Scene 9

The newspapers had reported about a terrible earthquake having shaken northern Chile (the region of la Constitucion) and causing hundreds of deaths and absolute chaos. The authorities in Japan and Australia were on red alert, fearing a flood – a tsunami could be triggered by the quake's 8.8 point intensity on the Richter Scale.

And NASA had measured that the earth's axis had moved by 8 cm on account of the quake. Technically speaking then on or with this planet one was not exactly at the same spot anymore as before the quake. One could probably also say that seven milliard people had, without noticing it, taken their first space trip – only an 8-cm trip, but nevertheless a trip. But wasn't life on this planet a journey through All? As always: measured against the alterations that the mother's pressed flowers had made on the map of the earth, these 8 cm had probably not dropped much in weight.

Anyhow down here in the deep south of Chile, not much could be detected of all that – the region seemed to be alienated from every commotion outside it.

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