That night, I was just an ordinary college student, wasting time on my phone, playing games like I always did. The screen flickered, and I thought it was nothing—but then the ground trembled. At first it was just a little shake, but soon the whole room rattled violently.
The portraits of my parents crashed to the floor. My phone slipped from my hands and cracked against the tiles. Confused, I stumbled to the window. When I opened it, the sight outside stole my breath—explosions everywhere, buildings collapsing, people screaming. My own apartment shook like it would give way any second.
I tried to escape, but the floor beneath me tilted. My body slipped, and before I could react, I was falling—falling into the chaos. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, dust and smoke filled my mouth, and heavy concrete rained down all around me.
Lying there, coughing, I could feel my strength slipping away. In that final moment, a single bitter thought escaped my lips:
"Why is my life so hard? I couldn't even finish college… and I die like this… like this…"
Darkness swallowed me.