Sam & Penny Short-Stories *English*

ORPHANS - Lost and Found

"Give me that! That's mine!" the girl yelled at her younger brother in the back seat of the car as they fought over a small toy dog

"It's not at all. I'm playing with it now!" the boy protested and pulled hard on the stuffed animal.

"Will you stop arguing?" the blonde woman in the driver's seat said angrily.

"When are we finally there?" the girl complained as she left the dog to her brother and, offended, rested her chin on the arm she had placed at the window.

"Soon. Get some sleep, then the time will go by faster. You should be..." Her voice was milder and she looked in the rearview mirror to watch her children, who both hung their heads tiredly, but just couldn't calm down.

"Mummy, be careful!" the girl cried out and the woman with the deep circles under her eyes jumped in shock as she realized what her daughter had long since seen.

She jerked the wheel to avoid the deer, far too hard to keep the car under control. The car went into a spin and no matter how hard she tried to get the car back under control, she couldn't get it under control. Just a moment later it slid into the ditch and rolled over countless times.

"Hands over your heads!" she shouted loudly, hoping that her children would follow her order while she did the same. The frightened screams of her children filled the interior of the car, while the dull thuds reached her ears as the car hit hard again. She had long since lost her bearings as to which way was up and down. The airbags throughout the car popped out, the straps digging deep into her skin as they fought against the centrifugal forces and tried to hold her.

It seemed like an eternity before the car finally came to a stop. She moaned in pain as everything around her stopped spinning. Something was blocking her vision in one eye. She reached there only to find it was blood. She called out to the children. She panicked when she didn't get an answer right away. She tried to unbuckle herself, but the clasp was stuck. She tried to move and groaned loudly when she realized her leg was also trapped under the dashboard. She couldn't find a spot on her body that didn't hurt.

"Mommy?" she heard her daughter's voice quietly behind her.

"Love? Are you okay? What's wrong with your brother?" she asked immediately, trying in vain to turn her head. The interior mirror was torn off and she no longer had any visibility to the rear.

"We're not hurt," she answered after what seemed like an eternity.

"Mommy, why is the car on fire?" she heard her son ask tiredly just a moment later, as if he had just woken up. She looked forward through the shattered windshield and spotted the firelight as well. She looked around in a panic and only then noticed that the car was on its side. On her, which took away any chance she had of opening the door herself.

"Okay, watch out. You have to get out of here now. Unbuckle your seatbelts and climb up the seats to the side window. Wind it down and climb out!"

"Why don't you help us?" the boy asked his mom and she could hear that he was about to cry.

"I'm trapped, sweetheart. I'll come as quickly as I can. Let your sister help you, okay?"

It took what seemed like an eternity of minutes as she tried to free herself somehow, but eventually the children managed to climb out of the car and down it. The engine compartment was now ablaze. She knew what was coming.

"Mommy, are you coming?" the girl asked her from outside in a loud voice.

"I can't, my love. Go to the sea. Always follow this road and stay away from people! Keep running until you get to your aunt!"