[MINGLE] Great Shakes

[sixthiteration]

WHO: EVERYBODY
WHERE: EVERYWHERE
WHEN: 13 July (afternoon, main quake) - 14 July (morning, last aftershocks)
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Potential injuries, PTSD, and anxiety

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The sun is still high when the earth begins its initial, almost benign sway, but seasoned villagers know well enough that what follows will be far from gentle. Vibrations ramp up swiftly, exponentially, until within the space of a few seconds, the whole world is shaking — Dishes pinging down from shelves, young trees sifting free of the earth, shingles dislodging and tumbling like rain.

After 20 seconds, the worst is done, and after 30 the shaking has ebbed completely. Some will have escaped relatively unscathed, but others will not have been so lucky...

...and the aftershocks are still to come.

Comments

[underpinnings]

Two birds, one stone; Owen leans into his knees and heaves a fortifying breath, the urgency easing away with their weird cow in sight and nothing waiting to fall on them.

"Are you as weirdly disappointed as I am," he huffs, kicking a clod of dirt in the animal's direction. When the next shock rolls through, he's already crouched enough to ride it, and this time he puts a hand to Karen's elbow, steadying. Out here, they're mostly in trouble of falling on their asses.

"Should've been more worried for the pumpkins." The groffle gives a low, irritated rumble as her prize rolls slightly away, and takes a step to catch up. "I guess when you've done enough speed, the shaking seems normal."

[digging]

As the swaying eases off, Karen pushes out a laugh, glad for the levity and an excuse to let the instinctive tension slide out of her shoulders. "The question is," she begins, squinting out at the groffle who, from what Karen could see, merely snorted at the disturbance and continued on her pumpkin-ravaging business, "are we going to need to feed her more speed to get her out of there?"

[underpinnings]

Owen closes his eyes briefly, smile subsumed into a brief shake of his head. "Do you carry some around for special occasions? Thrill-seeking tendencies?"

Getting dragged half back to the village by this thing is probably up there with the badger and Liv for years shed off his life. With that in mind, and the general safety of the field itself, he has to wonder aloud: "Doesn't seem that urgent; maybe we just put a gourd on a stick and see if those antlers fit through the jailhouse door."

[digging]

As plans go, it's straight out of a cartoon, but even as she's pressing her lips together against a laugh, Karen has to admit that there's a certain brilliant similicity about it. She doubts it will get executed nearly so cleanly as it was conceived, but they've only got som many options when trying to move an animal the size of a small house.

"What the hell," she says with a lift of both hands. "I'll find the stick if you'll find an uneaten gourd." And if it doesn't work, they're no worse off than when they started.