He was alone.

Wrapping the thin coat around him tightly, the old man’s face showed no expression as he watched the people around him. People in blue, red, and orange uniforms milled about in their attempts to rescue what and who they could. Others huddled solemnly beside him, a few of them wailing futilely.

He was alone. So, so alone, he realized.

Because they were gone- all of them, and they weren’t coming back. He knew that- he had seen much, seen many deaths. But these- they had gone so soon, too soon.

And now, he was all alone.

The old man shifted, turning towards his meager belongings. None of them were salvaged from the ruins of his home- they had all been given to him by the rescue teams. Instant noodles, new water bottles, blue blankets with a company logo on them- to him, they seemed to be distancing him more and more from his family, since none of these held memories of them. The memories were still buried deep under layers and layers of concrete and metal.

But he would cling to them, for they were all that he had left.

--

The room was dark, and she was scared.

She’d been scared for a while, actually, ever since- ever since that day.

Ever since that day, and the darkness following after it.

She needed someone right now- anyone. It was too terrifying to be by herself in the dark.

“Zhao Fang”-

“Deng”-

She was surprised to hear her own name spoken at the same time by her neighbor. They’d never been actual friends- just plain neighbors, really, friendly and polite to each other and occasionally walking to school with the other.

But now, the girl realized, any distance didn’t matter. They were in the same situation, facing the same consequences.

“Um, I was just wondering…” She could almost hear the other girl’s blush in the darkness. They were lying on a giant blanket (serving as a makeshift bed) beside each other, and were supposed to be asleep. The room was serving as a temporary bedroom for all the orphans of the area.

“If- if I could share your blanket?” The nine-year-old smiled sheepishly in return, matching expressions with her neighbor. No, not neighbor- friend. She moved closer to her, and they wrapped their arms around each other. Suddenly feeling movement and a presence huddling against her back, she heard another person say in a muffled voice,

“Please, me too…thanks.” More murmurs surfaced around them, and she had to smile inwardly.

Soon all the orphans were huddling against each other, hugging as they comforted each other to sleep.

--

It was horrible.

The man wanted to look away, but couldn’t- it was like one of those things that was so ghastly that it just drew you in.

Rows upon rows upon rows of bags were filled with corpses. And it hurt so much to know that the corpses were no older than ten. His eyes traveled down the rows, looked at the garbage bags in purple. It felt so wrong to have these children just stuffed into sacks…

His eyes lingered longingly on one covered corpse in particular before the father had to look away in remorse.

--

They would have fussed over him more, if not for that fierce gleam in his eye.

“I’ll work hard from now on,” he repeated to them. “I’ll get into a good college, and…and make them proud.”

He turned away, blinked back threatening tears. He was on his own now, he realized- had to finally make his own decisions.

And he’d decide to get into college- to at least honor his parent’s lifelong wish. The young man straightened with his newfound determination, knowing what he would do.

--

She was greeted with a burst of air conditioning overhead as she entered the bank. Shifting her sleeping infant to her other arm, the woman shuffled towards the withdrawal counters in the room, waiting until the person behind the desk looked up.

“Yes, I’d like to withdraw exactly half of the money in my account,” she began. Here, the bank clerk blinked in surprise at the unusual request.

“Whatever for?” He ventured curiously.

“I’m donating to the Sichuan earthquake cause,” she explained, before rearranging the blankets covering her child.

He had to blink again. “But…” His unasked question lingered, and they both knew what it was. Why was she donating so much, giving up so much?

“See, this might be foolish of me, but...there are fellow mothers out there needing it far more than me,” the woman ended simply. And here, the bank clerk could only nod humbly before carrying out her withdrawal.