The Ground Moves

For some unknown reason I had fallen asleep on the ground that night. But at an indetermined time while I was sleeping I felt the earth move violently. Was it an earthquake or just a nightmare? Even though I felt the earth move directly under me the sound was way off in the distance. It must have been the alcohol that I had drunk last night. That's when the sound rumbled even louder and the earth shook even more.

​I looked around me and I had no clue as to where I was. In fact I didn't even know if I was even indoors or outdoors. I tried to get up but the earth was still moving, everything around me was swaying. I was terrified thinking that the earth was going to split open and swallow me whole. I decided that it was too dangerous to stand up and try to walk. The tremors were just too intense.  It was like I was in a funhouse at a carny with tilting floors and shifting walls. My stomach got sick and I threw up on myself but kept crawling along trying to escape, but to where? The earth violently shook again and I was rocked onto my side. The earth growled even louder. I put my ear to the earth and could hear the angry ground ready to burst. I became horrified with the thought of everything ending so quick, I was so young and still had so much more to experience in life. 

The rumbles grew louder and it felt like my heart was going to jump out of my rib cage. The ground shook in a series of undulating waves of terrors. It was like I was on the rocky sea. I wasn't sure if the earth was upside down or on its side. But as I lay on my back looking up at the sky I grabbed onto something. I gripped tight. It was a ladder.  I wanted to climb but I was afraid of heights. I started to climb but became dizzy. The earth continued to shake but I managed to hold on. That's when I noticed a small light at the end of the ladder. Maybe it was an escape to safety? I tried to move up the ladder quicker but the swaying earth and the noise made it hard. All I could do was take it one rung at a time. The light at the end of the ladder became bigger and more blinding; the noises grew louder and earth shook with apocalyptic violence. And that's when the bright light of the coal train came down the tracks, rumbling and shaking the earth. 

Everything shook one last time and the noise was so deafening that I let go of the ladder and fell onto the tracks in front of the train.