Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: HOT (08/10/17)
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TITLE: Saturated | Previous Challenge Entry
By Loni Bowden-Horn
08/17/17 -
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Claire wiped the beads of perspiration that began to form on her glistening face and dripped down the nape of her neck after she wedged her minivan into her reserved parking space. The air’s oppressive presence sapped all of her energy. It induced her brain to muddle all the facts and figures she had prepared for today’s impending meetings.
Glancing into her rear view mirror to apply her ruby red lipstick, she noticed her baby daughter’s empty car seat. Her eyes teared up as she recalled what a difficult decision it was not to quit her job and be a stay at home mom.
When Claire went in to wake up her baby this morning, she noticed Chloe’s blue eyes searching for her. Her little face lite up and she squealed with laughter. Chloe’s blond locks bobbed up and down as her tiny fingers reached up for her mom to pick her up. Claire held her baby girl close to her. She did not want to let go of her precious child.
After Claire and her husband Gary got their daughter dressed and ready to go, she watched her husband drive off with her daughter in tow to drop her off at the babysitters.
She was so focused on planning her busy day ahead that she hadn’t paid attention to what her husband had said before he left for work.
With summer vacation coming to a close, and it being the first day back for the teachers at the school, her position as a school administrator was more hectic than normal.
Claire had commented to a friend earlier in the week, “It was very hard trying to be the perfect mom and the perfect employee.” she said “I try to be everything to everybody…I’ve always been the kind of person that lived for doing for others."
The sound of a car horn jolted Claire back to reality.
Grabbing the snacks, she had brought for the other teachers, she headed toward the school. With her mind racing about all the things she had to accomplish that day before the other teachers arrived, Claire got back to work. She wanted to kick off the school year with a great beginning so it was important to start the day off on the right foot.
The day started with a staff meeting, followed by lunch. She chatted with the new teachers between meetings. Claire spoke about her husband and daughter. Clair had a feeling this was going to be best school year ever.
It was after 4:00 p.m., Claire was in her office, getting ready to head home when the idyllic life she had known began to crumble. She noticed the ashen complexion of a good teacher friend as she burst through the door and said. “Claire, your baby is in the car.”
Claire grabbed her keys and rushed out to the parking lot. When she got to the car, she found Chloe in the backseat behind the driver’s side, still strapped into her car seat. She pulled her daughter’s lifeless body out of the car as fast as she could, but she knew she was too late.
She scooped up her little one and ran through the parking lot screaming, “Oh baby, come back to mommy.”
“Bring me your child,” yelled a cafeteria worker. She handed over her daughter’s limp body to someone who tried to revive her. Claire retreated to another part of the cafeteria, curled up in a ball and began to pray. She prayed harder than she had in her whole life but she knew in her heart, Chloe was gone.
The shroud of guilt closed in on her after the death of her only child. She just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up.
Eventually, hope began to break through the layers she had built around herself. Claire had found a higher purpose. She had been given a cross to bear, and she didn’t want Chloe’s life to be in vain. She decided to use the lessons she had learned to change lives for other people.
Just as it happened so long ago, her innocent child was sent by God to be a voice in the wilderness to the rest of the world.
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Fiction. I compiled many different stories about children who accidentally died in hot cars. I did use several quotes that I got on CNN and Oprah.com about a women named Brenda who accidentally left her child in the car.
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It is so important to protect children, the elderly, and pets from getting overheated in a car. Cracking the windows is not good enough.