Pensive Peyote #11

“Mmmmmfffffff!”

With her long tan arms outstretched, Sanga Samarasingha stretched the sleep away. Morning was here and she needed to bring back water from the shoreline for her family. As she lay on her cot, she looked at the ceiling of her modest hut and wondered if the American teacher was right that an education could take her anywhere she wanted to go. Earlier that year, she was introduced to the blond-haired, fair-skinned Oklahoma native who worked for an organization called the Peace Corps. This strange person was in Krueng Raya to set up a school in the village, and Sanga learned that she went by the name “Lisa”.

“What an odd thing to name someone” thought Sanga, but she brushed it off as silly American customs.

Sanga looked and acted much older than her age suggested. At 12 years old, she had already reached a height of 5’3” and her long black hair and fine features betrayed an age much older than reality, and she acted the part as well. The oldest of three siblings, her mother was sick with a mystery illness that left her incapable of caring for the children. That left Sanga to play the part of caregiver, which gave her a maturity beyond her years.

She was a quick learner and had mastered the times tables Lisa had given the class to practice with long before any of her classmates did. Lisa became a mentor for Sanga shortly after they met and Sanga began to believe that she could actually escape her simple life in the village. She had always wanted more, but had not been able to visualize what that could be until she started school.

Ah well, time to get up I guess…

She rolled out of bed and headed for the water buckets. Reluctantly she pulled them onto her shoulders and headed towards the shoreline. It was a quiet December morning, and as she headed for the water, she repeated the times tables she had learned that week in her head. As she reached the shore she began the labored practice of filling up both water buckets. Sanga looked up towards the ocean as she began to hear a low rumbling in the distance. She dropped the newly filled bucket when the ground began to shake…

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Lisa Krane had never been to Indonesia before…in fact, she hadn’t even left her home state of Oklahoma before she decided to join the Peace Corps. A 2004 graduate of Oklahoma State University, Lisa received her site notification before graduation and headed off to Peace Corps Training shortly afterwards. She had always been excited at the prospect of spending a few years in a foreign world doing the one thing she loved, and she finally had the chance. Three months after she left Oklahoma and all modern conveniences behind, she traveled to a little village called Krueng Raya and began her project work of setting up a sustainable school for all of the village children. It wasn’t long before a little girl named Sanga caught her eye as especially gifted and ambitious. Their first interaction was a very public controversy over the proper usage of “their” and “there” in a sentence. Lisa had only been teaching for a few months and didn’t believe that she was the one who had made the mistake.

“But Ms. Krane! You told us that the t-h-e-i-r “their” is used in showing possession! Not for a place!”

Lisa looked at Sanga, the blackboard, and back at Sanga.

Damnit! She’s right!

“Oh you’re right Sanga! Glad you’re here to keep me on track!”

With a satisfied grin, Sanga sank back into her seat and seemed to wait for the next opportunity to pounce if necessary. She absorbed anything and everything the experienced teacher threw her way, and Lisa felt like she could make a real difference in this little girl’s life. She began to tutor her privately and gave her lessons far more advanced than what she was teaching in the general classroom.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when Lisa woke up that December morning. The temperature outside was already starting to heat up, and Lisa silently thanked her years spent in the Oklahoma sun. She couldn’t imagine how those East Coasters were handling the nearly suffocating humidity. She got up and walked over to her files to find the more advanced reading lessons that she and Sanga had planned on doing that morning. Once she found them she headed towards Sanga’s hut.

“She’s out” her mother muttered as soon as she saw Lisa.

“Do you know where she is?”

Sanga’s mother pointed towards the ocean and said “there.”

“Thanks” Lisa said as she headed out the door towards the shoreline. She couldn’t believe how much work Sanga had to do for her family as a mere child. It made Lisa very thankful for the home she grew up in where her main concern at the age of 12 was which one of the New Kids on the Block she wanted to kiss. She soon found Sanga filling up the first water bucket and walked over to her. Right before she reached the little girl the ground started shaking and a low rumble was getting louder and louder. All of the sudden Sanga stood up, dropping the bucket, as she stared out towards the water. The water quickly receded in a way that Lisa had never seen before, and an ominous feeling began to overtake her…

****************

Something’s happening!

That thought quickly raced through Sanga’s mind as she realized her beloved teacher was standing right behind her. She looked back at Lisa and when she turned towards the ocean, she saw a most terrifying sight: a wall of water…getting bigger and closer. All of the sudden Lisa grabbed her hand and jerked it in the opposite direction as they began running back towards the village. Immediately the thought of her family flashed through her mind and Sanga broke away and ran towards her hut. She began screaming for her family to “get out! Get out!” but her mother wouldn’t budge. Lisa was right on Sanga’s heels as the rumbling turned into a roaring noise and the shaking had intensified. Sanga’s siblings raced out of the hut to escape the suddenly vertical ocean and raced towards the woods leaving Sanga alone with her mother.

“Not going” Sanga’s mother muttered. Her eyes showed that she meant it.

She felt the familiar grasp and tug of her hand as Lisa pulled Sanga away from the despondent form in front of them. Sanga allowed herself to be dragged away knowing she’d never see her family again.

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No no no!!! We have to get out of here!!!

Lisa had no idea what refuge she would find in the trees. Did not know if they could escape the wall of water closing in behind them. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t form a plan. All she knew was the shaking of the ground, the deadly wall behind her…the need to escape. They were in a full sprint away from the village and through the trees, desperately trying to outrun the monster behind them. The roaring was getting louder and louder with each passing second.

Shit! Shit! This isn’t going to work! We have to get out of here!!!

Lisa stopped at the first thick tree she could find and began to climb, pulling Sanga up with her. Years of gymnastics, despite the horrid early mornings, were proving vital to Lisa now as she contorted her body around tree limbs and further up into the tree. Sanga, half-pulled and half-climbing was right behind her. Neither Lisa nor Sanga could even think anymore.

CRAAASSSHHHHH!!!

As the first wave hit, Lisa and Sanga barely held onto the tree as it nearly broke from the force. Lisa knew that they wouldn’t last very long like this, but there were no other options. As the ocean continued its assault on their tree it broke and Lisa and Sanga were now left to the mercy of their unintended raft. All they could do was hold on for what seemed like days. As the day wore on, more waves came flooding in, and they held on not knowing if they were going to survive.

Lisa knew that the Peace Corps knew that one of their PCV’s was in the heart of the disaster and would send rescue workers.

They wouldn’t leave me out here, would they?

****************

December 27, 2004: Sure enough, Lisa was a high priority evacuation target. They were found still clinging to the battered tree. When daylight came Sanga surveyed the devastation. She had never seen anything like it. Lisa’s face betrayed what she already knew: an absolute catastrophe had just happened…and they somehow survived. She grabbed the fair-skinned hand next to hers. She knew that despite what lay ahead of the pair, they wouldn’t ever leave the other one behind.