Mimmy - Part 2

What they couldn't have planned for was Diffuse Lamellar Keratitis, aka the Sands of the Sahara, a rare syndrome occurring in one out of every 300 laser eye surgeries. Caused by an infection of the cornea, its causes the sufferer to see whorling dustclouds. Polly was to stay home from work for 10 days, keeping her eyes bandaged, so that her tender eyes be allowed to heal. They didn't move the furniture around that week, so blind Polly could feel her way around.

Deep beneath the earth, another transformation was taking place. The tectonic plates beneath the earth had pressed against each other, without release, for too long.

At 9:58 am, March 23, 2013, "The Big One" struck LA.

At 9:58 am, Hector was putting his key into the lock of the bungalow. He was sore from his workout, and felt weak. His first sense of something unusual were the dogs. First in the distance, then closer, until it was on all sides of him -- what seemed the howl of every dog on the earth. He pushed open the great wooden door as the shaking began. This is how Hector happened to be standing in a doorway when "The Big One" struck.

At 9:58 am, Polly bolted upright on the sofa where she lay, looking around despite her bandaged eyes. Everything began falling. Books spilled from the wall, a scrim toppled, and pictures swung on their hooks. Above, the chain of a potted plant snapped, causing the pot to tilt crazily and dump a shower of stones.

Polly called out for Hector, but he remained in the doorway, saying " I think it's an earthquake."

Raising her pale arms to protect herself, Polly replied "Gee, ya think?"

Why Hector remained in the doorway, why he did not run to her, this question would trouble him for many years. He had never been in an earthquake lasting more than a few seconds, and so he kept assuming this one was about over. But the shaking only grew more violent, and he grew more frightened. He stayed where he was as the quake continued - the fast moving and violent P wave, followed by 12 seconds of the slower moving but far more destructive S wave which tore buildings from foundations, toppled freeways, and burst gas mains throughout the city.

On the couch, Polly felt helpless - blind from the bandages and listening to crashes surrounding her. Despite Dr. Blanco's strongly worded warning, she pulled the bandages from her eyes. In that moment, but for only that moment, she could see. The light was too much for her tender eyes, and it seared her corneas with a greenish afterimage of the room. She squeezed her eyes shut from the pain, so that when The Big One finally subsided all Hector heard were car alarms outside and his screaming wife within.

He picked his way through the debris and asked "Are you OK?"

Polly was on the ground, doubled over, covered in plaster dust. "Something is wrong with my eyes."