[FONT=Tahoma]I refused to answer the door when the pounding began ..
.. And my fear seemed to intensify the louder it rang.
I'd been left at home for the first time on my own that night ..
.. and as the front door crashed open, my body froze in fright!
A thick cloud of smoke entered first, that was tinged with the glow ..
.. of the brightest light I'd ever had the dis-privilege to know.
A dark, cloaked figure had followed, sweeping me off the ground ..
.. While whispering low and soothing,
"It's okay, it's okay. I've got you now..."
It was several minutes before I'd even started to embrace ..
.. The simple fact that the whole of our apartment was ablaze.
The fireman carried me to a barrier, where I sat and assessed ..
.. The roaring rosin flames which spat and scorched the back of my neck.
“What’s your name, honey?” he asked, to which I calmly replied ..
.. “Samantha Reynolds, sir” while the gold flames bit hard at the night.
“Sarah was in there,” I exhumed, as the consummate heat wavered ..
“She was a special doll from my bestest friend…
…Please save her.”
*****
- Flashback –
I remember the clouds breaking up, to reveal a vibrant glow ..
.. Rather anxiously, I’d b.olted back out the door minutes after arriving home!
I ran to the playground, where my jovial mind spent copious time ..
.. Amongst the sturdy red-brick buildings, where a young girl sat alone on the slide.
I joined her for a moment and said nothing, before she turned to me ..
.. “I bet I can make you sick on the swings!” she teased quite churlishly.
Suddenly our eyes connected, "Bet you cant!" I jested after a while ..
"My names Samantha, what's yours!?"
"Call me Megan," she beamed back with a smile.
Then for hours we played and we flounced, as she chased me about ..
.. before dusk drew near, and my new friend asked me to stay at her house.
"You can have one of my dolls" Megan insisted, cutting brief the discussion ..
.. And we talked into the small hours, before falling asleep on the cushions.
I woke to find her crying, a trails of tears travelling past her light hair ..
.. So I reached over to console her, thinking maybe she'd just had a nightmare.
Megan choked back her tears, but her sullen state had raised alarms ..
.. And there in her bedroom we made a pact,
That our dollies would keep us safe from harm.
"I've never told anyone this before…" she began with a sigh ..
.. Struggling with her own conscious, as cold tears ran from her eyes.
"…my father rapes me." Megan sobbed, while meeting my silent gaze ..
.. Both of us whispering softly, as we discussed how to end his violent reign.
We decided to tell my mother, who then that night alerted the police ..
.. Megan's teary eyes shimmered, under the veil of brown hair they were curtained beneath.
Her rich green eyes were consumed in darkness, and though the brute was heartless ..
.. Her father's hold on her was so strong,
That poor Megan soon withdrew the charges.
Within days they moved apartments, her shoes and garments deeply thrust ..
.. and packaged into cardboard boxes, along with dreams to keep in touch.
*****
- Flash Forward -
The clacking sound of a diesel engine increased to a roar ..
.. Tyres screeched on the floor, as the fire truck proceeded with force.
Lights flashed as it flied past, with it’s sirens blaring their sound ..
.. And in the odd rotating red hue, I noticed it lay there on the ground.
It was Sarah, the patch-work doll I was given with its faceless charm ..
.. The one Megan had sworn would keep me safe from harm.
I stared at the burnt building I once called home, and thought “Maybe she’s right…”
And maybe Megan’s gratitude is ultimately what saved me tonight…
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