My heart leapt awake at 4:30 AM. I was violently shaking. No, the HOUSE was violently shaking! I sat up and looked out the window. No wild weather, but this must be a tornado! The walls were literally shaking inches back and forth, the roof creaking and moaning, the entire house jittering and shaking as if it were about to fly into a million pieces. I began to panic.
"MICHAEL!" I cried. He sat up beside me. "Earthquake," he said, looking wildly around. 10 seconds passed. "Sit tight, honey," he said. "The baby!" I said, lunging for the door. Still shaking madly. If we had any photos on our wall they definitely would have been flung to the floor. Michael pulled me back, went for the baby, and yelled for me to stand in the door. He grabbed the baby and stood in the next doorway. The shaking slowed.
Well, the ground's shaking slowed. I, on the other hand, was still trembling madly. I managed to nurse baby for a few seconds without dropping him. He fell right to sleep and I put him back in his bed. I ran into bed and wrapped my arms around my honey. He laughed and pulled me close as I was still trembling madly. Adrenaline still rushing through my veins, my pounding heart slowed as I relaxed into the pillows.
We pulled up the internet and started to see what was out there. We filed a "Did you feel it?" report with the government, at the same time that something like 6200 other people did that first hour. The whole event started to seem more adventurous and less terrifying. After an hour or so, we decided that it was 5 AM and we could get in a little more sleep. We hadn't gone to bed until midnight and, well, we were dead tired. But not dead, thankfully.
The official report: 5.2 magnitude, 35 miles north of here.
