From Veranda to Sky

EVERYTHING happened in an instant. On one bright morning, people went to the open field: playing, marching or jogging. There was no sign that for them the dawn that morning came for the last time. The distance between the land of Aceh and the sky became closer and tighter. The Acehnese in between no longer waved their hands—they flew to the sky in a flash.

January 4, 2005

Then the land was rocked. "I thought I only felt dizzy because I had not had my breakfast," said Aini Agustina a teacher at Aisyah Kindergarten in Banda Aceh.

On the beach, the seawater ebbed suddenly. Children shouted: they were busy looking for fish and seashells.

This did not last long. From the sea, in the distance, the ruthless calamity came rolling. "Huge waves, as tall as coconut trees," said an eyewitness. There

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