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The Lifesaver
Part One: My Childhood
Chapter One: My Mother

Have you ever felt a pain that you thought could kill you, but you weren't able to die? I doubt that you have. I know for a fact that I have felt that kind of pain before... I am feeling it now. At this very second as a retell you my story, the pain inside me is ripping my heart into pieces that I will never be able to reconstruct. It all started on a snowy night.

I was five. I was upstairs playing with my dolls, my father was away on business and my mother was downstairs preparing our supper. It was just the three of us a happy little family. My father rarely went away on business but this week was just one of those weeks. While playing with Tabitha, my favorite doll, I heard a cry. I quickly ran down stairs to see what had happened. I had figured that my mother was having another one of her routine cooking accidents. She and I were very klutzy and it was nearly impossible for us to accomplish an act without burning, tearing, or breaking something. As I ran through the dining room to get to the kitchen I saw it. A black cloud consuming the entire room. Then as quickly as it came it left. After the cloud departed I ran into the kitchen to find my mother only to meet her face down on the floor. "Mother wake up", I cried as I rolled her limp body over, but it was no use... she was dead. My face grew hot, I felt my eyes well up with warm tears. "Mom" I pleaded, "Please, don't leave me". I laid my head on her chest and began to sob. Then, I heard a noise like thunder. Scared, I assumed that it was the cloud coming back, for me. I ran upstairs and hid under my bed. I curled my body into a fetal position and cried until I fell asleep.
I awoke the next morning to find my stomach growling. Needless to say, I was very hungry. Mind you, my mother had died when she was making dinner so I hadn't eaten for the entire night. Not very healthy for a five year old's body. Silent as a mouse I scurried down the stairs and through the dining room to the kitchen. Someone had been there for my mother's body was gone. My heart beat loudly in my chest and my stomach joined it in a contradicting chorus. My mind was telling me to stay far away from the kitchen but, my body was telling me that it needed food. I listened to my body.
I was much too small at the time to reach any of the kitchen cabinets, so I had to make a makeshift ladder. I dragged a chair from the dining room to the kitchen and used it as a ladder to climb onto the counter tops. Once I was sure I was balanced, I threw open the cabinet doors to start my quest for a box of cereal.
"Well, hello there." I heard someone say. The voice startled me so much that I jumped and nearly lost my balance. "Don't hurt yourself", the mysterious boy continued as he lifted me off the counters. I stared at him, taking in his appearance. He looked like he might have been twenty years old. He had scruffy hair that was so black, it made his brown eyes look yellow. I must've looked like a rat to him, covered in dust bunnies from the space underneath my bed. "You look just like your mother" the strange man whispered shaking his head in pity, "Well, come along then, let's go.
"Go where?" I asked, "And who are you?"
The man chuckled. "My name is Phoenix, your name is Michelle and you were hiding from me and the boys because of that cloud, right?"
My eyes widened. "You saw it too?" I questioned in disbelief.
"Kid, I've seen that cloud too many times." Phoenix answered.