When the Ground Moved
大地が動いたとき
Jin was driving home through the mountains when the ground suddenly began to move.
At first he thought that a truck had passed too close to his car.
Then the whole road started shaking, and the trees swayed like thin grass.
He had never felt an so strong in his entire life.
Jin stopped the car quickly and gripped the wheel with both hands.
Rocks were falling from the hillside while the earth kept trembling beneath him.
The shaking lasted only a minute, but it felt much longer than that.
When it finally stopped, a strange and heavy filled the .
Jin stepped out slowly and looked at the road ahead of him.
A large part of the mountain road has collapsed and blocked the way.
Huge cracks had opened across the surface, and mud covered everything nearby.
He realized that he could not drive any further toward the town.
His phone showed no , so he could not call his family.
Jin had been working late in the city for the whole week.
He had only wanted to reach home before the evening grew dark.
Now he stood alone on a broken road, far from any help.
Other drivers had stopped too, and their faces were with fear.
An old man was asking whether anyone had been hurt in the cars.
A young mother was holding her small son tightly against her chest.
"The town is just beyond this hill," someone said in a shaking voice.
Jin decided that walking was now the only way to move forward.
He took his bag, locked the car, and started up the broken .
The sky had turned grey, and a cold wind moved through the trees.
As he climbed, Jin wondered what he would find on the other side.