My Famous Dad

27 My Famous Dad We have earthquakes where we live. They are frightening, and they can do a lot of damage. Why do we live in a place with earthquakes? Well, it's very crowded in my country, and all the flat land is taken for farming. So we have to live on a mountainside. While my father was building our new house, many asked him why he was taking so long to build it. Normally, the little houses people live in are built on pieces of wood stuck into the ground. These houses are very weak and can be built in a few days. But my dad was taking weeks and weeks to build ours. People laughed, but my father was a very serious man. He took his time and was always looking for the right materials. He studied how to make a house strong. Every day, he would bring home pieces of wood or metal and put them into the house in some way that would make it stronger.

When the house was finally done, it did not look like our neighbours' houses. It had wood and steel bars all over it, and the walls were very thick. It was embarrassing because our house was so different from everyone else's. People made jokes. As I said, we have terrible earthquakes in my area. However, the last earthquake was three years ago. I was beginning to forget them. Then one day, an earthquake hit. The first jolt came when we were in the market. It was scary. We could see the little huts on the mountain collapsing. After the earthquake, we ran up the mountainside to check on our house. As we ran down the path, we saw that most houses were damaged or had fallen down. But there was our house, standing perfectly. Luckily, no one was hurt in the earthquake. But everyone came to look at our house. People who were laughing before were now cheering for my father. Now, everyone in our village builds better and stronger houses thanks to my dad.