Of course!

 

 

 

 

 

Every time I shut my eyes close, I see Blake screaming with excruciating pain and lying almost lifelessly on grey tiles covered with blood. Some of which, was my own too. My younger sister Chloe who sat next to Blake's body was yelling at the top of her voice, 

 

"Penny! Do something!" 

"Penny?"

"PENNY?" 

I opened my eyes to face Mr Elliot, accompanied by his daughter Hailey. 

"Hello, Elliot"

"I have a session right now for 10th grade students, you probably know about it...it's about this---"

"yes, I know" 

"So, there's this problem. They won't let my six-year-old Hailey enter...and since I don't know any other teacher here...would you mind looking after her if I left her with you? for about 30 mins? until I'm done with the session?"

"Oh yes, sure...I'll gladly do it" 

"Thanks a lot! You just prevented a disaster" he winked. 

"No problem" I smiled for the first time in the day, and probably for the only time too...

Just then ,sudden realization hit me. I was standing next to Elliot! THE Elliot, whom I held in such high regard! 

"Hey, umm Elliot? "

"yes?"

"You really are doing a commendable job. Educating kids about the Licon Fuel tragedy is a must now. Really appreciate your work. Genuinely, thank you."

Elliot gave me a half smile, half nod and left for the meeting hall of the school which was now filled with students waiting for him. 

I stood with the other teachers outside the hall. I thought I could peacefully grieve in fresh air. I was totally wrong though. Should've known my colleagues better. They would just not let me have my share of 'alone time'. Even the six year old Hailey looked more mature. After about a minute all the teachers went to the canteen declaring that they needed a quiet place to grieve. (For just grieving? Sure, I believe it) 

 

Me and Hailey stayed back. 

"Hi" she said. 

"Hello" 

"Are you aware of what my dad is telling those kids inside?" 

Well, "aware" would be an understatement given that I had seen the whole incident and not just heard or read about it. 

Blake! Blake! Blake get up! You can't leave us so soon! get up! I was making hopeless attempts of bringing him to life. Chloe was crying beside me and with every shedding tear of hers, I felt weaker. 

 

I looked around the place to find out that I was the only one least injured and one of the very few alive. There wasn't enough space left to walk, the floor was all covered with bodies. Not humans, bodies. 

 

Just then, I heard the honking of a vehicle which supposedly was from the fire extinguisher company. A ray of hope made its little home in my heart and the next moment, Chloe threw herself on the floor with a loud thud. Fate had something different in store for me...

 

I was the only kid in the whole factory. Or, the only (alive) human in the whole factory which was now burning into ashes. Serves it right. It was an illegal one anyway. Environmentalists had protested but all their cries were suppressed. 

 

I felt dizzy and horror engulfed me as I saw the fire come closer to me. I passed out on the spot just before I heard the "Licon Fuel Limited Factory" board fall. 

 

"Umm, Mrs Penny? you okay?" 

"Oh, Hailey...yeah...I'm fine. Sorry I got carried away with some...thoughts" 

"Oh okay, no problem"

"Do you know anything about the Licon Fuel Tragedy?"

Hailey's next few words never really left my mind. 

"Tragedy? What tragedy? Mrs Penny, you shall really stop believing in those fake conspiracy theories. There was no Licon "tragedy". Sure, one or two people did lose their lives but the people of the Licon company took care of the rest. It was just a small accidental fire." 

 

"Says who?" 

 

"My dad"

 

Mr Elliot. My jaw was about to drop on the floor. 

 

After some pathetic, helpless, long moments, Mr Elliot finally came out of the meeting hall and I heard loud clapping from inside the hall. I decided to start firing my questions, more like accusations. 

 

What if he had just provided the wrong information to over a million students in the past hour?

 

"Hey, penny...thanks again for your help! Here---keep my card, if you ever need anything---"

 

I didn't hear the rest. My eyes just zeroed in on the card. I didn't need to burden him with questions. The name of his company said everything loud and clear.

'Elliot Hanson from Licon Fuel Limited'

 

Of course!