Maya's Miracle

1

Writers POV:
It was dark and cold as always, only the tiniest beams of light shone through the cracks of the closet door which Flora now often called her home. Although she was only 13, Flora had endured more than most of us ever will. On her 11th birthday, Floras parents were murdered right before her eyes and she was left behind, in her home which was lit up in flames. She hardly remembers what happened after that, except for the face and the voice of one particular firefighter.
Flora screamed and screamed until she couldn't anymore but nothing had changed, she was still being engulfed by the fire and could feel her skin burning more and more as every second went by. Then she saw her. Running through the fire a woman, who up close was very pretty, reached out for her hand. Flora was petrified, she didn't know what to do but the woman bent down and lifted up her chin and said, " You're going to be okay, I promise.".
She sounded so sure and those small words of encouragement let Flora know she needed to take her hand. So she did, and the woman slowly but surely led her out of the fire. As soon as she reached the outside Flora collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and was almost immediately surrounded by doctors, paramedics, firefighters who were dragging her in every direction possible. It was all becoming too much and she could feel the panic in her rising, she still had hold of this woman's hand and felt a strange comfort with her so she squeezed it hoping it would give her some support. And that it did, the woman immediately took charge of the situation realising how Flora must be feeling and made everyone step away, she gently placed an oxygen mask over Flora for extra support and once it was quiet began to introduce herself.
"Hi, my names Maya. I'm Captain of the fire station. I'm so so sorry about what's happened just know there are lots of people here who now care about you, me included."
Flora didn't quite know why this Maya was being so nice to her, but she rather liked it. Unsure of what to say though, she just nodded her head in response, and Maya smiled back.
Just as she opened her mouth to speak a woman came over and started talking, "Hello I'm Anne Carlson and I work with social care, now unfortunately because of the death of your parents you are now classified as an orphan, so will need to be re-homed as soon as you're well enough. There are currently no foster placements so you will be in the local girls home until one becomes available."
Flora was trying to comprehend what was just said when a phone started to buzz.
" I apologise but I have a call, I'll be back soon." Anne said, and she just marched away.
Maya looked at Flora with a sadness in her eyes but she couldn't seem to find the words to say, instead she changed the subject and began to clean and bandage Floras burns.
The silence must've gone on for about 5 minutes until Flora spoke up for the first time "I'm so scared, that woman she seemed so careless, I just watched both my parents die and I'm just going to get thrown away now like a piece of dirt."
Maya stood speechless, she couldn't believe the young girl was feeling all this and was appalled at the way she was treated but this was new to her, she'd never experienced a case like this. So she just began to speak from the heart. "Flora, I can't tell you how much my heart aches for you, and I'm sorry you weren't spoke to in the right way especially after what you've just been through. I can't tell you it will be easy but you are not dirt and you never ever should let anybody treat you like that. Anne's coming back now but just know that everything will be okay, I promise."
Anne made her way back over to the two of them, the cold and rather nasty look still on her face and she started talking again, "Well you look much better now so we should probably be off, I'll drop you at the girls home or orphanage whichever you prefer to call it, and then call to check on you in a few days. Let's get going now."  She finished, gesturing for Flora to make her way into her car.
Flora had no words, she got up to leave and felt a hand on her arm. She turned and Maya said to her, "The fire station, you know where I am."
And that was the last she remembers of that day. It's almost 2 years on and the feeling of Maya's hand on her arm is the last form of comfort she ever had.
She was placed into the girls home, and never heard from Anne again. She quickly learnt that the girls were just used for money, and she was going to be treated like a piece of dirt. They were fed twice a week and given a list of daily chores, they had 2 beds to share between the 7 of them and one pair of clothes. Flora was the oldest and quickly took on the motherly role, she did everyone else's jobs and tried to play games with the little ones to help them feel better, even if she felt torn inside. It was horrible, every time a foster placement came around she was unwanted. She wasn't young and she wasn't pretty, she was dirty and broken. The owner would often find out that Flora had been helping the others and have her 'men' take Flora and teach her a lesson, lessons she never wanted to learn. After those lessons came a punishment, Flora was locked in the closet for a whole day. However, she rather enjoyed it, it was lucky she ended up in there so often. Eventually the only place she could sleep was the closet, it brought her some comfort but she had no idea why. She was starting to get used to life, and a small part of her began to accept that this was who she was now. That was until one night, when a nightmare was worse than ever before. Flora relived the whole experience, she felt every burn and every tear and saw every moment before her eyes. When she woke up she felt something spark inside of her, Maya (who she has almost forgotten) began to flood her mind. She wasn't going to survive in here much longer so she finally knew what she needed to do.
Make her way to the fire station.