DAY10 – A PICTURE TELLS ALL....

As I sat back watching clips of the tsunami and the disasters that came along with it I wondered if words could reflect the same emotion as you see them through pixs….

For individuals who have just survived a tragedy - all they can grasp at the moment is how much in life they have just lost. As realization sets in, memories of homes, families,livelihood, people and neighbors whom and which are all gone. Emotions are all over the place from being thankful to be alive to the realization of how much you have lost. You cry to yourself. You cry on the arms of shoulders of people around you and they cry too. You just want to cry.

You look around you there are not many people with familiar face left and you instinctively know that it is because they are gone. They didn't make it.

You heard voices and babies crying non-stop. When parents were in shock, the children are just confused and disrupted. What goes on dont make any sense to them. They want their normalcy, family whom and which they may not be able to have anymore,.They want sleep and yet when they look around and see adults crying they become confused. And so they just cry and cry and cry along.

After awhile, sitting in shock, you begin to wonder what else you could have done. Who you could save. You wanted to scream. Grabbed more people and run to safety. You feel helpless...

Night time is the most frightening moment and if you have some oil or laterns or candles to light it is a bonus but you have to use them sparingly, not knowing for sure if you will need them for hours or days to come. "How dark, really dark is." And your sense of hearing takes over from there onwards.. And what do you hear? No more the sound of traffic or human voices, Its dead quiet and pitch dark that you can't even see what is in front of you. Nothing moved. All you hear is the sound of water nearby and the rushing of waves. Your mind might play tricks on you, imagining the scariest thing that could possibly happen. You wonder if another wave is coming…

To the break of dawn......What you will witness is something few will ever experience in their life. There are hundreds or thousands of dead bodies.The bodies could be seen floating everywhere in the water Then the waves would come, and take them away. And then more bodies would appear. How do you react to seeing these dead bodies and religious views make you wonder about them too. And worse, the bodies might belong to your love ones you lost, then you are undecided. to look for them or stay way. If you stay away, what kind of respect are you showing otherwise what can you do.

Within hours (depends on the temperature), decay starts to set in and the disturbing smell which come from decaying plant life that was washed ashore, from dead fishes that were left behind by the wave on its return to the ocean. Smell from rotting food. animals and people from under t piles of rubble of crumbled buildings all around.You notice too there are sheet s of oil on the water and ground around you. Which then made your mind wonder, "Will that all start on fire?"
Then suddenly you become desperate to know about the people you are missing. You just hope - pray - that they are somewhere else. And then the rumors begin about the survivor lists. You say you will go find those lists. But then you sit down again, feeling paralyzed to do so.

You really aren't hungry. At least in your mind but your stomach begins to grumble. And you begin to wonder about food and water. Every bottle of water - every packet of food becomes an instant treasure. If a store has survived, it become a prize place for food and water but yet, when most, items like money and credit cards are gone how could you get them…….

Those are few emotions that I could visualize through picture and clips after 24 hours of tsunami. They are real memories and feelings and seeing the paces and destruction of the people on the coast North shores of Japan .And now, the realities of nuclear power plants melting down and the fear of the next destruction must be so high.

There are  fear, pain and agony and  these are what they likely  must have felt as i tried my best to see eye to eye.....

My prayer for Japan