Word Count: 1,032

Reward: ice cream – consumed preemptively because whether I achieve the goal or not, today I feel deserve the reward (See below).

Verdict:

Just after I had drifted off, achieving maybe an hour worth of sleep. Why? Because at 12.30 am, our house turned into a boat.  It rocked, and it rolled, as if we were all at sea, for TWO WHOLE MINUTES. It left me shivering uncontrollably, even though I was not cold, which was either an adrenalin rush or quite possibly an anxiety attack. This was not an isolated event, this was an even experienced from pretty much Dunedin to Wellington and probably beyond and it was, of course, an earthquake. Now, we in Christchurch are sorta earthquake veterans, but you never, ever, get “used” to earthquakes. This one was really big (7.5) but also quite far away and quite deep. It decimated the seaside community of Kaikoura, and has now basically cut that township off from greater New Zealand, whilst also simultaneously destroying the major connecting highways between the north and central South Island cities. Wellington, our capital city, also suffered significant damage.

But that wasn’t all – because Civil Defence NZ then issued a tsunami warning. Christchurch Civil Defence were rather slower at following that up, and then did not give a clear evacuation range until a significant amount of time had passed. We live 6 km from the coast, and are pretty much not much higher than sea level, so I was a tad concerned.  Husband declared we were fine and went straight to sleep, while I lay in bed, pretty much just staring at Facebook and refreshing the CD page. Cars streamed past our house, as people from Brighton moved further inland, every so often one would head in the opposite direction. I moved my car onto the driveway, as a precautionary measure.

Finally, at around 4.30 am, sleep finally caught up with me. About an hour later I got up, showered and prepared for work.

I’d have had maybe 3 hours sleep and worked my longest workday. But you know what – everyone in Christchurch, and Nelson and Blenheim and Wellington and all the tiny townships and hamlets between, are tired. We ALL deserve ice cream.

Wibbly wobbly, there goes another one…

Well, if I wrote Aroha’s Grand Adventure through numerous (around 400) aftershocks, I can write this one too.

That sharper jolt was a bus.

Illustrated character above isn’t in the story, I just like him and I’ve almost run out of fanart of the actual characters.

Rewriting an earlier passage, as I believe the best way to shape the story is to have Kataryna and Tawny actually (apparently) become friends. Yesterday’s chapter has been moved into the “to be poached from later” folder.