at 4:31.



If you don't mind, please click.