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Thunder clashed outside the house;lightning lit up the room where little Lily slept. She had just celebrated her seventh birthday, old enough to not be afraid of the storm outside. In the bed across from her, her younger sister, Miley, lay huddled under the blanket, whimpering every time a loud boom of thunder seemed to shake the house.
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“Lily, you wake?” Miley whispered, peeking out from under the cover. When Lily didn’t reply, she stood up, walking over to her sister and climbing into bed with her. Lily didn’t stir as Miley curled against her, glad to have her older sister there to protect her. Placing her thumb into her mouth, Miley curled up against Lily’s side, and soon fell asleep.
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The storm outside continued to brew. The house seemed to shake every time thunder boomed out it’s noisy sound, and the lights that came down from the the heavens above continued to strike dangerously close to the house. A single mom walked down the hallway, checking in at her girls and smiling at the sight of them soundly sleeping. A glance in another room showed that the twelve-year-old twins were sound asleep as well. All seemed as though it would be calm and peaceful. Content that all was well, she made her way into the living room, curling up on the couch. Then the lightning hit.
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Mother Nature must have unleashed all of hell’s fury into that one bolt of static electricity. When it struck the side of the house, one could feel the static overtake the house, and then the smell of smoke hit. Time seemed to freeze for a few moments as the house was overtaken by silence. And then the smoke detector went off.
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A single mother rushes frantically, trying to rise her sleeping children. Shouts of fear can be heard, panicked cries came from the girls’ room. Their mother rushes down the hallway, just as the twins rushed out.
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“Kyle, Jason, hurry outside and call 911, I need to get your sisters. Go now!!” she yelled, over the sound of the alarms going off, before making her way to the room that her daughters shared at the back of the hall, after turning the corner. However, when she turned the corner, what she saw made her world go cold. Flames burned at the bend in the hallway, blocking her access to the two girls in the back room. Their panicked cries of “Mommy!!!!” could be heard.
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“Lily! Miley! Can you hear me?” she yelled, trying to keep panic out of her voice. “Can you open the window?”799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCtuE5wPuM
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There was silence for a moment, then, “The window is locked Mommy, I can’t reach the locks.”
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That moment when she realised she might lose her baby girls was the worse moment of her life. Terrible thoughts ran through her mind, panic making it hard to keep calm, when she heard the sirens of a firetruck outside. Moments pass as people approached. Smoke fills the hallway, as time suddenly seems to lose all meanings. Firemen rushing into the house. A man grabbing her arm, telling her she has to leave.Her own desperate screams, before she is dragged outside.
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“You have to help us,” a small voice whispers. One young fireman looks over to see a little girl standing in an area in the hall big enough to get by. He shouted a few short words before heading toward the little girl. Instead of coming toward him, she retreated, much to his confusion.
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“Hey kid, let me get you out of here,” he shouted, hearing the shouts of his fellow firemen behind him. Ignoring them, he rushed forward, determined to save the little girl. He entered the bedroom, looking around but seeing no sight of the little girl through the smoke. Getting down on his stomach, he crawled across the floor, toward what he assumed must be a closet door. Behind him, the rest of the fire team continued to fight the blaze, while he continued on, going with instinct. A slight whimpering sound from the closet confirmed his thoughts, as he began to move closer. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably no more than a minute or two, the fireman found himself in front of the closet, whose door was slightly ajar.
He opened the door, shining his flashlight inside to see two girls huddled together, the girl from the hallway laying over a smaller, whimpering girl. He reached out to pull the girls toward him, picking up the older girl and moving her out from over the younger, only to find that she wasn’t moving. Taking her into his arms and fearing the worse, he mentally cursed the girl’s stupidity, before pulling the whimpering little girl to his side. Footprints could be heard approaching; calls from the other firemen could be heard.
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“Two kids here! One’s not breathing!” he shouted. A buddy approached, picking up the small frightened child, while he still carried Lily’s limp body in his arms. Once outside, the mother rushed over to the firemen. 799Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yUooLVus4
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“My babies, are they ok?” she asked, rushing over to them.
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“Mommy! Mommy!” Miley yelled, coughing. As soon as the fireman placed her on the ground she ran as fast as she could into her mother’s arms. The woman picked her up, hugging her tight. There was a flash of relief, before looking over at the man holding her older daughter. Tears welled up in her eyes, as the young fireman looked at her with sad eyes. After turning the still body over, he turned and walked away. He had become a firefighter to help people, yet he couldn’t save that little girl.
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“Hey mister,” a small voice whispered. Out of the corner of his eye, the young man saw the same little girl from the hallway. “Thanks for saving my sister.” A smile showed on her little face, before she waved and disappeared.
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He couldn’t help but think how odd it was that the girl had seemed to almost vanish in the hallway. And even with the smoke, it seemed strange for the girl to disappear the way that she had. He found out later she had died from smoke inhalation. Until the day he lay on his own deathbed he never knew if the little girl he saw in the hall was alive or just a spirit. It wasn’t until sixty-two years later that he found the answer to the question that had haunted him until that very moment. His last thought was of the little, ghost pale girl in that burning hallway, calling for help in a voice only he had heard.
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“Remember me mister?” a small voice asked. The older man looked around in confusion, before looking at himself, lying in a hospital bed. No one seemed to notice the little girl standing on the other side of the bed. She seemed so familiar, but he couldn’t place her until a memory from many years ago entered his mind.
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“Hey mister,” a small voice whispered. Out of the corner of his eye, the young man saw the same little girl from the hallway. “Thanks for saving my sister.”
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“Of course I remember you,” he told her, crossing the room and offering his larger hand to the young child. “It was you who saved your sister, Lily.”
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The young girl took his hand with a smile. Looking back at his family one last time, the man and the little girl had left, but not before he saw himself as she saw him, as the same young man who followed her to her sister sixty-two years ago.
