The small city located 50 miles from Utah had awoken with a scenario that was far too different from its usual one. Bathed by gentle sunrays in the spring and summer, carpeted with yellowish and golden leaves in the fall or surrounded by deep white snow in the winter, Bontiful was always charming and cosy, and one of the most tranquil towns to live in. For decades, its inhabitants and occasional visitors could contemplate God's wonderful creations just by gazing up at the majestic mountains, placid lakes and exuberant forests, and would never get tired of so much beauty. A blessed place where anyone could feel closer to the Creator and give thanks for what they had or find hope and inspiration in difficult hours.
That very morning, however, people turned their eyes to the sky and lifted their prayers for help. A fire in the building of St. Patrick's Elementary School had called the local and national news full attention. At the time of the fire, most students, aged from six to eight years old, were at their break hour and even though the flames consumed an entire classroom in a matter of minutes, there was still time for them to escape without any injuries.
The little ones, however, were in their rooms and removing them from the building when the only corridor that gave full access to the main gate was blocked due to the fire was far more dramatic.
But tourists were not the only ones to visit Bontiful, especially on that very morning, for a God's angel had been sent to help avoid a great tragedy. When part of the ceiling of one of the classrooms collapsed, the lovely teacher, with Irish accent and captivating smile, had already managed to remove the students and school staff through an old door overlooking the garden she herself had insisted on opening as soon as she started working there. The garden itself used to be nothing more than a small piece of land right next to the kindergarten classroom. But being so eager to show the little ones all the beauty that Mother Nature could offer, "Miss Monica" was quick to go up to the school owner and present her idea to open the door that had been long forgotten in the corner of the classroom so that the children could learn how to grow flowers and vegetables in a funny and educative way. Despite Mr Parker's initial resistance, the door was fixed and open, and now it was used to save 32 lives.
Monica helped remove the children from three classrooms but when everybody thought all the students had been saved, the angel in human form noticed that two boys and a girl were still missing. Firefigthers had already been called and although they would take less than a few minutes to get there, the wait could be too long for the children. Monica returned to the building and put herself at risk to look for the five-year-olds from room 1, which was almost destroyed by the flames and filled with smoke. Sarah, James and Nicholas were so scared that they hid themselves under the teacher's room and when Monica found them, they were holding each other and coughing. One by one, the children were taken by the teacher and guided up to the door overlooking the garden.
But when Monica helped the last child get out of the building, an explosion was heard, followed by the collapsing of the other part of the ceiling. The beloved teacher was severely hurt and lost consciousness, and the paramedics took her to the nearest hospital in critical condition.
A few hours were enough for the news to be spread all over the city and now a crowd stood in front of Lakeview Hospital wanting to know more about the three little ones who had been saved and especially about the brave young teacher, who practically gave up on herself in order to rescue them. Mothers, fathers, co-workers and city locals started to form a vigil and gave thanks to God for the children's welfare at the same time they asked for His intervention to heal their saviour.
Comments of how fast and brave "Miss Monica" had been echoed outside and also through the hospital halls, and it was listening to them that another angel walked with hard steps along its corridors. The expression on his face was a worried, tense one and his green eyes scanned the area in search of someone who could clarify to him the terrible, nearly absurd news that he had just been told.
