Fault Lines
(Fracture, Noise, Vanish)
The familiar noise of a train coming into the station too fast, followed by the familiar sounds of fracturing wood and breaking glass, but no, something heavier than glass. It was not the destruction of my roof or the broken windows that brought tears to my eyes, but the shattered remains of the old country tea set passed down from generation to generation scattered beyond recognition. Two hundred and fifty years of family tradition and history vanished as quickly as the earthquake.
(*AUTHOR’S NOTE: quakes in California sound exactly like a train. It’s not a metaphor for anything)
Bite Me 
August 26, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Mother nature knows no compassion when in a rage, that is for sure.
This is wonderful in its sadness because it paints the picture of this loss of possession and what it meant.
Nicely done
August 26, 2009 at 9:18 pm
You certainly took the train idea into a different direction.
I like the way you wrote this. Bummer about that tea set…
August 26, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Sorry to hear about the ancient tea set, but you wrote this up so well!
August 27, 2009 at 12:15 am
whoosh. powerful stuff. I like this.
Soul Trade
August 27, 2009 at 12:27 am
This was wonderful. I love how you focused on the loss of the tea set. I felt the pain of it as though it had been in my family for generations. Great writing!
August 27, 2009 at 12:46 am
And interesting brief look into an instance of disaster. Well done.
August 27, 2009 at 1:02 am
Wonderful – a visual trip…
August 27, 2009 at 1:20 am
Nice trip on a train that didn’t exist
September 1, 2009 at 6:38 pm
q, I did tell you that the train does exist, right? It’s the sound of a train.
August 27, 2009 at 7:50 am
The last time I was in a (minor) earthquake, it felt more like I was suddenly standing on the deck of a sailboat… an odd sensation, given I was in a friend’s apartment at the time.
Trains have that same rocking motion, sometimes. Nicely written.