(Sendong Tragedy)

Awakening

            The dogs were howling and crying out loudly non-stop. They were distressed for some reason; maybe they were frightened of the strong winds. The strong winds were of course brought on by the large dark clouds that make up the tropical storm currently hitting the region. The cries of the dogs continued and so did the howls of the wind.

            I stirred from my sleep in a state of confusion. Why were the dogs so noisy?! I never understood why our dogs hated water. I reached for my cellphone under my pillow and checked the time. I groaned when I saw that it was only 12 am. Me and Jessica, who by the way, was my girlfriend spent the whole day finishing our thesis at my house. We ended our final revision at around 10 pm which meant that I only got 2 hours of sleep.

            I snuggled closer to her sleeping sweetheart and brushed some of her stray hairs away from her face. Jessica snuggled even closer to me when our bodies met. Our sweet moment was disrupted by the incessant cries of the dogs which only grew louder. Jessica stirred beside me and rubbed her eyes.

            “Taengoo check out what’s wrong with the dogs.” Jessica told me in a groggy i-just-woke-up voice. Jessica didn’t need to tell me that because I was already on my feet. I jumped out of bed in annoyance but ended up screaming as a result.

            “!” I screamed, causing Jessica to sit up abruptly.

            “What’s wrong?!” Jessica asked in panic.

            “Water.” Was all that I could reply, my legs caught in contact with freezing cold waters. That was why the dogs were noisy. It was flooding!

            “What?” Jessica asked in confusion.

            “It’s flooding Sica get out of bed.” I replied a little calmer than what I was feeling.

          “Oh my God!” Jessica exclaimed as she got out of bed and felt the water against her legs. Jessica immediately fumbled with her cellphone. And I knew she was contacting her parents.

            I proceeded to shout trying to wake up my parents. My brother was the one awakened by my yelling and he too cursed out loud when he realized it was flooding. Jessica was still trying to contact her parents.

            “Thank God! Mom you picked up!” Jessica exclaimed in joy.

            “Yes I’m alright. Please mom you and dad stay safe. I love you. I’ll see you later.” Jessica said.

            I was banging loudly at the door while my brother went to wake up our little sister Hayeon whose room was located near the kitchen down the hall. I stopped banging the door when I heard my dad cursing and their bedroom door opening.

            I was immediately in adrenalin mode. Jessica was already stuffing our laptops and flash drives in plastic bags and then placing them in the laptop carriers.