Eternal

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Sept. 21, 1999 1:47am

“Told you the floating glass shelves are as fragile as a broken heart.”

“Why would you ever buy art just to stack them in a boring wooden cabinet?” Eilam shouted as he frantically and miserably bounced around saving as many of his falling dolphin collections as he could with his body. Some are made of crystal, some of glass, and one of his favorites is made of volcanic ashes. We got it together in Palau on our honeymoon. “Besides, earthquakes aren't usually this shaky.

I prepared to go back to my sweet dreams, thinking that earthquakes are more common than car accidents in Taiwan and that skyscrapers as stable as this one never crash. But it was five seconds in when things absolutely DID NOT feel, look, or sound right.

“AHHH! The chandelier just fell! Almost onto my head! Did you see it? Hey! Are you looking? Stop saving your damn dolphins and save me!”

The dolphin made of volcanic ashes hit the ground, and its tail cracked and flew elsewhere.

“Gosh the chandelier costs so much.” It was a gift from a wealthy aunty for our wedding. “Here, come over.” He spread his arms, “We’ll be fine. Just grab a pillow over your head and hide under the bed for now.”

1:53am

“Told you living on the 17th floor would be a hassle when the elevator doesn’t work.” I panted as we squeezed through the zombie-like crowd down the narrow staircase.

“But looking out to the night view of the entire Taipei city every night is so worth it.” Eilam took my hand, “Besides, elevators rarely stop in a skyscraper as new as this one.”

As we reached the ground floor, about 30% of the people followed the firefighters towards open spaces, 60% scrambled into 7-11s and Family Marts as if they’re going to starve for the next five days, and 10% were searching for their kid or spouse.

“Somebody save my kid! He is stuck in the building. It…it’s…it’s CRASHING!”

Crashing! Everybody run! Don’t run, safety first! I don’t care, I have a whole family to take care of let me through! So do I! …… It must be the millions of voices rushing through my ears, followed by the terrific sight of my home, the skyscraper that never crashes, cracking open, that made me nauseous.

“Listen, go to the bigger Family Mart at the corner to buy as much dry food and first aid as you can.”

“Where are you going?”

“To save the boy. The mother is the one who helped us a lot when we were moving in.”

“Stay safe!” “You too.”

1:57am

I squeezed (again) myself through the convenient store, but most of the items on the shelves were gone. I randomly grabbed a few biscuit packages and headed to the cashier, only to be pushed further inwards by the crowd, which now seems like hungry and desperate zombies, until I couldn’t breath at all.

Suffocating, I heard more screaming and felt more pushing and fighting, but at this point I gave up on moving. Then, I heard a scream that’s more clear than any other voices: “Xx building completely collapsed! Horizontally! It’s just dust now!”

Eilam. Eilam is in there.

A wave of adrenaline rushed through my body as I squeezed over the crowd with my feet barely touching the ground, as if I’m someone who can’t swim trying to swim through a muddy swamp.

Zzzp. The power went off. I saw some sparking fire on top of my head. And to make matters worse, the ground started shaking again - an afterwave struck. And without any time to react, a piece of concrete broke off from the ceiling and fell right on top of my head. I blacked out.

***

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Please please please stop falling!” Eilam shouted as he frantically and miserably bounced around saving as many of his falling dolphin collections as he could with his body.

“Earthquake again? What happened to the last one?”

“What last one? The last one was like ages ago.”

Sept. 21, 1999 1:47am

I jumped off the bed before the chandelier crashed and dashed towards the glass shelf, catching the fallen dolphin sculpture made of volcanic ashes with one hand.

“Woah! Didn’t even know you had great reflexes!”

“...What do you even mean by that?”

“Here, come over.” Eilam spread his arms, “We’ll be fine. Just grab a pillow over your head and hide under the bed for now.”

“Do you really not remember this happening? Like you’ve said that exact sentence before.”

“Umm were you dreaming?”

“...”

1:53am

“Listen. Whatever you do, do not come back into the building to save anyone. Save yourself first. Do you hear me?”

“Do WHAT? I can’t hear you over people screaming!”

“I SAID DO NOT-”

“Somebody save my kid! He is stuck in the building. It…it’s…it’s CRASHING!”

“Listen, go to the bigger Family Mart at the corner-” I could not let Eilam finish the whole sentence.

“No, no, no, save ourselves first. It’s too risky. The kid might have escaped elsewhere already anyways!” I grabbed on to his arm with full force.

“It’s fine! Nothing’s gonna happen. We’ll meet at the safety open area we promised. Please go buy some supplements for yourself…and our baby.” He looked down at my stomach, “You look really pale right now.”

I grabbed onto his arm with all my might: “If you’ve dreamt of the exact same thing that’s happening right now the night before of course you’d be pale! Don’t you understand?!” I realized that I was raising my voice and felt sorry.

“I’ll be fast. Don’t worr…Oh it’s shaking again! It must be an aftershock.”

I forgot. We argued for too long. This is the time where the building collapses. Onto…

Me. A brick hit my head. It first felt warm, then wet. Then, I lost consciousness.

***

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Sept. 21, 1999 1:47am

“Okay stop rescuing the dolphins. Let’s go.”

“You’ll have to wait till the shaking stops before escaping though; did you not pay attention in elementary class~” Eilam was joking.

But I was not joking. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll have to start going downstairs before everyone else does to avoid the crowd.” And of course, to prevent him from hearing the mom who lost her son. I saw the dolphin sculpture made of volcanic ashes drop to the ground without blinking as I spoke.

Am I a time traveler? What’s going on?

Doesn’t matter. As long as I don’t lose Eilam, and I don’t die, things are going to go back to normal. I will make sure we live a happy life together forever. With our kid.

“Let’s go buy some supplements for you to eat and then head to the open space-”

“It’s fine. I’m as healthy as ever. Let’s just go-”

“He-y, ex-cuse m-e…Hand-some you-ng man and pre-tty young lady...” It’s the woman who has lost track of his son. Her voice and hands are both trembling, “Ha-ve you se-en my son?” “He’s the cute one wi-th…a blue shi-rt”

“Where did you lose him? I’ll go find him with you.” Eilam replied and then turned to me: “Go take a rest first! I’ll find you in the open space.”

“Wait! I can go too!” No matter what happens, I absolutely have to stop him from entering the building.

But a wave of nauseousness hit, and my vision got blurry.

“Are you alright?” A young and beautiful police officer who seemed to be the same age as I was held onto me.

“Yes…please stop Ei…my husband from entering the building…It’s going to collapse.”

“Relax. Oh, right, take this vitamin to feel better.”

“Mine ∞”

What a stupid name for vitamins…

“The ‘Mine’ means…well, I developed it. And “∞” means that your energy lasts for eternity after taking it.” As if she could read my mind.

“Anyways. Let’s take a seat, and let’s discuss why you know the building is going to collapse.”

“Um…well…there’s already a huge crack? It’s quite obvious?”

“Cause you’re also a time traveler.” She said in a firm tone.

“!!!”

“Well, I’m kind of stuck in a loop…” The young and beautiful police officer said as she sighed, “Everytime, I try to let go of my lover who left me on…today. Today. But I can’t. I just keep coming back to this day, where this earthquake happened, where I became so focused on directing people to safety - well, since I’m a police officer, it’s my job! That I forgot about my lover.”

“Wait, what happened?”

“My lover? He…died. From a car accident amidst this chaos…Actually, he just died a few minutes ago. This is the part where I kill myself and start over again, swearing I will do better than next time. Nice talking to you anyways-”

“Why would you kill yourself?” I accidentally bursted out.

“Huh?” She looked surprised.

“Maybe…I’m sorry for your loss…but maybe he is destined to leave your life from this point on, and that you will continue living yours.” “I believe in you, girl, you are a wonderful police officer. But what has happened already happened, and instead of trying to change the past, why don’t you do whatever you like? And why are you directing people to safety…you’re not even on duty!”

“So why don’t you do the same?”

***

beep beep beep

“Okay. I know you love your dolphins so much but we have to go no-”

To my surprise, I did not wake up in an earthquake this time. I woke up surrounded by beeping machines. And then I saw the young lady, who seemed surprised to see me awake: “Ma-ma, you’re awake! Do you recognize me?”

Sept. 21, 2025 8:00am

“Young and beautiful police officer…you are my daughter!”

“Where is Eilam? I have to go save him right now!

“Ba-ba? Ba-ba has already died…twenty-something years ago, in an Earthquake…not long before you gave birth to me.

In an attempt to lighten up the mood, my daughter exclaimed: “Young beautiful police officer? Lol. Anyways. Take some medication. You’ll feel better. She handed over what seemed to be the power vitamins “mine ∞” :

“Galantamine: 8mg. Alzheimer's medication.”

Then, she quickly put on a police officer’s badge on her confident chest: “I’m running late to work. Anyways, I’m happy you still remember that I’m…” She pounded on her chest, “Young and Beautiful!” She gave me a huge, confident grin and left.

Maybe I should call my friend up to hang out today; it’s been ages…and then visit my husband's cemetery for the first time after the accident to put some flowers on his grave.

I know how to move on now, because I know our love is eternal.