Earthquake
by Andrew Salkey

Ricky Thomas, his brother Doug, and his sister Polly spend their summer holidays in the coffee walk surrounding their grandparents’ country home in Dallas, Jamaica. Above the children the leaves of the mango and coffee trees are drying, the thin asphalt is becoming syrupy beneath their feet, and the atmosphere is electric with the sun’s heat. While Ricky scouts for an observation platform for his imaginary island, the siblings feel the earth itself move beneath them. Is it part of their vivid imaginations, or is it the sign of a coming earthquake?