Fire at Dusk - Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (the little red hen ebook .TXT) 📗

It was dark in their parents’ walk-in closet; the only illumination was the daggers of light coming through the slatted double doors. Jimmy and his sister were huddled together in the farthest corner, away from the menacing light.The screams for their parents as they raced up the stairs had gone unanswered—the strange sounds from downstairs growing ever louder. Their terror filled eyes were riveted on the closet entrance, the only thing standing between them and the unknown. Gaping, their stares were drawn to the pile of clothing at the other end of the closet.

Jimmy saw some movement inside the pile and he held his sister tightly. He could feel his sister also trembled with unknown fear. Both of them could not tell what really went around them. They could hear people screaming and running.

As usual Jimmy and Sophie were playing hide and seek in the garden. Their mother never allowed them to play in the garden, especially in the afternoons. But both of them somehow managed to play without their mother’s knowledge.

Jimmy as usual climbed a tree and hid behind a thick branch. But the little girl always knew where he would be and checked him out from the place within seconds.

“You always find me out.” Jimmy jumped down. Suddenly they felt the movement of the earth.

“Run, run,” Jimmy quickly dragged Sophie and ran inside the house. With a loud scream calling for their parents, in no time they reached their parents’ walk-in-closet.

“Meow,” Jimmy heard a feeble voice from the pile. After a few seconds of struggle a little cat emerged slowly.

“Tom,” Jimmy called the cat loudly. The little cat recognized his voice and came running to him. Jimmy pressed the little cat tightly against his chest and gave him a warm squeeze.

“Don’t worry, we are all here.” Jimmy spoke to him in a whisper.

“Let me hold him for a while,” Sophie took Tom in her hands and stroked him to make him feel comfortable.

“Sophie,” someone called from the downstairs. Jimmy and Sophie recognized the voice to be their mother’s.

“We are here,” they shouted in a chorus.

“Stay where you are.” Their mother answered them.

“We will be there in five minutes.” The strange sounds from downstairs had stopped and there was silence everywhere. Jimmy and Sophie could hear loud sirens down the street and the rush of vehicles across the road. As told, their parents came after five minutes. They were relieved to see them safe inside the room.

“Mom, what’s happening?” Sophie asked her mother.

“Asteroids,” she replied in a serious tone. “Now have your food fast. We have to move out of this place as soon as possible. Uncle Henry will be here any time to take us away from here.”

“From here,” Jimmy looked at his mother. “Why, mom, where are we going away?” He did not want to miss his annual sports meet at his school.

“We have to move to a safer place.” Dad replied to Jimmy. “There will be no school for another one week.” He cleared Jimmy’s doubt. Sophie carrying Tom in her hands moved slowly to the balcony to see what was happening.

She was shocked to see the cracked roads and the broken walls of houses. Some of the houses stood there with the damaged roofs. She could not believe her eyes how nature’s fury could change everything within seconds.

After sometime, they heard the loud horn from downstairs.

“Henry has come.” Dad asked them to get ready. The stairs had some cracks in the middle and they had to walk carefully down the stairs. Sophie held Tom tightly and Jimmy held her shoulders while stepping down the stairs. It took more than ten minutes to walk down the stairs and reach the car safely.

“Emergency has been declared. We need to move away as soon as possible. Anything can happen at any time.” Uncle Henry started the car with hurry and they all left the place within seconds.

Uncle Henry had a cottage in the hills. They all usually go over there to spend their summer vacation or for some family get together. They were all lucky to have a place to escape such a natural disaster. Jimmy thought of his friend Richard who lived in the next street.

The entire road was full with speeding vehicles and everyone wanted to reach a safer place before night. There would be no electricity and they had to live in dark with the help of candles. Jimmy had read about the aftermath of earthquake. But this was the first time he experienced it.

When their car was half way up on the hill, Jimmy could hear a roaring sound from the shore. Through the windows of the car he could see the waves of the sea high, dark, and furious with speed and enormous power.

“Uncle, I could see the waves coming in. Go faster.” Jimmy screamed with fear.

“We are safe. Don’t worry.” Uncle Henry replied him in a calm tone.

When they all reached their cottage up the hill, they thanked god for their safe arrival on time.

With relief, mom took them inside the cottage. The humble cottage looked cozy and comfortable and far away from danger.

“Don’t let them come out.” Dad warned mom for he was afraid that Jimmy and Sophie might want to play in the garden. 

After a few sips of hot soup, Jimmy felt relieved and happy. Sophie let Tom down on the floor. The little cat jumped on to the chair near the entrance and started to sleep once again.

For the past one week, scientists from all over the world were spending their time to find out a plan to protect Earth from asteroid collision.

People discussed loudly in groups, the weight of asteroids a huge 10,000 tons, and how it will enter the atmosphere at a speed of 64,000km/hour and explode over a city with a blast of 500 kilotons.

It may be or may not be as it happened on 15 February 2013. The meteorite showered pieces of rock over Chelyabinsk, Russia, was only 17 metres wide. Many people were injured by falling glass. Another relatively small object (approximately 50 metres in diameter) exploded in mid-air over a forest region, flattening about 80 million trees. If it had exploded over a city such as Moscow or London, millions of people would have been killed.

Scientists agree that comets and asteroids pose the biggest natural threat to human existence. It was probably a large asteroid or comet colliding with Earth which wiped out the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. An enormous object, 10 to 16 km in diameter, struck the Yucatan region of Mexico with the force of 100 megatons. That is the equivalent of one Hiroshima bomb for every person alive on Earth today.

Any comet or asteroid greater than 20 km in diameter that hits Earth will result in the complete destruction of complex life, including all animals and plants. It is true, even a much smaller asteroid can cause great damage.

In reality, NASA has discovered about 20,000 asteroids orbiting near Earth, about 900 of which are larger than 0.6 miles or 1 kilometre wide. If an asteroid of bigger size slams into our planet, it could possibly trigger global climate change.

The Earth has been safe for the last 65 million years by luck and with the massive gravitational field of the planet Jupiter. Jupiter, our cosmic guardian, with its stable circular orbit far from the sun, sweeps up and scatters away most of the dangerous comets and asteroids which might cross Earth’s orbit. After the Chelyabinsk meteorite, scientists are now monitoring potential hazards even more carefully but, as far as they know, there is no danger in the foreseeable future.

Types of space rocks

Comet – a ball of rock and ice that sends out a tail of gas and dust behind it. Bright comets only appear in our visible night sky about once every ten years.
Asteroid – a rock a few feet to several kms in diameter. Unlike comets, asteroids have no tail. Most are too small to cause any damage and burn up in the atmosphere. They appear to us as ‘shooting stars’.

Meteoroid – part of an asteroid or comet.

Meteorite – what a meteoroid is called when it hits Earth.

Publication Date: 02-17-2013

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Dedication:
Nature - a mystery to be solved.