Earthquake

"Pakistan's military spokesman has said an entire generation of young people has been wiped out in the areas worst hit by a massive earthquake." BBC
That's what she's just been through. She got up that morning to go to school, was sitting in her desk, probably not a very nice one considering where she was living. She was giggling with her friends, or listening to her teacher. Then she was buried under a pile of rubble, and all the giggling or teaching turned into screaming, crying, and panic.
I like having nice fingernails. Yeah, they're hard to keep up, and when it comes down to it, I'm too lazy to actually keep them up really well, but I still like being able to have them long and shiny and feminine. Little things like that make me feel beautiful. I know that my hands look pretty, and anyone else that might notice gets let in on some little secret of my life. The downside of having long nails, though, is that when they break, it's pretty dramatic. They don't just chip, they get snagged close to the skin and the whole top of my nail gets torn off, often taking some of my nail bed with it. Not only does it look bad, but it's extremely painful - distractingly so. It pierces your fingertips, and you can't do anything with your hands without thinking about it. The pain just takes over.
Her leg is broken, her head is hurt. Her whole life is literally in shambles. A stranger from a country that would normally be her enemy is carrying her somewhere. Hopefully to get help, but how would she know? She doesn't know where her parents are. Does she even know what she's been through? She knows something bad has happened, but does she know how bad? Does she know that everything that used to be familiar, secure, and safe is gone? Can she begin to comprehend that her entire generation is gone as flippantly and carelessly as the mound of dirt she crushed beneath her feet that morning? Her leg is throbbing, that's probably all she can think about. And who will be able to fix it?