As I walk through the destroyed town I step over pieces of glass. I'm after a little girl that was in between a rock and lumber.
"Here sweetheart take my hand" I say reaching for her. She grabs my hand and I only suspect her to be about 6 years old. "You alright hon? Does anything hurt?"
"No, just a little scratched" She replies. She was a tough one.
"Do you know your mommy and daddy's names?" I ask as I carry her towards the tent we had set up.
"Um my daddy isn't here he's in heaven, but my mommy's name is jen" she explains.
I almost cried but nodded as I walked towards the tent. "What's your name sweetie?" I ask. "Emily" she replies.
I step into the tent and look around.
"Do we have a middle aged woman named Jen in here?" I ask. "Nope"
I take her to the food stand we had for everyone and gave her something to eat. I sat her in the passenger seat of Tyler's truck.
"Tyler! Is there a blanket somewhere for her? She's freezing" I ask. "I don't think we have blankets but I can keep her warm until we find one"
Tyler took his coat off and wrapped it around the little girl plus his arms. "Have we found her parents?" He asks.
"No, I'm looking for her mom, Jen" I reply.
"Alright sweetheart, you wanna see what I got for you?" Tyler asks. The girl nods. Tyler pulls a teddy bear from his glovebox and hands it to her. "Thank you Mr Tyler!" She says excitedly.
"Take good care of him" Tyler adds. I smile and hand Tyler the box of food for her and continue my search for Jen.
"Jen!" I shout.
A middle aged woman was walking in the distance far away. "That's me! Do you have my baby?" She cries out desperately. "I do! She's over in the truck!" I shout as I get closer.
"Are you hurt? Do you need anything?" I ask. "No I'm fine, I just need to see Emily" She pleads. I help her across the broken glass and debris scattered everywhere and we walk to Tyler's truck.
When we get there Tyler is still holding her in his jacket and she was shoving her face with the m&ms Tyler gave her. "Hi mommy!" She exclaims.
I giggle and so does Tyler. "She's warm, fed, and plus one stuffed animal" Tyler says. Jen chuckles and picks her up. "Let me grab you some food" I say. After grabbing a box off our table I lead the pair towards the tent and wave goodbye.
I hop back in Tyler's truck and take a breath. "Your good with kids" He mentions. I shrug. "So are you" I add.
"Wish we could help more" I mention.
"We've done all we can do, it sucks but we at least got everyone fed" He adds. After arriving back at the motel I say goodbye to everyone and unlock my room.
I walk in and can't stop thinking about that little girl, she reminded me of myself. I get a text and I check my phone.
Tyler, 9:30 pm.
Hey, we got some pizza delivered, feel free to come to my room and grab a slice.
Hailey Rivera, 9:31 pm.
Thank you, I'll grab a slice.
I put my jacket back on and grab my wallet and phone and walk towards Tyler's room. "Oh hey! Cmon in!" Boone exclaims.
"I didn't know it was a pizza party" I joke. Tyler grabs a plate and hands it to me. "Come sit, eat as much as you want we ordered one to many" He says patting the bed next to him.
"On your bed?" I ask as I sit down. "Yeah, house keeping will take care of it" He adds, I laugh. I pull a 10 dollar bill from my wallet and hand it to Tyler. "What for?" He asks.
