Armero

So, you want to know where did I grow up? Well, I will tell that it’s a place already scratched up from Colombia’s map. A place, where the dreams of every citizen drowned. That place was called Armero.
Looking back at time, when I was 7 years old, I moved from Tolima’s capital city, Ibague, to Armero because of a financial crisis my family had. We were four in our family: Momma, Papa, Dianaand me. Momma and Papa sold fruit outside our house and Diana was just a four year old. We lived in a little house near Nevado del Ruiz Volcano with barely all the resourced we needed, but still happiness could fulfill our needs in some cases. Neighbors weren’t that nice to us. They threw our fruits to the floor instead of buying them. Momma always told me to be respectful to everyone even if wefelt in a bad mood. I never was in agreement with that situation.
At the year 1986, six years later, one night, I finished my arepa and asked my friend Omayra if she could help me put Diana to sleep. It was a bit late so she told me she was going back to her house. Trying to get Diana to sleep is like trying to wake her up: impossible. So, I finished washing the dishes and Momma enters to thekitchen with bruises all over her arms. She told me the neighbors had punched her because the prize of one of her fruits was too high for their need.
“Momma, I told you those people don’t deserve our smile, our hypocrisy. They crossed the limit and it’s time for you to get angry with them. Show them you are a strong woman.”
“Stop talking”, she said with tears in her eyes, “I don’t want to talkabout this right now. I just want to take a nap and would prefer if you didn’t bother me tonight.”
“I can’t believe this! You’re letting those people hurt you for no reason! Are you even thinking what you’re saying right now?”
“Be careful with what you’re saying, young lady. By the way, who told you to give an opinion? Go to bed now!”
She left the kitchen and took the mattress near mine andmoved it to the other corner. I hate this discussions but it’s time for her to open her eyes. I love her but I can’t stand her ignorance.
I finished with the dishes and stretched in my mattress. Lights were shut down and the whole corner was silent. I don’t know how many minutes passed when I felt the earth crumble and people shouting all around the house. I started waking up my family but beforeI could wake Diana up, a splash of mud covered the entire house. I started to feel dizzy and I couldn’t see anything. Then I noticed I was holding from a cement stick that wasn’t destroyed. So I pulled myself up and my chest and arms were out of the mud. I cleared my eyes and saw smoke all over the sky. Everything was dark. Then, I felt something strange holding from my right leg. It felt souncomfortable, as if someone was beneath me. My thoughts weren’t in place yet so I stopped trying to get to conclusions.
“Momma, Papa, Diana!” I yelled. “Help, come get me out of here!” But there was no answer different than people screaming the same as me but instead different names.
Two hours had passed and I was so tired. My arms hurt for holding that much time. I thank my Papa for making mehold heavy stuff that made me stronger. Suddenly, I felt airplanes in sky. Some flashlights were on trying to rescue people. From what I could barely saw, there weren’t that many rescuers but still I needed one of them. Them came a man asking me basic stuff, which I certainly answered in a wrong way due to my shock still taking place, and telling me that I was going to be out soon.
After another2 hours, a group of man got a rope and twisted around my chest. They pulled as much as they could but for 15 minutes they could only get my stomach out. It hurt but they told me they were not going to give up. So, they pulled and pulled. The tops of my legs were getting out when I stopped feeling the sensation I felt before in my right leg. When they got me out, I started screaming because I...