1 Second Chance

A child quivered in her sleep.

Droplets of sweat gathered on her pale complexion. She groaned in her sleep. Cries often escaped from her lips as she grabbed tightly on to sheets.

"N-No, n-no," she begged, "please, get me out of there."

Her mumblings continued until a loud scream escaped from her lips. It got her to immediately get up and sit up on the bed. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, showing no signs of slowing down. Her blurry vision made it difficult for her to make out her surroundings.

That's when the door opened, and a woman stepped in the room.

Seeing her child trembling and hyperventilating on the bed got her to be worried as she rushed towards her. Sitting down on the bed, she wrapped her hands around her child, pulling her into a hug.

Patting her hand on the child's back, she asked, "What's wrong, my baby?"

Evelyn was in a daze as the warmth enveloped her. It had been long since she experienced such a gentle touch and comforting voice. This made her greedy, and she held on to the source of warmth tightly, afraid it would go way.

"Fire, there is fire. Help. It's scary," Evelyn mumbled incoherent words while breaking out into sobs. Desperation laced her voice.

Seeing her child act in this manner made Amelia's heart clench painfully. It seemed that her child had been scared badly.

"Everything is fine, my baby. You had a nightmare. See, mom is here. Mom won't let fire touch you. I will protect my baby forever. That's why, don't be scared. What's there to fear when mom is there?"

That soft voice reached into Evelyn's ears, and she registered the content before slowly processing them.

Mom?

Her mom?

Was this a joke?

Evelyn pulled away from the hug. All that crying made her cheeks and tip of the nose red. Tears soaked her cheeks as they dripped down.

"M-Mom?" she slowly stuttered out.

Evelyn was in a state of disbelief.

What was this?

Was this a dream?

The petite woman in front of her had become a blur in Evelyn's memories. But now, she could clearly make out her gentle features under the dim lighting, staring at her with so much love and concern.

"Hmm, baby?"

Evelyn didn't care if this was a dream. She missed her mom a lot. She wanted to see the woman once again badly and pour out her heart about how hard it was.

She wished for the woman to shower her in love and protect her. She didn't want to go back to facing reality. It was scary.

Evelyn leaped to hug her mom and cried, hoping her mom would be able to understand her pain.

°°°

Evelyn laid on the bed with a cooling patch on her forehead. That overload of emotion was too hard on her five year old body, and this resulted in her catching a fever.

Yes, five years old.

She raised her hand to stare at it, and it was tiny. It looked soft and chubby without any signs of blemishes or scars. It was foreign in her eyes.

As inexplicable as it sounded, Evelyn had gone back to her five year old self.

Even now, she couldn't wrap her head around it.

The last memory she had as a fourteen year old was of her being locked in the attic. A fire surrounded her, and she could still remember the burning sensation that ignited the terror in heart. She screamed, but her voice of helplessness mixed with desperation didn't reach anyone.

And then, she continued to suffer in that suffocating flame until her consciousness faded away.

For a long period of time, she was in the darkness. At that time, a plot appeared in her mind and stayed there. It was as though it belonged to tragedy romance novel. And right now, she organized all those thoughts.

Most of the content was blurry to her due to age restriction. She didn't know how she figured that out. It was just a feeling.

The plotline revolved around a woman named Amelia. Her life started out happy before it got miserable. Then came her encounter with the man named Daniel Wright. After indescribable encounters between them, they got married under conditions.

Then, countless dramatic scenes happened between them. Most of it was a blur in Evelyn's mind. It was frustrating, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pierce through the barrier in her mind, blocking off that part.

Nonetheless, things between them had gone too far, and Amelia found herself unable to stay in the marriage. That's why, after signing the divorce papers, she ran away.

After that, she learned that she was pregnant with a child. Amelia decided to give birth to the child, and once the baby was born, Amelia was instantly in love, naming the child as Evelyn.

Although the days didn't go by smoothly, at the end of the day, Amelia was rejuvenated by the smile on her precious baby's face. It meant the world to her.

However, the situation slowly started to get better for her, and she landed herself a job in a reputable advertising firm. She got decently paid as well, enough to give her child a comfortable life.

But who would have thought this happiness would be short-lasting?

An accident took Amelia's life.

At the same time, Daniel was searching for his runaway wife only to soon get the news on how she had met with death. What drove him off the edge was that he had a daughter with his wife. However, he got the news that his daughter died on the same day as his wife.

It was because of the apartment building where Evelyn had been in being engulfed in flames.

This made him head into depression and seek comfort in alcohol. But what got him back on is feet when he got information this wasn't an accident. It was well-planned murder.

Following that, the revenge portion of the plotline started.

And due to age restriction, Evelyn had no clue of what went down in that part.

The story ended with the man shooting his own head in front of Amelia's cemetery.

The content easily brought one's eyes to tears.

The missed out part was that Evelyn didn't die. That day, Evelyn troubled her nanny greatly, and the middle-aged woman brought her out to the park, thinking Evelyn would calm down. However, because Evelyn wanted ice-cream, her nanny went over to the stall to buy some.

The day wasn't that clear in her mind due to the time passed, but somehow she ended up getting separated from her nanny. Then, after a series of situations, she was brought over to an orphanage and stayed there until her death.

Evelyn was unsure of whether or not to trust the content that suddenly appeared in her mind. It could be something she built up out of delusions. But her instincts had her trust it.