tom didn't know how long he laid there
under the rubble

he regained consciousness and looked to the right
it was dark and the sirens were blaring
and the horns were honking

it took him a minute to clear his head and
then he remembered
he had seen meghan
she was here
he could feel it
she was alive.

he turned to his side
and a policeman with a flashlight came through the
debris
sir, are you all right.

tom shook his head up and down.

here, let me help you, sir.

lean on me
put your weight into me

hank you, said tom

tom found his voice
and coughed some of the dust out of his nose and mouth

can you tell me what happened?

it was a quake sir
a rather nasty one
they are saying it was a six on the scale.
the whole neighborhood has fallen.

you didn't recover a young girl about this high with
red hair did you.

no, sir, we've gone through the building and
you are the only one that we found.

tom just shook his head
blinked his eyes and closed his mouth
he had seen meghan and he would figure it out.

she was alive and that was all that mattered.

something was glistening on the floor and tom
bent down to pick it up.

it was a green beret.
meghan's
his fist wrapped around the small item.