Avatar: The New World

Chapter 4: Lucky Lula

Lula

Lula sat patiently back stage, watching the swarm of reporters milling around and buzzing with stories.

"The fire has been raging all night, so far spreading two blocks and forcing half the city to evacuate!"

"Fire fighters are still struggling to put out the blaze and we've been receiving reports that due to high winds it's still spreading."

"Forty people have died since the terrorist Rorrick Lahaye set the city on fire and hundreds more are still missing or trapped in their homes."

It was all so surreal. Capital City was Lula's home, it always had been, and now it was like a war zone. Fires everywhere, smoke filling her lungs. How many of her friends were still missing? How many of them could be burning now?

"Miss Lavender." She was raised from her revelry by a nervous voice. A skinny young man with a clipboard clutched to his chest was awkwardly trying to get her attention. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes refused to meet hers. "We're, uh, we're almost ready for you."

"Good," she said as she got to her feet. She didn't look at the production assistant as she brushed passed him. She had dealt with so many men and women like him, weak willed and nervous individuals who found her intimidating. Even though she considered herself to be a relaxed and easy going person, she preferred to let the nervous masses retain their frightened impression of her. It was her way of making sure not too many strangers approached her on the street.

Flashes from cameras erupted throughout the onlooking crowd as she stepped up to the podium. She cleared her throat into the microphone and every reporter went silent. When she was sure everyone was listening, she addressed them with a grave tone. "I wish I could greet you all pleasantly, but we find ourselves in quite an unfortunate set of circumstances." She paused for effect, inhaling deeply as she watched the audience record her every word. "Never before has Capital City been faced with such a catastrophe. The home we've felt safe in all our lives has become an inferno. Many of us have lost our houses, our possessions, our loved ones, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight."

"Miss Lavender, have you lost anyone in the blaze?"

"What about your luxury condo? Has it been burned down like so many other buildings?"

"Miss Lavender--"

"Lula!"

Lula held up a hand and the reporters went silent again. She had no intention of talking about her own losses, they were nothing to her. She could easily replace anything that was burned, it was the regular citizens of Capital that she was concerned with now. "I'm here today to make an important announcement. I have set up a hotline for anyone who wishes to contribute financially to the rescue and relief efforts and I will personally match every donation out of my own pocket."

A buzz of activity took over the crowd and Lula could imagine the headlines. Many people would accuse her of simply looking for good publicity, others might see that she was just trying to help. She didn't care what they thought about her though, not anymore. After her brush with death she felt like a new person.

There were so many questions coming at her now that she couldn't decipher any of them from the sea of sound. She tried to settle the outrage, tried to appease some of the needy reporters but everyone was in an uproar.

"Please, please!" A man stepped up from behind her and held his hands out to the crowd. "Lula would like to answer your questions, but we need some order here. One at a time, please."

A tentative hush settled over the crowd again. Hands were waving in the air and the man pointed to a reporter near the front. "Miss Garlan, is it? Why don't you go first."