Earthquake from FAWM 2024 by Johnny Wallflower

I was sitting in the walk-in cooler of a Pizza Hut in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Hiding from a tornado with my crew
And this waitress from California says
“Earthquakes don’t scare me, but I’m afraid of tornadoes.”

And I said
“You can hide from tornadoes.
“In an earthquake, the fucking GROUND is moving!”

And she said “Eh.”
And I said “Eh?”
And she said “Yeah. Don’t bother me.
“Ya get used to it.”

And I said “Neuuuup. No way.”

“No fucking way.”

And she laughed and laughed
And winked at me

Years later, I was sitting on the ninth floor of a hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
And I felt my seat shifting
And I looked up and saw the bars of the balcony railing
Gliding back and forth against the scenery

“Oh shit,” I thought. This is an earthquake.”
And I wondered if I should find a doorway to stand under or something.

And the motion stopped. And I stood up
And called to my wife in the other room,

“Did you feel that?” I said.

“Yep,” she said. “That was weird.”

And we both laughed nervously
But nobody winked this time

• Alternative
• Experimental
• Rock
• United States