Categories > Celebrities > 30 Seconds to Mars > The Volcanologist
My First Eruption - Part 2
0 reviewsShannon tells us of his first volcanic eruption - which he witnessed at the young age of 7 years old.
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Someone shook me awake at night. I opened my bleary eyes to see Jared through the darkness.
"Shannon are you awake?"
Stupid question to ask. "Of course I am now! What do you want?"
My question was immediately answered by a white flash outside the window and a loud crack. Jared hated thunderstorms. He would always stay in my bed when they woke him. I let him in as I usually did. He wrapped his arms around me and trembled in fear as he usually did.
Of course, I was 7 years old now. Thunderstorms didn't scare me anymore!
"Jeez Jared, you're such a wimp!"
"No I'm not!" he whined. "They're scary Shannon! There's a big flash and then a loud noise!"
There was another flash and crack. He covered his ears and started crying. I suddenly realised something. "Where's the rain?"
I'd never heard of a thunderstorm without rain before. I leave Jared's side and go to the window to investigate.
"No Shannon, don't open the curtains! It'll blind you!"
"Jared don't be stupid!"
I heard Mom's voice as I opened the curtains. She knew Jared was awake, he always came to me during a storm. But she was wondering what the arguing was about.
"Its only a storm boys. Try and get some sleep" she said as she came into my room.
"No Mom, its not stormy weather! Look, the mountain's on fire!"
The mountain wasn't literally on fire, just thick black smoke rising from the top. It had formed a cloud above, which was causing the bolts of lightning.
Mom looked, and knew what was happening. Jared had a brave moment as he went to collect a teddybear from his bedroom. It was the teddybear I had bought him for his 5th birthday, and he loved it so much. He came back holding on to it tightly.
Just one minute later, we were running down the street and out of the village. Jared was smaller than me, so Mom had to carry him. She held my hand as we ran as fast as we could. Jared kept his eyes closed.
As we ran through the village, she tried to wake people, trying to make them aware of what was happening. But people just looked out of their windows and ignored it.
We kept running until we got to the bridge leading out of the village. Home was over a mile away now. We were safe. We slowed down, but never stopped even though we were tired. We had been travelling for just over 2 hours when we heard a loud explosion. Jared, who was still awake, opened his eyes. We all saw the top of the mountain blow that same orange and black slime into the air, before it ran down the sides and towards the village.
Jared was scared, and was screaming and crying now. Mom tried to soothe him. If anyone else was around, I would have been so embarrassed by him! Why was he such a wimp?! Why was he crying? Why was he scared?
I couldn't take my eyes off the mountain. I was amazed! What was it? Why did it happen?
In the early hours of the morning, we found a safe place away from all the dangers of the mountain. People across the world had heard reports of what had happened. We managed to catch some transport from these people and were safely flown out of the area.
Jared was still a sobbing, trembling mess. In his state, he blurted out to Mom that he threw a rock into the fiery lake at the top of the mountain. He said sorry, and that it wasn't my fault as I'd only tried to bring him down, and that I'd brought him down safely. He believed that it was his fault the mountain had turned against us.
At first, I thought Mom might be angry. She thought he was just defending something bad I'd done. She thought he was covering for me and taking the blame. But then she assured us that no harm had been done. She told me that she was proud of me for taking such good care of my little brother. Then she told us that it wasn't our fault that the mountain had exploded, it was just nature.
I asked Mom what she meant. She found it hard to explain to 2 small children, but she did her best. "Well, this planet is special. It has a hot liquid in the centre, and sometimes it explodes from a mountain, like we just saw it doing."
"Any mountain?!" Jared asked. That's it, this boy will never look at a mountain the same again.
"No, not any mountain. Just a few special mountains called volcanoes. But usually, people have warnings first. We didn't, did we? We were lucky to get out of the village in time."
"Mom, what will happen to the village? Will people die?" I asked.
"It probably destroyed the village. But I'm sure people won't die. They'll have escaped, just like us."
Of course, I now know more about volcanoes and how they work. There's more to it than what Mom described, but she did well to explain it to us when we were young. I also now know that people did die in that eruption. Mom was trying to wake everyone in the village and they just ignored her.
And as for my little brother Jared? I now know why he was so scared. After everything I've seen, and looking back to that night I wouldn't blame him. I've seen it on the faces of children that have had plenty of warning. The poor boy was traumatised. Of course, he's alright now. But I've got the feeling that he's never forgotten it.
"Shannon are you awake?"
Stupid question to ask. "Of course I am now! What do you want?"
My question was immediately answered by a white flash outside the window and a loud crack. Jared hated thunderstorms. He would always stay in my bed when they woke him. I let him in as I usually did. He wrapped his arms around me and trembled in fear as he usually did.
Of course, I was 7 years old now. Thunderstorms didn't scare me anymore!
"Jeez Jared, you're such a wimp!"
"No I'm not!" he whined. "They're scary Shannon! There's a big flash and then a loud noise!"
There was another flash and crack. He covered his ears and started crying. I suddenly realised something. "Where's the rain?"
I'd never heard of a thunderstorm without rain before. I leave Jared's side and go to the window to investigate.
"No Shannon, don't open the curtains! It'll blind you!"
"Jared don't be stupid!"
I heard Mom's voice as I opened the curtains. She knew Jared was awake, he always came to me during a storm. But she was wondering what the arguing was about.
"Its only a storm boys. Try and get some sleep" she said as she came into my room.
"No Mom, its not stormy weather! Look, the mountain's on fire!"
The mountain wasn't literally on fire, just thick black smoke rising from the top. It had formed a cloud above, which was causing the bolts of lightning.
Mom looked, and knew what was happening. Jared had a brave moment as he went to collect a teddybear from his bedroom. It was the teddybear I had bought him for his 5th birthday, and he loved it so much. He came back holding on to it tightly.
Just one minute later, we were running down the street and out of the village. Jared was smaller than me, so Mom had to carry him. She held my hand as we ran as fast as we could. Jared kept his eyes closed.
As we ran through the village, she tried to wake people, trying to make them aware of what was happening. But people just looked out of their windows and ignored it.
We kept running until we got to the bridge leading out of the village. Home was over a mile away now. We were safe. We slowed down, but never stopped even though we were tired. We had been travelling for just over 2 hours when we heard a loud explosion. Jared, who was still awake, opened his eyes. We all saw the top of the mountain blow that same orange and black slime into the air, before it ran down the sides and towards the village.
Jared was scared, and was screaming and crying now. Mom tried to soothe him. If anyone else was around, I would have been so embarrassed by him! Why was he such a wimp?! Why was he crying? Why was he scared?
I couldn't take my eyes off the mountain. I was amazed! What was it? Why did it happen?
In the early hours of the morning, we found a safe place away from all the dangers of the mountain. People across the world had heard reports of what had happened. We managed to catch some transport from these people and were safely flown out of the area.
Jared was still a sobbing, trembling mess. In his state, he blurted out to Mom that he threw a rock into the fiery lake at the top of the mountain. He said sorry, and that it wasn't my fault as I'd only tried to bring him down, and that I'd brought him down safely. He believed that it was his fault the mountain had turned against us.
At first, I thought Mom might be angry. She thought he was just defending something bad I'd done. She thought he was covering for me and taking the blame. But then she assured us that no harm had been done. She told me that she was proud of me for taking such good care of my little brother. Then she told us that it wasn't our fault that the mountain had exploded, it was just nature.
I asked Mom what she meant. She found it hard to explain to 2 small children, but she did her best. "Well, this planet is special. It has a hot liquid in the centre, and sometimes it explodes from a mountain, like we just saw it doing."
"Any mountain?!" Jared asked. That's it, this boy will never look at a mountain the same again.
"No, not any mountain. Just a few special mountains called volcanoes. But usually, people have warnings first. We didn't, did we? We were lucky to get out of the village in time."
"Mom, what will happen to the village? Will people die?" I asked.
"It probably destroyed the village. But I'm sure people won't die. They'll have escaped, just like us."
Of course, I now know more about volcanoes and how they work. There's more to it than what Mom described, but she did well to explain it to us when we were young. I also now know that people did die in that eruption. Mom was trying to wake everyone in the village and they just ignored her.
And as for my little brother Jared? I now know why he was so scared. After everything I've seen, and looking back to that night I wouldn't blame him. I've seen it on the faces of children that have had plenty of warning. The poor boy was traumatised. Of course, he's alright now. But I've got the feeling that he's never forgotten it.
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