Ring of Fire

The chief pointed at Shannon and the Sheriff made eye contact with her. He purposefully strode up to her and the man who was now holding her close. "I'll take it from here Fred. The man who had been holding her was their next-door neighbor, Mr. Bickham. He slowly let go of her and turned away with tears filling his eyes. Shannon was left standing alone in the side yard of her house staring at the blaze as if in a trance.

"Shannon, what happened here?" the fire chief asked her, not quite believing himself that their house had exploded. Shannon could only manage to shake her head. Tears slowly began to roll down her bright pink cheeks. The sheriff got down on one knee and took her hands in his. "I'll find someone to help, it'll be okay," he said unconvincingly. A woman forced her way through the crowd and said boldly, "I'll see to her." Shannon didn't even bother looking up to see who her champion was. Nothing mattered anymore; she felt completely alone.

*******

Myrtle Green helped Shannon to her car and buckled her into the front passenger seat. She knew not to ask Shannon any questions; there would be plenty of time for that later. They quickly arrived back at her house having not said a word. Myrtle got out of the car and then went around to Shannon's side and unbuckled her from the seat like a small child. She held out her hand for Shannon and helped her out of the car. Shannon stared ahead blankly and allowed herself to be led through the now familiar gate and walkway up to the house. The smell of cookies and chocolate still hung in the air when they opened the front door. Tears started rolling down Shannon's face again when she realized it had only been a little while since she had left a happy little party in this house with her mother. She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to her dad before she had left the house that evening. Now her parents were gone and they weren't going to come back. Ever.