wouldn't you like to know

- 2 -

It was a normal day for 10 year old Jack Kelly on the 22nd of August. He woke up to Cosmo yelling at everybody to wake up, he got ready for the day, and he bought his forty newspapers to sell.

All was well that day. Especially now that he was going to get a great headline the next morning. There was a trolley fire going on and Jack was watching it all go down. He grinned as the sound of fire cracking under all the yelling and chaos deafened him. He was blinded by the bright flames that lit up the entire block.

"this gon' get me 3 whole meals." He spoke to himself as he tried to widen his eyes. "maybe 4 if I can see."

Suddenly, a girl who was only a little bit younger than him shot right past him and towards the fire.

"hey, hey!" Jack called and ran after her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her by the waist and picked her up, causing her to scream.

"let me go!" The girl yelled, kicking her feet. Panicked, Jack put her down, in which she started to run straight towards the burning trolley again. Before she could get any further than two steps, Jack grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"what do ya think yer doin', runnin' towards a fire like that?!" He asked. With a closer look at her, he could see that she had innocent brown eyes and long, dark, curly brown hair. She had dark coloured skin with a few freckles covering her nose and cheeks. She had to be about 5 or 6 years old.

"my parents are in that trolley!" She cried.

Jack's eyes softened as he regretted how he had felt about the fire a few moments ago. He didn't know how to tell her; fire was eating up the entire trolley by now and there were still no bodies taken out. He knew that no one could survive it.

His attention was then brought to the little girl in front of him, who was staring at the fire.

Out of his pocket, he pulled out a wooden stick with a small, round wooden cup attached to the tip. Connected to the bottom of the cup was a string with a ball at the end.

"what's that?" The little girl asked.

"I dunno what it's called," Jack chuckled. "but ya gotta try an' get the ball to go in the cup, but ya can't use yer hands. Try it." He explained and handed the toy to her. She tried to get the ball into the cup, but failed. She laughed quietly and tried again.

Jack watched her play with the toy, her smile growing each time she tries to get the ball into the cup. Just as he intended, she became distracted from the fire going on. After a bunch of tries, the brunette finally got the ball in the cup. She smiled in victory and showed Jack.

"good job, kid." Jack smiled and ruffled her hair. Suddenly, a police officer walked up to the two kids and kneeled down in front of the girl. She grabbed ahold of Jack's hand to which he pulled her closer to him.

"are you Antoine and Letitia Dubois's daughter?" He wondered, in which she nodded in response. The police officer sighed and took off his hat. "I don't know how else to tell you this girl, but your parents didn't survive the fire"

Jack turned his attention to the little girl, who had tears forming in her eyes. "it's alright, kid." He whispered to her, squeezing her hand.

"now, I believe you have an uncle?" The officer asked and the little girl squeezed Jack's hand in panic.

Jack glanced at her to see that her eyes went wider and she took two steps back. Maybe she didn't want to be with her uncle. He had to think of something fast.