Californium

98

Cf

[Rn]7s25f10

Californium

Sophia bolted upright in bed as the room shook around her. Light fixtures rattled, and pictures fell from the walls. She peered out her window overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Pebble Beach, California. Everything appeared normal on the west side of her home on the famous Seventeen Mile Drive.

“Danny, get up! It’s another earthquake.” She nudged her lazy husband and ignored his reluctant groans.

“It’s not even a 5.0, go back to bed, Sophia.” He rolled over and placed a pillow over his ears to block out the sounds of his nagging wife.

“Listen to my Irish immigrant. You’ve lived here a year and think you’re a native. I’ve lived in California my whole life and this is it. This is the ‘Big One.’” She made air quotes with her fingers.

“Argh, fine,” Danny sighed.

He climbed out of bed and pulled his flannel pajama bottoms over his tanned legs. He clicked on the remote control, and their big flat screen illuminated on to Fox News. He rotated the enormous flat screen towards the sliding glass door, enabling them to view it from the outside.

Sophia put on her silk robe and walked onto the terrace. They stood safely outside as they heard the shocking news report.

“A 12.0 Earthquake hit greater Los Angeles this morning. After shocks are reported as far north as Vancouver, and as far south as Baja. This is the ‘Big One’ predicted by geologists,” a blonde newswoman reported somberly.

“We should be okay this far north.” Danny wrapped his arms around Sophia to comfort her.

“Tsunamis!” She turned towards the ocean.

“This cliff is at least 200 feet high. We’ll be fine on high ground,” he rationalized.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Sophia turned to Danny, her face turned white with fear. The earth trembled beneath their feet. “What was that horrific sound?” she asked.

“I don’t know, it sounded like thunder, but only from the ground.” Danny shrugged.

They whipped their heads back towards the television.

“The San Andreas fault is shifting along the entire coast of California. The western plate is moving towards the Pacific,” the newswoman explained.

Live aerial footage showed an enormous crack in the earth’s surface. It moved like a lightning bolt and crackled like thunder. The crack widened as the western side of the fault floated towards the Pacific.

The television turned black as the power failed.

“The geologists were right. They said when the ‘Big One’ hit, half of California would fall into the Pacific Ocean,” Sophia cried.

Sophia and Danny held hands as they watched the earth beneath them drift away from the Continental United States and fall into the sea.

This is 1 of 118 short stories in my Elements Of Mystery Collection. Each story is titled after an Element from the Periodic Table. All my 20+ published books are available everywhere eBooks are sold worldwide. Print books are available on Amazon. Free shipping with Prime. Please visit my website https://www.elementsofmystery.com/