Promise

盧珊珊

In 1989 an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America， killing over 30，000 people in less than four minutes. In the midst of utter devastation and chaos， a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be， only to discover that the building was as flat as a pancake.

After the unforgettably initial shock， he remembered the promise he had made to his son： “No matter what， Ill always be there for you！” And tears began to fill his eyes. As he looked at the pile of ruins that once was the school， it looked hopeless， but he kept remembering his commitment to his son.

He began to direct his attention towards where he walked his son to class at school each morning. Remembering his sons classroom would be in the back right corner of the building; he rushed there and started digging through the ruins.

As he was digging， other helpless parents arrived， clutching their hearts， saying：“My son！” “My daughter！”Other well- meaning parents tried to pull him off what was left of the school， saying：“It s too late！ Theyre all dead！ You cant help！ Go home！ Come on， face reality，theres nothing you can do！”

To each parent he responded with one line： “Are you going to help me now？”And then he continued to dig for his son， stone by stone. The fire chief showed up and tried to pull him off the schools ruins saying，“Fires are breaking out， explosions are happening everywhere. Youre in danger. Well take care of it. Go home.”To which this loving， caring American father asked，“Are you going to help me now？”

The police came and said，“Youre angry， anxious and its over. Youre endangering others. Go home. Well handle it！”To which he replied，“Are you going to help me now？”No one helped.Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know for himself：“Is my boy alive or is he dead？”He dug for eight hours...12 hours...24 hours...36 hours...then， in the 38th hour， he pulled back a large stone and heard his sons voice. He screamed his sons name，“ARMAND！”He heard back，“Dad！？！ Its me， Dad！ I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive， youd save me and when you saved me， theyd be saved. You promised，‘No matter what happens， Ill always be there for you！You did it， Dad！” “Whats going on in there？ How is it？”the father asked.

“There are 14 of us left out of 33， Dad. Were scared， hungry， thirsty and thankful youre here. When the building collapsed， it made a triangle， and it saved us.”

“Come out， boy！”

“No， Dad！ Let the other kids out first， cause I know youll get me！ No matter what happens， I know youll always be there for me！”

1989 年，一次 8.2 級的地震幾乎鏟平美 國，在短短不到4分鐘的時間里，奪去了3萬 多人的生命！在徹底的破壞與混亂之中，有 位父親將他的妻子在家里安頓好后，跑到他 兒子就讀的學校，而觸目所見，卻是被夷為 平地的校園。

看到這令人傷心的一幕，他想起了曾經 對兒子所作的承諾：“不論發生什么事，我都 會在你身邊。”至此，父親熱淚滿眶。目睹曾 經的學校成為了一堆瓦礫，真叫人絕望。但 父親的腦中仍然牢記著他對兒子的承諾。

他開始努力回憶每天早上送兒子上學 的必經之路，終于記起兒子的教室應該就在 那幢建筑物后面，位于右邊的角落里，他跑 到那兒，開始在碎石礫中挖掘，搜尋兒子的 下落。

當這位父親正在挖掘時，其他束手無策 的學生家長趕到現場，揪心地叫著：“我的兒 子呀！”“我的女兒呀！”一些好意的家長試圖 把這位父親勸離現場，告訴他“一切都太遲 了！他們全死了！這樣做沒用的，回去吧， 這樣做只會使事情更糟”。

面對種種勸告，這位父親的回答只有一句話：“你們愿意幫我嗎？”然后繼續進行挖掘工作，在廢墟中尋找他的兒子。消防隊長出現了，他也試圖把這位父親勸走，對他說：“火災頻現，四處都在發生爆炸，你在這里太危險了，這邊的事我們會處理，你回家吧！”對此，這位慈愛、關切的父親仍然回答：“你們要幫我嗎？”

警察趕到現場，對他說：“你現在又氣又急，該結束了，你在危及他人，回家吧！我們會處理一切的。”這位父親依舊回答：“你們愿意幫我嗎？”然而，人們無動于衷。為了弄清楚兒子是死是活，這位父親獨自一人鼓起勇氣，繼續進行他的工作。他挖掘了8小時，12 小時，24 小時，36 小時……38 小時后，父親推開了一塊巨大的石頭，聽到了兒子的聲音。父親尖叫著：“阿曼德！”兒子的回音聽到了：“爸爸嗎？是我，爸，我告訴其他的小朋友不要著急。我告訴他們如果你活著，你會來救我的。如果我獲救了，他們也就獲救了。你答應過我，‘不論發生什么，我永遠都會在你的身邊，你做到了，爸！”“你那里的情況怎樣？”父親問。

“我們有 33 個，只有 14 個活著。爸，我們好害怕，又渴又餓，謝天謝地，你在這兒。教室倒塌時，剛好形成一個三角形的洞，救了我們。”

“快出來吧！兒子！”

“不，爸，讓其他小朋友先出去吧！因為我知道你會接我的！不管發生什么事，我知道你永遠都會來到我的身邊！”