could hear it in her ears.
It was only a swell. On a normal day, she wouldn’t have glanced twice.
But it was long, stretching from north to south as far as she could see, and moving fast. She took the camera away from her face and watched, glancing from the view screen to the real panorama as the swell got closer, rose higher, and higher still, and finally higher in the middle where it raced toward her.
Her excitement mounted, and she resumed her commentary. “You’re witness to the fact that our theory that the shallow ocean floor at the mouth of Virtue Falls Canyon contributes to unusually large tsunamis … is correct.”
The wave crested and crashed, the noise unimaginable, and she filmed the forward edge as it swept up the river, ripping out giant trees by their roots and tossing them into the air. The water cut the soil out from under the rim of the canyon; giant boulders tumbled like marbles in the hands of a careless boy. As the wave churned through the channel, it grew brown, and then black.
Elizabeth raised her voice. “The roar and tumult shakes the ground, and I don’t know if I’m experiencing the power of the tsunami or another earthquake. Although I’m standing on the high point, and never in geological time has the water ever reached this area around me, I know there’s a first time for everything, and the danger is real.”
The danger was real; the water could claw its way up here, sweep her away, and her body would never be recovered.
Yet she wouldn’t move for the world. She had been born to bear witness to this moment. She had dreamed about it, hoped for it, imagined it. She remembered her father describing the long-ago cataclysm …
Charles sat next to her on a rock toasted by the sun, and pointed out to sea, and with gestures and exuberance he told the young Elizabeth about the restless earth, and how the ground that seemed stable could change in a minute, and glow red with fire or blue with ice, or tremble and break.
Elizabeth listened, eyes wide, caught up in his wonder and excitement, until Mommy slid her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek, and said, “Enough now, Charles, she’ll have nightmares.”
“You won’t, will you, Elizabeth?” Daddy asked.
“No!” Elizabeth said stoutly.
Daddy turned to Mommy. “See? She’s my daughter through and through. Except that she’s almost as pretty as you.” He smiled at her, a thin, tall, tanned man with thinning hair and wrinkles around his eyes.
Mommy kissed his mouth. But she crushed the collar of his golf shirt in her fist, and her knuckles strained white against the faded blue. Lifting her head, she smiled at her little girl. “When Elizabeth is grown, she will be much prettier than I am. In the meantime, it’s time to eat.”
Daddy let Mommy go reluctantly, and he watched her so lovingly Elizabeth felt warm. Secure.
But Elizabeth hadn’t believed Mommy. Mommy was so beautiful, with a halo of gold hair and big pretty dark blue eyes, and Elizabeth loved everything about her.
Mommy …
The earth-breaking, forward-grinding noise stopped.
Elizabeth caught her breath.
Remarkable and startling as it had been, the memory was over.
The moment was now—and danger appeared from an unexpected source.
The long, giant, frothy wave became a whirlpool. It swirled, roaring like the open mouth of a hungry beast. It ate the sides of the canyon, climbing higher and higher, and for the first time, fear caught at her.
Run. Elizabeth, run!
Then, inexorably, the water in the middle of the canyon slipped backward toward the ocean, dragging the edges after it, ripping more of the now water-softened ground away.
Elizabeth backed away from the edge. She pretended that her terror had been minor—certainly it had been natural—and she took up her commentary again. With a depth of fascination that marked her encounters with the natural world, she said, “The first tsunami is pulling back, but considering the magnitude of the
It was only a swell. On a normal day, she wouldn’t have glanced twice.
But it was long, stretching from north to south as far as she could see, and moving fast. She took the camera away from her face and watched, glancing from the view screen to the real panorama as the swell got closer, rose higher, and higher still, and finally higher in the middle where it raced toward her.
Her excitement mounted, and she resumed her commentary. “You’re witness to the fact that our theory that the shallow ocean floor at the mouth of Virtue Falls Canyon contributes to unusually large tsunamis … is correct.”
The wave crested and crashed, the noise unimaginable, and she filmed the forward edge as it swept up the river, ripping out giant trees by their roots and tossing them into the air. The water cut the soil out from under the rim of the canyon; giant boulders tumbled like marbles in the hands of a careless boy. As the wave churned through the channel, it grew brown, and then black.
Elizabeth raised her voice. “The roar and tumult shakes the ground, and I don’t know if I’m experiencing the power of the tsunami or another earthquake. Although I’m standing on the high point, and never in geological time has the water ever reached this area around me, I know there’s a first time for everything, and the danger is real.”
The danger was real; the water could claw its way up here, sweep her away, and her body would never be recovered.
Yet she wouldn’t move for the world. She had been born to bear witness to this moment. She had dreamed about it, hoped for it, imagined it. She remembered her father describing the long-ago cataclysm …
Charles sat next to her on a rock toasted by the sun, and pointed out to sea, and with gestures and exuberance he told the young Elizabeth about the restless earth, and how the ground that seemed stable could change in a minute, and glow red with fire or blue with ice, or tremble and break.
Elizabeth listened, eyes wide, caught up in his wonder and excitement, until Mommy slid her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek, and said, “Enough now, Charles, she’ll have nightmares.”
“You won’t, will you, Elizabeth?” Daddy asked.
“No!” Elizabeth said stoutly.
Daddy turned to Mommy. “See? She’s my daughter through and through. Except that she’s almost as pretty as you.” He smiled at her, a thin, tall, tanned man with thinning hair and wrinkles around his eyes.
Mommy kissed his mouth. But she crushed the collar of his golf shirt in her fist, and her knuckles strained white against the faded blue. Lifting her head, she smiled at her little girl. “When Elizabeth is grown, she will be much prettier than I am. In the meantime, it’s time to eat.”
Daddy let Mommy go reluctantly, and he watched her so lovingly Elizabeth felt warm. Secure.
But Elizabeth hadn’t believed Mommy. Mommy was so beautiful, with a halo of gold hair and big pretty dark blue eyes, and Elizabeth loved everything about her.
Mommy …
The earth-breaking, forward-grinding noise stopped.
Elizabeth caught her breath.
Remarkable and startling as it had been, the memory was over.
The moment was now—and danger appeared from an unexpected source.
The long, giant, frothy wave became a whirlpool. It swirled, roaring like the open mouth of a hungry beast. It ate the sides of the canyon, climbing higher and higher, and for the first time, fear caught at her.
Run. Elizabeth, run!
Then, inexorably, the water in the middle of the canyon slipped backward toward the ocean, dragging the edges after it, ripping more of the now water-softened ground away.
Elizabeth backed away from the edge. She pretended that her terror had been minor—certainly it had been natural—and she took up her commentary again. With a depth of fascination that marked her encounters with the natural world, she said, “The first tsunami is pulling back, but considering the magnitude of the
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