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then dumped what it couldn’t carry on its way out.”
    “The beach is getting bigger right in front of our eyes!” cried Abby.  “Rick, what’s happening?”
    “An earthquake is the first warning that a tsunami could be on the horizon, and an extreme tide change following the quake confirms it,” he said while his eyes stayed trained on the approaching wave.  “It’s called drawdown.  When the water retreats from the beach that fast and that far, then the people on land had better run for the hills because there’s big one heading for shore.”  The three of them stood on the hilltop and watched the harmless looking band of breakwater move towards land. 
    “But that wave isn’t big at all,” said Abby. “It’s barely even a wave!”
    “Tsunamis are tricky.  They can travel at hundreds of miles per hour, and unlike wind-caused waves, they look small from the surface.  The enormous force that powers them is under water and invisible to the naked eye.  When a tsunami gets close to shore, the shallow water and coastal land compress all of that monster energy and the tsunami rears its ugly head.  The wave slows down but rises in height.”  Rick’s voice was hoarse and all the color had drained from his face.  Even his lips were gray.
    “Yeah, the average size of a tsunami is a thousand feet tall,” said Leanna.
    “No.  That’s an extreme exaggeration,” said Rick, feeling his whole body start to tremble. “It’s not like in the movies where a towering wall of water as big as a skyscraper comes slamming into shore.  Tsunamis hit land as a series of waves that can be hours apart.  Just imagine several walls of water, some as high as forty or fifty feet, that just keep pushing inland.  Sometimes the wave can move forward for close to an hour before it begins to recede.” He looked again at the innocuous looking line of breaking water.  Defeat and despair were in his voice when he said, “God help anyone who is still standing down there.  If they don’t suspect that another wave is on the way, it will be too late by the time they see it.  Look at the length of it!  It goes north and south for as far as my eyes can see.”
    They watched in horrified silence as the wave approached shore.  Rick put his arms around both girls and was glad their bodies were there to support him when the water hit land.  Most of what little structure still remained from a previous tsunami was swallowed by the surge that rushed forward as though it was never going to stop.  The water turned black as it entered town and was pushing what looked like acres of debris in front of it.  Countless tons of construction materials from demolished buildings, along with cars, yachts, small buildings, and even some large trawlers surged forward towards a bridge that allowed drivers to cross a coastal inlet.  As the moving tower of debris hit the bridge, pieces of concrete began to fall down into the crawling beast.  Three pillars on the bridge crumbled and then two more crashed down.  Within less than twenty seconds, the entire structure had collapsed. 
    “There were cars on that bridge!” cried Leanna.  “There were tons of cars just stopped up there with nowhere to go!  And look!  The water is still moving forward.  It looks like it has traveled miles inland!”
    Rick dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands.  “We can only hope the people in Port Fortand prepared themselves for tsunamis the way Cleardon City did.  Otherwise, there are thousands of people dead or dying right now.”
    Abby and Leanna collapsed on the ground beside him, both too stunned to speak.  “What do we tell the others?” croaked Abby.  “I don’t think they need to know about this just yet.”
    Abby’s question jolted Rick from his crushing thoughts and he rose stiffly to his feet.  “Let’s keep this to ourselves for now.  I’ll talk it over with Brenda and Lucy later tonight.  It won’t help anything