I have not immersed myself in the coverage of this unprecedented natural disaster, but items in tonight's paper caught my attention. The first was entitled FAMILY DOG LEADS BOY TO HIGH GROUND.
" When the tsumani struck, Sangeeta, was caught in a nightmarish dilemna: She had three sons, but could only carry two of them. She grabbed the two youngest and ran, reasoning that seven-year old Dinakaran, the oldest, had the best chance of outrunning the giant waves. When the boy didn't follow, Sangeeta was crushed by grief, believing she would never see him again. But the family dog made sure she did. When Dinakaran tried to hide in the family's small concrete walled hut just metres from shore, the scruffy yellow dog named Selvakumar ducked into the hut after him. Nipping and nudging he did everything in his canine power to get the boy up the hill. Dinakaran credits the dog with saving his life. That dog grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, the boy said. He dragged me out."
The second item were the final lines from a story entitled THE DAY THAT SHOOK THE EARTH.
"With each passing day, new and ever-more heartbreaking stories have emerged: stories of outstanding courage, unimaginable terror, unstinting selflessness and inconceivable anguish. Among all of them runs a common thread: unbearable loss.
On Saturday, New Year"s Day, any planned celebrations to herald 2005 had long been forgotten. Instead bells tolled and candles were lit across the coast of the Indian Ocean.
Huddled by the shores of all 10 countries, countless thousands sat in silence: There was no hope for the New Year. Surrounded by meagre possessions, they stared bleakly out to the sea that had ripped apart the lives of so many.
One woman, her head swathed in a shawl, crooned softly to a small crying baby, cradled in her arms.
I don't know his name. He isn't mine, not really. I found him, he was washed up near me. He's only about nine months old, three months older than my daughter who died.
I don't even know where her body is. She may never be found. But this one, he is alive. He is like me, he has no one. So he will be my baby. He will be mine now. That is how we will go on here. By becoming new families."
Nicole