第二十八章

11 March 2011 15:38

Haruka and I were at the mercy of the sea. The water was moving us to wherever took its fancy although its flow was interrupted by buildings and trees that were still standing and around which we were thrown. Part of me considered that we should just let ourselves be taken on the journey and had hopeful visions of the wave eventually coming to an end before gently laying us down on a soft bed of grass. However, I also knew that there were lots of dangerous hazards in between here and the end, wherever that may be. It was then that I saw a place where we might be safe.

Not far from us was a pine tree like the kind that grow in the forests around the local shrines of Ōfunato. It was standing up tall to the water that flowed around it. If only we could make it there I thought

‘Haruka,’ I spluttered. ‘We must get to that tree.’Haruka nodded to show that she had understood what I had said. Whether we got there would be a matter of chance as there was no way that we had the strength to swim across the flowing waters. I think that the kami-sama deities must have heard our prayers as we got thrown sideways by a freak current possibly caused by an intact building redirecting the flow below the surface and now found ourselves heading right towards the tree although at some pace.

There were only a handful of substantial branches poking out above the water but they looked sturdy enough and were probably our last chance of survival. As we got closer, I thought that I could see someone perched on the top and for a moment had hopes that Hiroki had managed to regain his balance and scramble to safety. The person was crouched but waving one hand in the air and shouting. There was no way that I was going to be able to grab onto a branch whilst also holding onto Haruka who was also now squinting towards this mysterious person.

‘I’m going to have to let go of you soon,’ I said. ‘We need both of our hands free to have any chance of hanging on and pulling ourselves out of the water.’

‘OK,’ Haruka mouthed and nodded her head.

The closer we got, the faster the water seemed to be moving and the bigger the tree became. There was not a huge choice of branches and I knew that Haruka and I had to reach out and grab whatever we could. The boy on top of the tree, I was close enough now to see it was a boy, was shouting our names and it was then that I realised that it was not Hiroki, as I had first hoped, but confusingly Shoichi, Haruka’s older brother, who should have been at school.

‘Haruka, Kimiko! Grab onto the branches as you go past!’ he said. ‘Start to try to slow yourselves down!’We both did as he instructed and kicked backwards against the flow although it made very little difference. This is going to be a heavy landing, I thought. However, we were still heading straight towards the tree and I felt for the first time since jumping that we might actually make it. I thudded into a branch that was just above the surface of the water hitting my chest hard but still had time to wrap my right elbow around the same branch and grab hold with my left hand. Using all the strength in me, I pulled myself onto one of the other branches that was slightly higher up and out of the water and sat down on the branch that I had first collided with.

Looking around me, I saw Haruka holding on with just one hand to the branch that she had been directed towards. She was losing her grip. Shoichi moved across the canopy but was not quick enough to grab her arm. She let go, went underwater, and began to float away. I then saw Shoichi fling out an arm and catch hold of her foot before straining to pull her to safety. As he lifted her up, he wrapped his arms around her and held her to him, water streaming down from their bodies, Haruka coughing and spluttering. I pulled myself up further and carefully climbed over to them.

‘Haruka! You made it!’ I said and added, almost scolding him, ‘Shoichi, what are you doing here?’

‘I came to find Haruka,’ he said breathing heavily. ‘I had no idea what was happening. The earthquake was huge but there were no sirens, no warnings about a tsunami and then I arrived here and saw the wave coming in.’

‘What are you talking about, Shoichi?’ Haruka said. ‘There were warnings almost immediately after the earthquake stopped. Didn’t you hear them?’

‘No, I didn’t but I’m just so glad you are safe,’ he said. ‘Where were you?’

‘In the port office,’ Haruka said pointing over to the damaged building. ‘We were told that we would be safe there.’

The water now covered the windows of the third floor. I did not want to think about what might have happened to everyone in there and wished that by some miracle they had made their escape to safety but I could not imagine where they would have gone to.

I closed my eyes and prayed for them as well as for Okāsan who I hoped had listened to the warnings and moved to higher ground.

***

The waters kept on rising and looking across the scene in front of him, many of the buildings had either been washed away or completely submerged. Industrial junk littered the sea around him and Shoichi was still fearful that something might hit the tree that had stood up so well where other man-made structures had failed.

Staring towards the port office from where he thought he had heard some shouts, he strained his eyes and saw in the water what seemed like two people floating, being pushed along by the wave. From their direction it looked as though they would pass his tree but hoped, if they were people and not some inanimate objects, that they would be safe. Suddenly, as if on a roller-coaster, their course changed dramatically and they were thrown to one side, and this meant that the two were heading directly for him. Shoichi held onto a branch with his right hand and began waving with his left, shouting, ‘Over here! Over here!’

It was Kimiko whom he noticed first as she was more out of the water, actively trying to control her direction. However, his heart leaped with joy and then froze with fear seeing his little sister floating alongside her.

As they got closer, Shoichi doubted that they would be able to grab onto a branch at the pace they were moving and shouted for them to try to slow themselves down.He watched on as the pair flipped on their backs and began flapping their legs frantically against the power of the water but it seems to make no difference. At least they are on course for a direct hit, he thought.

Kimiko reached the tree first and he could only watch on as she smashed into a branch at some pace but despite winding herself had the peace of mind to keep her hold and lift herself up out of the churning sea. 

Turning his attention to Haruka who reached the tree a second later, he was relieved when she made a perfect landing latching onto a branch with both hands. Suddenly, she lost grip with one hand and was pulled horizontal like a koi nobori carp flag flapping in the wind in May. She was in trouble and in a flash, Shoichi moved across the branches to where Haruka was losing her grip. As he arrived, she let go completely and bobbed under the water which started to wash her away from him. Shoichi threw out an arm in desperation hoping to catch onto something and was shocked when he hit her ankle, around which his fingers gripped instinctively. Like when out fishing with their father, Shoichi reeled her in using all the muscles in his upper body and lifted her out of the water pulling her up further and into an embrace.

He didn’t really listen to the conversation that followed. He had done it, he had set out to save his little sister and had succeeded.