Rebirth Into My Second Chance

Richard assured me. "No matter what path you choose, I'll be right there for you, just like in our past life. No matter how the world changes, my support for you remains unshaken." "Thanks, Richard," I replied, and my gratitude for Lydia's saving me poured into those words. I was determined to help save others, too.

Due to the flooding, many roads were in the water, and houses collapsed, making it challenging to find our way back to the route we initially took. We wandered around for a while before finally figuring out the direction toward the hill we aimed for earlier. Fortunately, the skies were only overcast without further rainfall, aiding our search for the elders' homes.

Along the way, we passed vast stretches of fallen trees and crops farmers had painstakingly tended to, all submerged underwater. As the harvest season approached, the hard work of the past six months would be in vain with this flooding. "Richard, I once read a poem about floods but didn't fully get its meaning until today. Now I truly understand what 'fear of nature' means," I said, trying to find some poetry in the chaos.

Richard frowned slightly but patted my head, comforting me, "Everything will be okay, Claire."

"That kind of talk gets to me, you know. I'm already in my senior year internship," I said, suddenly realizing I was just 22 years old.

Yet, with all that had happened, I felt like I had lived a century's worth of experiences.

As our kayak approached our destination, I could see the large house Claude had prepared on the high ground, half-destroyed by a mudslide.

I couldn't help but wonder, 'Didn't Claude watch the news? With Elmwood Springs suffering such a disaster, did he ever worry I might get caught in it?'

of self-reliance over expecting others

the foot of the hill were almost out of

I pointed toward the general area, my voice nearly breaking with

rescue team quickly assessed the water level, which wasn't too high, but the thick mud was challenging. They chose to wade through

silence,

an elderly voice,

tools, everyone started digging toward the source of the voice with their bare hands. "Don't be afraid.

strength." As he spoke, he, too, jumped into the mud. His figure, which slimmed down from his time in jail

help but feel a lump in my throat. But before I could succumb to sadness, the rescue team quickly pulled an elder onto the kayak, who was struggling to

ver

immediately started providing

emergency care.