[00:04.36]I discovered the power of fear when I became stuck to my driveway, as if my feet were crazy-glued to the cement.
[00:12.42]As much as I tried, I could not move them.
[00:15.90]The realization that my daughters were playing in Nancy’s house,
[00:20.37]just one-half block away, paralyzed my legs making me unable to move when I neared the end of our driveway.
[00:28.21]Dense, black smoke was rising from behind the Sycamore Maple trees on the other side of the street
[00:35.50]and was enveloping three houses, making them barely visible.
[00:39.64]Nancy’s house was one of them.
[00:42.47]I tried to call out for my daughters hoping to see them run safely to my arms,
[00:47.48]but my voice was also stuck—stuck in my throat with no intention of coming out.
[00:53.25]There I stood; helpless, paralyzed and silenced by fear,
[00:58.59]unable to protect the two little girls I loved more than even I had realized.
[01:04.35]Seconds ticked away like hours as I silently said, “Please let them be okay.”
[01:10.78]Although trapped in a body that couldn’t move or speak, I could still hear.
[01:16.01]I could hear other mothers anxiously calling their children.
[01:20.15]I could hear an eerie silence that covered the neighborhood instead of the usual happy voices of children.
[01:26.79]And, finally, I could hear the siren of the fire engine.
[01:30.82]As the fire truck rounded the corner the siren announced, “We’re on our way,”
[01:35.51]and instantly it dissolved the crazy glue that had held my feet to the cement
[01:40.07]and it unlocked the soundproof box that had silenced my voice.
[01:44.22]I was free to make sure my daughters were safe.
[01:47.81]As I continued down the driveway, in what felt like slow motion,
[01:51.73]two little girls, my two little girls, ran toward me from across the street.
[01:57.96]They had come home to tell me about the fire in the garage next to Nancy’s house.
[02:02.88]Not only did my feet and voice work now,
[02:05.94]but my eyes were also in good working order and had no trouble producing tears of happiness and relief.
[02:12.40]Tears that could only be explained to two little girls by saying, “Because Mommy loves you.”