THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT
"I can't believe my babies are going off to college!" Kirsten said teary eyed. Seth rolled his eyes yet again as he, Ryan and the rest of the Cohens stood on the driveway about to take off to go to college. "I am so proud of you both." Sandy said.
"Yes dad we know. You've said that before." Seth said.
"And I'll say it again." Sandy said.
"Oh!" Kirsten said pulling them into a tight hug yet again. Ryan hugged her back tightly but Seth stood motionless simply sighing.
Georgia laughed. "C'mon mum." She said pulled Kirsten back. "You've still got me for another three years."
"Oh no. I am never letting you go." She said wrapping her arms tightly around Georgia from behind who was laughing.
"We better go if we wanna get there in time for orientation." Ryan said checking his watch.
"No, no, no! I won't let you leave!" Kirsten said going in for another hug. Seth put his arms out and stopped her. "Mum we'll be back to visit in a few weeks."
"Have you got enough boxers?" She asked.
"Mum…" Seth whined.
"Money?" Kirsten asked.
"Yes." Ryan said.
"Condoms?"
"Mum!" Seth yelled and Ryan blushed while Georgia giggled to herself. Georgia started to make faces at Seth and Ryan. "Ha ha!" She mouthed.
"Shut up." Ryan said.
"I didn't say anything!" Georgia said spitefully grinning.
"I didn't say anything." Ryan said in a mocking high voice.
"Stop that!" Georgia whined.
"Meee meee" Ryan mocked her.
"Ryan shut up!"
"E ee ee e!" Ryan said again.
"Dad! Make him stop!"
"Ryan, stop teasing your baby sister." Sandy said warningly.
"Ok, let's fly." Seth said walking to the car. Georgia ran up to Seth and gave him a hug before he could climb in. Seth stood for a moment surprised then smiled and wrapped his arms around her. Her messed up her hair. "Later GG." Sandy and Kirsten then moved over to Seth for goodbye hugs.
Georgia jumped in front of Ryan. They did a very cute secret handshake thing then embraced in a hug. " 'll miss you GG."
"You too Ry'."
"Mwa." Kirsten placed a kiss on Ryan's cheek.
When they finally drove off Kirsten took a deep breathe as tears fell from her eyes. Sandy put his arm around her and kissed her temple. "They'll be fine." He said.
"I know." Kirsten said softly. She then laughed. "Look at Georgia." She said who was running beside the car down the road.
"I'm gonna get the necklace." Sandy said. "Before she gets back."
As Georgia walked back in the house Sandy whisked into the living area grinning slightly and hiding his hands behind his back. "You're looking very mischievous." Georgia said. "What are you hiding?"
"Nothing." Sandy said innocently.
"Yes you are; behind your back." She said moving towards him. "What is it?"
Sandy turned keeping her from getting behind him. "Show me!" Georgia laughed as she ran around him. She managed to grab a box, a jewellery box, from his hands. "What's this?" She asked.
"Open it." Sandy said.
Georgia did. Inside was a lovely silver heart necklace on a delicate chain. It had hope engraved on it. Georgia took it out and gasped. "Dad I love it! It's so beautiful. Thank you!" She hugged him. "What's this for?"
Sandy shrugged. "No reason."
Kirsten came out the kitchen speaking frantically. "Now the boys are gone I have so much more free time. I have to find something to do to keep me busy. I'll learn to cook."
"What? No, no, no! Honey, no!" Sandy said with fearful eyes.
"Yes. I'll learn to cook. And I'll go to tap dancing classes. I've always wanted to tap dance."
"Since when?" Georgia smirked.
"Always but I've never had the time to and now I do so I can. And I can go to the gym."
"When have you ever gone to the gym?" Sandy asked.
"Never. My point exactly. I better go book those tap dancing classes."
"Honey honey." Sandy said grabbing onto her arm before she went to get the phone. "If you want to do something useful you should go food shopping. We have no food in this pad."
"Dad pad? No, don't say pad."
"I tell you what, lets all go together. I've got nothing to do and it'll take our mind off the boys." Sandy said.
At Publix…
Georgia stood at the back of the store undecided. "Apple-y Ever After? Cookie Dough? Cherry Garcia? Fossil Fuel? Triple Caramel Chunk! "Ugh! Why are there so many choices?" Georgia groaned. She stepped back two paces leaning back to see Kirsten. "Mum! Can't I have?-"
"One…" Kirsten cut her off, not even turning to look at her, keeping her eyes wandering over the crisps in front of her.
She sighed and stepped back. "Russum fussum russum…" She mumbled.
Georgia sighed and looked up into the curved mirror in the ceiling of the supermarket. In it she could see down the isles to the front of the store. She looked carefully and saw a suspicious looking man rummaging through a backpack. He brought out a black box. He held it in his hand and was throwing it down on the ground when Georgia realised it was a bomb in his hand. "Oh sh-"
BOOM! In a huge blast shelves toppled over and items fell off and flew through threw the air. People were screaming but everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. With the force of the explosion, Georgia was thrown back to the end of the store. She groaned in pain her back slammed into the glass fridge doors. She slid down to the ground, wincing in pain. She looked down at her hands. She was sitting in broken glass and her hands and arms were all cut up. She looked up around her and ignored the pain.
Before her was a fire at the front of the store. She heard a girl, among others, screaming. She stood up, occasionally flinching. She started to walk down to the front of the store. Georgia was shocked when a girl, around 7, came running up to her in flames. Georgia immediately acted; ripping up a tablecloth packet and she threw it over the girl and patted her down. The girl fell to the floor. But by the time Georgia stopped the fire it was too late. The girl was dead. Georgia felt like crying. She had heard horrible tales about a little girl running down the street on fire after an atomic bomb. Never did she think she would be faced with a situation quite like this.
Georgia stood up and started walking back to the end of the store on a search to find her parents. "Mum…Dad…" She called out repeatedly. Crunching of broken glass, boxes and food squished beneath her feet. "Mum!" She yelled. As she got closer to the end where she was and she swore she heard a moan. She quickened her pace. "Mum! Mum where are you?" She looked down the isles the last three on her right hand side had toppled over. She nearly screamed when under the shelve, the second isle from the end, she saw her mum. Kirsten had been caught under the shelve from her lower back down. She was lying on her stomach grimacing in pain, her petite frame unable to cope with the weight of the elephantine shelve.
"Oh my god, mum!" Georgia said as she crouched by her. "It's ok. I'm gonna get you out." Georgia tried to lift it off her but it was too heavy. "Someone! Someone help me, please!" She cried. She ran round to the other side of the isle. She thought it might be easier for her to lift it if there were fewer items on it. She reached over to pull them off but a throbbing pain started in her side. "Ahh!" She screamed pulling back. She looked down at her side and saw a small dagger of glass in her side. "Eeschk!" She said surprised. She pulled it out. "Ow ow ow!" She moaned.
She ignored how she felt when a young black guy, who worked in the supermarket, came up to her. "You need help?"
"Oh yes please! You've got to help me lift this up; my mum's stuck!"
"Ok." He went round to the centre of the shelves. "1,2,3!" He said and he and Georgia managed to lift it up. "Pull her out. I got it." He said. Georgia slowly let go then quickly dove down on the ground pulling her mum clearly out of the way of the shelves. The shelves fell out the guys arms and slammed onto the floor.
He started to cough. "You ok?" She asked as she turned Kirsten over. "I'm asthmatic." He said. The supermarket was starting to get really smoky.
Georgia bent down in front of Kirsten. She wiped the loose strands of hair off her burning and sweaty forward. "Mum, are you ok?"
"I can't feel my legs." Kirsten said through laboured breaths.
Georgia looked at the guy's nametag. "Shaun, help me carry her outside." He hooked his arms under hers and Georgia took her legs. "Over here." He said. "The fire escape."
They carried her outside and laid her down outside up against a wall opposite the burning building. "Sandy?" Kirsten asked weakly. "Where is he?"
"I'm just going to find him. You're going to be ok mum. An ambulance will be here soon. Just don't go to sleep ok? Promise me you won't."
"I won't." Kirsten said in a weak pant.
"C'mon." Georgia said to Shaun.
"Are you crazy? Girl I aint going back in there! I'll get smoked!"
"You need to help me find my dad!" She screamed at him as he walked off.
"You wanna go back in there and become a black girl then go ahead. Whereas, I don't wanna die."
Georgia grunted then ran back in. She started to limp on the side she had been stabbed; above her left hip. As she jogged back in she covered the wound with her hand and looked at it. She was bleeding quite badly but she didn't care. All that mattered was getting her dad out. "Dad!" She screamed over and over as she paced through the foggy supermarket. "Dad…!" She said strained and coughing at the end.
She looked down a corridor and saw him lying on the floor unconscious. She skidded down beside him. She grabbed him by his shirt and started shaking him. "Dad, wake up! You gotta wake up dad! Come on!" Sandy had no response though. Georgia noticed he had a nasty gash on the side of his head.
Realising Sandy was not going to come to Georgia got up and started to drag him across the fire escape by the shoulders. Her lungs were becoming weaker from all the smoke and her leg was getting limper as she lost more blood. Half way there she had to stop and she fell down to the ground. She tried waking up her dad again. "Dad, please!" She screamed, tears forming. "Please! You've got to wake up!" However there was still no response. She checked his pulse and it was very weak. Barely there. "Shit!" Georgia looked out her side and saw a crate trolley. She wiped her eyes and grabbed it and carefully put her dad on it. She moved as fast as she could to get to the way out.
She heard childish screams as she got to the exit. "Help! Help us!" She heard from a little girl but she couldn't see her. Georgia saw Sandy as her priority. "I'll come back for you!" She yelled out. Then without a moment to lose she limped out the building pushing her dad. The paramedics had arrived and came and took Sandy off her. Kirsten was being lifted into an ambulance and she called out for Sandy when she saw him, panic in her voice. One of the paramedics took Georgia by the arm and started to take her over to the ambulance.
"No. I have to go back. There are little kids in there." She pulled away.
The paramedic tried to warn Georgia; telling her to wait until the fire engines got here but she ran back inside.
When she limped back in she could barely see from all the smoke. The fire was spreading quickly. "Where are you?" She yelled coughing. She followed the sounds of children's screams. As she meandered through the isles she stumbled back and forth into them; her side getting drained further by every step. She found the crèche. There were 5 little kids; two about 3 the other 3 between 4 and 5, and a baby, just about one year old. There was a plank holding the door shut. Georgia shoved it off and opened the door and the kids all clambered out. She took the baby girl out of a three year old girl's arms.
"Come on run!" She said. "Run!"
Ahead of Georgia, the 5 year olds screamed as they got to the exit. Something had caught fire and the wall caved in blocking their way out. "Damn!" She said. Some of the kids started to cry. Georgia looked around her. She saw an open window on the side wall and a ladder close-by. "Down there" she said. The baby started to cry loudly in Georgia's ear which kept her aware. A three year old boy started to have a coughing fit so Georgia took him by the hand and dragged him with her.
She put the ladder up against the wall. Luckily it was long enough to go up to the window. "Ok climb up." She said. "I'll hold it. You'll be fine. Just make sure the firemen can see you when you get to the window." So one by one the children and toddlers climbed up and one by one, when they reached the top, a fireman took hold of them and they went down a ladder on the other side.
Georgia started to climb up. She struggled. Her blood loss was getting severe. She got to the top and could barely see the man in front of her. She held out the baby in her arms. Once she felt him take hold of her, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell off the ladder. Everything went black.
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Straight in there with a new story, huh!
Please r&r! you guys were great last time! Keep it up please.
xoxo