Last Oxygen

Chapter 3: The Suffering of Victims

After a few days, the flood subsided. The soldiers said that it is now safe to go back to their town. The residents went back to South Wilberra. Unfortunately, the flood destroyed many of their belongings and left a thick mud in the surroundings.

The Smith family went inside their home. Several books and clothes were soaked and covered in mud. The television fell down from the table. The refrigerator is no longer working. Their chairs and tables were all wet and mud was all over the floor.  This was the first view they saw as they looked into their home. 

“Our home” Mrs. Stacy began to cry and her husband hugged and comforted her.

“We will get through this.” Mr. Arnold sighed as he looked around and continued hugging his wife and son.

They began picking up the trash that was carried by the flood inside their house. Alex picked up his books and damp it with cloth to remove the mud carefully and hoped he could still use these books. Afterwards, he left it on a table outside to dry. He began filling up the pail with water and brought it inside. He splashed water onto the muds to make it easy to brush. Mr. Arnold cautiously brushes the floor in order not to slip. On the other hand, Mrs. Stacy brought the clothes to the laundry area, soaked and washed it in water with soap. She scrubbed with great effort but the mud damaged the clothes very much. She poured more soap and soak it again hoping that it would still be usable.

Alex saw a group of men distributing relief goods to the victims of the flood. Each bag contains bread, noodles, canned goods, coffee, soap and shampoo. One man called Alex and gave him a bag. Surprisingly, the name of their governor was stamped in the bag as if claiming for recognition. This governor is Anderson Hilton. Nevertheless, Alex said thank you to the man and went to her mother.

It was nearly lunchtime and Mrs. Stacy decided to prepare the meals for her family. She saw her husband was very tired from cleaning also so she handed a glass of water to him.

“Rest for a while. I will help you later.” Mrs. Stacy said as she refilled the glass after Mr. Arnold drank the water quickly.

“I’m fine. You are also tired. I can manage the cleaning.” said Mr. Arnold while he was wiping his sweat.

When the meal was ready, Mrs. Stacy called Alex to eat. As they were eating, Fluffy was beside Alex as always. Fluffy would simply look at Alex while he was eating. Alex picked a small ham and discreetly laid down his hand under the table giving it to Fluffy. This was the secret communication of Fluffy and Alex during meal times. Of course, after Alex is done eating, he would get the dog food of Fluffy for the regular pet meal.

When Fluffy was eating the dog food, Alex noticed that his pet needed a bath. After Fluffy finished eating and rested for a while. Alex took his pet outside to give it a bath. As usual, Fluffy does not like having a bath but this time, it is really necessary because the smell and look of Fluffy is unpleasant.

Alex noticed many families bringing outside their trash. This time, it was not only the usual garbage plastics but also furniture that was destroyed, clothes that can no longer be cleaned, plates that were broken, shoes that were soaked in mud and many more.

The garbage truck went to their town and collected the trash of the residents. The small truck was easily filled up so the driver said that they would return for the other trash. Two more trucks arrived in the town to collect more garbage but still many remained uncollected.

People worked hard to have these belongings and in just an instance, it was destroyed. Some of these belongings have sentimental values and some are given by ancestors. A girl was crying because her favorite toy was deeply soaked in mud and needed to be thrown away. An old man was sad because his photo album of his wife cannot be distinguished because of the damage of the flood. A father was sweating severely due to the continuous fixing of the gate of their house.

The books of Alex outside their house were nearly dry. He looked over it to see if the pages were still readable. Unfortunately, some pages have smudged the ink of the text books. Some pages become really thin  and fragile. It may easily be thorn due to the texture now. Alex was teary eyed while gathering his books to be brought inside their house. He is a bright student and a very diligent one. He is very eager to learn and be an advocate for nature. This is a challenging moment for him, his family and the people of South Wilberra.

The sun is shining bright but the hope of the people seems dim. They need to recover but it is hard to know how. The things they bought through hard earned money were destroyed easily. The memories of their belongings were tainted. The fear of a disaster is still in their mind. 

Is it still safe to live in South Wilberra? Will another flood happen again? Do we still have enough funds in case of an emergency? 

Several thoughts are coming to the mind of the people of this town. They must be resilient for this might be just the beginning. 

It was a tiring day for the victims of the flood while the greedy people behind the devastation of nature causing this catastrophe are comfortable in their homes. How ironic it seems that the people suffering are not the ones who caused this disaster. A time will come for the greedy people to pay the damages they have caused. The truth will be revealed and the law will punish those accountable for the sufferings of others.