Standing in Nantou County's Kuohsing township amid rows of smashed, derelict buildings, Chen Wen-chun (
"It's tragic," Chen said, who left home to study in Taichung and finally settled down in Taipei several years ago.
"All flattened ... those who escaped to other places [the day the quake hit] all cried for help over the telephone."
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
For Chen, the quake destroyed not only lives but memories.
"When I got married several years ago, I remember thinking I'd love to bring my children to Kuohsing in thirty years and show them places full of nice memories," she said.
But the quake shattered this hope, she said. Pointing to various places she had often visited, Chen muttered: "That bakery and that grocery store where we used to buy candies ... and that noodle shop ... are all flattened."
Whenever her husband came with her on visits to the township, Chen recalled, he always preferred to eat his first meal at the noodle shop.
"He often asked my aunt not to prepare the first meal for us since we'd have it instead at the noodle shop," she said.
"How can I describe to others how the shops I loved as a kid looked? ... I'll never have the opportunity to tell these stories," she said.
Even Chen's 8-year-old daughter was upset by the quake. She was unable to find out whether one of her friends had escaped the tragedy that killed more than 80 in the small township.
"Before I came here today, she asked me what happened to her friend at the beauty shop down the road -- whether she was pulled out of the rubble, and if she would feel scared in the dark by herself," Chen said.
Chen passed by the beauty shop earlier only to find the portraits of two young girls hung in front of a table with offerings and fruits prepared.
She said she didn't know what comfort to offer the mother who had lost two of her four beloved daughters.
"My daughter was friends with [the hairdresser's] youngest daughter. I once took photos of them in the elementary school [when my daughter returned here for vacation]. But now I really don't know if I should pass the photos to the mother," she said.
Even visitors to Kuohsing were visibly shocked at the loss of the two young lives.
Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"Did you see the photos of the two girls? So sweet," Ma told members of the city's official team later after consoling the family.
"I feel so sad to see such young lives end in tragedy ... I myself have two daughters, and I really can't imagine how I would react if that happened to my family," Ma said later.
Chen did not, however, lose herself in despair -- saying at least her 70-year-old grandmother escaped the disaster and was healthy enough to run around helping her neighbors.
And when Chen finally found her in the elementary school -- now a temporary shelter for those left homeless in the quake -- the older woman was suntanned, and a neighbor was teasing her about how dark she looked.
"I have been running around in the sun trying to help," she said with a smile.
Just like Chen's grandmother, 74-year-old Chang Lin Hsiu-mei (張林秀妹) of Shihkang township, Taichung County, saw her home destroyed in the earthquake. She had no choice but to stay in a tent at Shihkang Elementary School.
But unlike Chen's grandmother, who seemed to remain optimistic after the quake, Chang was grief-stricken as she talked about how the quake had destroyed her home.
"My husband died when I was 33. Since then, I have worked hard to raise three children by myself and save all my money to buy this house.
"Now that God has destroyed my home, my heart really aches," she said, holding her toothbrush and sitting on a small bench in the early morning sun. "I can't eat or sleep," she added, tearfully.
Holding a bowl of rice porridge prepared by her neighbors who care for those now living in the school playground, Chang's grand-daughter Yeh Ju-min (
"The compensation the government promised hasn't reached us, and we really don't have any money to rent another house," Chang said.
The following morning, a group of students returned to their elementary school, not knowing where they would resume their classes.
Meanwhile, Chang and her family remain in tents on the school grounds, not knowing when they will have a home to live in.
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