Queen Of The Ghetto Nights

Thick smoke wafted through the air, thereby choking little Judith from her unconscious state. She woke up with a start and clutched her teddy bear tightly and hugged her knees as her eyes watered.

"Help! Is someone out there? Help!" She yelled as she brushed away a wisp of hair angrily from her forehead.

Why was there a fire in the orphanage?

She kept on yelling at the top of her voice as the fire edged nearer to her bed, eating every single thing in sight feeding its energy.

Judith couldn't believe this was the way she was going to end, series of flashbacks of her painful experiences over the years cane down in torrents as tears welled up in her eyes.

After almost being raped by her mother's numerous boyfriends, then being dumped by her very own mother, changing various orphanages like she was changing diapers and now she was going to die after finding the perfect home!

Dizziness downed on her, causing her vision to be hazy, last thing she remembered was the flames licking greedily to her bed and she throwing the bear down to the floor as she collapsed on the bed in sweats as everywhere was oven fresh temperature.

*****

Everyone was loaded into different buses and led out of danger, except from a group of kids, who huddled close to a tree- the promise tree.

Diego stood at a distance, his face clouded and distorted as he wondered where Judith was. Hope she wasn't caught in the mess he had created? As his thoughts wandered wild, he totally ignored the other kids who were weeping. Life hasn't been totally fair to him either, he was denounced by his own family and was sent down here. He wondered why greatly which often threw him in a fit of depression. His family was the richest in the whole of NYC, everyone knew that the name 'ALASDAIR' wasn't one to be trifled with. But they went against all their written principles and denounced him girl no particular reason.

But what surprised him was the occasional visits from his mother who kept one promising to bring him back once everything was settled in the family. It got to a point he turned her down and ignored her any time she came until she stopped altogether.

At the side of an already loaded bus, the usual bully surveyed the area and wondered where his little punching bag was. Realization hit him hard and in the smoke, he ran towards the burning orphanage.

The roofs came down angrily as the flames got brighter and hotter.

He took of his jacket and soaked it into a cold bucket of water and pulled it out using it to cover his head as he maneuvered his way to Judith's room.

The fire was wilder at this wing of the orphanage yet he didn't give up his chances on saving her.

In a great fury, he kicked down the door to her room and after several seconds of squinting his eyes, he was able to make out her tiny form huddled at the head of the bed, the flames licking harshly at the blanket around her.

Without thinking twice, he leapt towards her bed and holding the wet jacket, dipped his porcelain white skinned arm into the fire.

He hissed inwardly at the sharp pain and managed to pull her out.

Wrapping the wet jacket around her, he carried her in a bridal style just like in the movies.

The fire came angrily at him but he managed to keep her off danger.

The distant sounds of siren was heard as he headed towards the bottom of the stairs. He nuzzled her cheek with his and fell down on his knees as a bout of dizziness came over him.

He fought and struggled to keep his eyes opened and stood up with great difficulty as his legs wobbled beneath him.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he saw the door not far of from them.

Adrenaline pumped through him and he made a mad dash out of the door and right behind him the door came down with fire and wild sparks almost immediately.

Sophia, one of the numerous care takers saw him from a distance and gave a gasp as she ran towards them.

Silently, he smiled up to heavens and handed over an unconscious Judith into her arms.

"You'll need medication, come here let me take you to the matrons" She reached out to hold him but he pulled back sharply and shook his head

"No...to the ambulance and make sure she's alright. And also ...please don't tell anyone I was the one who saved her."

He staggered towards the ambulance but fell with a grunt to the rough ground in a dead faint.

The medical team rushed up to him and placed him on a stretcher as if expecting him.

Sophia looked down at the unconscious figure in her arms and knew better than to tell Diego about it and silently went to one of the buses and placed her in it, wishing her the best of luck in whatever she becomes in the future

*****

Soon enough, only the burnt down fragments of the orphanage stood tall in the midst of the broken glasses and ashes.

The wind blew harshly around the only surviving thing in the area, the promise tree which held alot of past memories a d future ones