I remember it well. Monday, July 1st 2020. My little 7 year old brothers birthday. The scorching heat of the sun spreading its rays across all of Tokyo Japan. One moment purchasing Fin a small robot from Tokyo Tech Museum as a present, the other moment looking up at Tokyo tower, bending and heaving toward the earth. The beacon in the center of the city, falling before all the citizens within. Disaster. What was supposed to be the best day of Fins childhood, turned into a disaster for not just us, but everyone in Tokyo.

“Hey Jess, come here! Look!” Walking over to him, you could just see the excitement in his face. His bobbed brown hair bouncing up and down as he hopped side to side pointing at the robot in the exhibit, his brown eyes fixated on the quick movements of the red four legged vehicle. As he bounced, so did his green dinosaur backpack. The stereotypical adorable child. On the railing a plaque had been placed, reading in big bold words Quadruped Robot V2. “This one has to be my favorite! Look! It can climb rocks n stuff super fast!” That big smile of his extends to become a “super” big smile. Suddenly something seems to catch his eye. There were multiple controllers that people had been fiddling with, or perhaps even playing with. It seems that you can move them yourself, but frankly I was kind of tired of watching Fin play with robots all day.

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Say, want to go buy a drink for us real fast? You keep running around so much, it’s really wearing me out.” Geez this boy runs around too much. “I’ll be sitting on this bench okay? Don’t run off too far. Mom will kill me if you get lost.”

Giving me a look of disappointment, he says, “Well what do you want? A water like always?” He really like that robot. I nod and he scampers off.

As I sat waiting, I could not help but feast my eyes upon the beautiful view. Being on the 4th floor you could see almost all of Tokyo. Skyscrapers grabbed at the sky alongside the many other structures who ducked beneath the moving shadows of the cities buildings. The sun was overwhelmingly powerful today. The rays protruding from the sky made a hot day into a extremely hot day. Despite the bright look and the cheery people, I couldn’t help but be a little annoyed. Why do I have to go with my little brother, why couldn’t mom? I knew the answer of course. All she does is work all day. My dad is always out of town, supposedly working as well, leaving me as the babysitting “role model of a big sister.” Instead, I could be out doing what I want to do with my friends. But no, I have to spoil my little brother further.

One building always seems to catch my eye when looking out into the city. The familiar structure of Tokyo tower in the distance was standing as a beacon pointing above the city. Looking at the building, I could not help but think. Think about how structurally sound the tower was. After all, it is made as a framework with no glass, concrete, or steel panels. Should that tower not have fell by now?

“Earthquake?” I muttered aloud. Small pieces of the drywall began to chip off of the ceiling. Those chips began to grow into bigger pieces, eventually whole panels started to break apart. I began to hate the fact that I couldn’t move. The lights flickered as if someone was pulling a prank in the middle of class, but this was not funny. The murmurings and worried looks of the people nearby eventually led into screaming as a whole jolt which had been holding the ceiling up broke loose. A whole portion of the ceiling slammed into the floor with a large CRASH. As the lights broke out, so did the window behind me. Shards of glass pricked me through my clothing, making various visible scratches across my face and hands. The pain was almost irresistible, I wanted to yell but all I could manage was a small whimper before  the floor beneath me caved in.