Chapter 4
Brother's Fiery Rescue
At three, fire engulfs their home. While Kathy escapes, Anastasia is trapped. Her older brother, a beacon of courage, braves the inferno to save her, their bond forged in flames and sacrifice. Anastasia was sitting on the apartment complex steps, remembering when her brother pulled her out of the fire when she was 3 years old. Anastasia is missing being on the farm. Anastasia goes for A Walk in the Woods and finds her 2 brothers playing in an old school bus.With five other boys. Anastasia, hollers.Mama said y'all have to come home it's time to eat.Anastasia looks up in the tree, her baby brother, William was jumping on a tree. Lamp saying, ha ha ha ha. I beat you out to the top about that time. The tree broke and her baby brother fell from the top of the tree all the way down hit the side of the bus and landed on the ground and he just stood there saying A bad word that they were not allowed to say.Big brother picked up baby brother and ran towards the house mom william fell out the tree that was scary for Anastasia. There's no way her baby brother should have made it, but she was praying as he was falling, he fell 100 feet. Anastasia told her mama I prayed for my brother, mama.As he was falling cause, it was so far up there.I guess god answered my prayers, and anastasian brothers only lived in this town for the summer. They moved to Bossier City Louisiana after that, which was closer to Texas, where they grew up. The man anastasian met at the hotel helpAnastasia's mom pay for her divorce and became her new stepdaddy
The scent of pine needles and damp earth was a balm to Anastasia's soul. She’d wandered away from the apartment complex, drawn by the familiar call of the woods that skirted the edge of their temporary home. It wasn’t the sprawling acres of the farm, the place etched deep within her memory like a sun-drenched dream, but it was close enough. Close enough that the chirping of birds and the rustle of unseen creatures felt like old friends. She found herself on the worn steps of an abandoned school bus, its once bright yellow paint now faded and peeling, a silent sentinel swallowed by the encroaching trees. It was here, in this forgotten relic, that memories, sharp and vivid, began to surface.
She was three years old. The air thick with the acrid smell of smoke, a terrifying roar that wasn't thunder but something far more sinister. Flames, like hungry, grasping fingers, clawed at the walls of their home. Panic had seized her mother, a desperate cry torn from her throat as she’d stumbled out into the suffocating night, coughing and disoriented. But Anastasia, small and bewildered, had been left behind, swallowed by the inferno. The heat had been suffocating, the smoke blinding. She remembered the terror, a primal fear that had frozen her small limbs. Then, a blur of motion, a frantic shout, and her brother, her brave, strong brother, had appeared through the smoke, a fierce protector silhouetted against the fiery maw of their burning house. He’d scooped her up, his small body surprisingly strong, and plunged back into the inferno, his only thought to get her out. The heat had seared her skin, the smoke choked her lungs, but his grip had been unwavering, a promise of safety in the heart of destruction. He’d burst through the doorway, collapsing onto the grass, coughing and gasping, but holding her tight, her small body trembling against his. That moment, seared into her being, was a testament to a love so profound it defied the very elements. He had saved her. Again.
A sigh escaped her lips, a whisper of relief and gratitude for the brother who had been her guardian angel more times than she could count. The memory of the fire, though terrifying, was intertwined with the unwavering strength of her older brother. He was her rock, her shield.
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