PAGE 2: THE FIRE NOBODY TALKED ABOUT
Sarah slowly reached into her purse.
She pulled out an old envelope.
The paper was worn and yellowed with age.
She handed it to Emily.
"Read it."
Emily opened the envelope carefully.
Inside was a newspaper clipping.
The date immediately caught her attention.
Twenty years earlier.
The headline read:
LOCAL GIRL HELPS SAVE TODDLER FROM HOUSE FIRE
Emily felt a strange sensation.
Like a forgotten memory trying to claw its way back to the surface.
She continued reading.
The article described a fire that had broken out in a small neighborhood on the edge of town.
A two-year-old girl had become trapped upstairs.
Most adults believed the house was empty.
But one little girl playing nearby heard crying from inside.
That little girl had screamed for help and refused to stop until firefighters searched the second floor.
They found the toddler unconscious in a bedroom.
Barely alive.
Emily lowered the article.
Her hands trembled.
Suddenly she remembered.
Smoke.
Sirens.
Firefighters.
A little pink blanket.
A crying child.
"Oh my God..."
Linda covered her mouth.
Richard looked stunned.
"I remember that fire."
Sarah nodded.
"I was the little girl they rescued."
Nobody spoke.
The room was silent except for the monitor beside Emily's bed.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
"I always wondered what happened to her," Emily whispered.
Sarah smiled.
"My parents moved away shortly after the fire."
Emily looked down at the newspaper clipping.
Then back at Sarah.
"You came here just to tell me this?"
Sarah hesitated.
"No."
"There was another reason."
She placed a hand on her stomach.
A look of emotion crossed her face.
"My daughter is due next week."
Emily didn't understand.
"What does that have to do with me?"
May you like
Tears appeared in Sarah's eyes.
"Everything."
