Mark woke up suddenly when he felt something heavy jump on him. “MARK! WAKE UP! ITS MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!” Sarah squealed. Mark groaned. “Five more minutes.” “NOOOOOOO! GET UP SLEEPY HEAD! DARLA PROMISED TO WATCH ME TODAY!” “Sarah! Inside voice.” Mark sat up and scared her with a big hug. She squealed and giggled, hugging back. “Well, you’d better get dressed. Miss Darla said she had something special for you.” Her face lit up as she grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom, slammin the door closed. “Don't come in, I'm changing!” Mark rolled his eyes and slowly got up. When he got to his feet, Sarah ran outta the bathroom and out the front door, yelling. “BYE MARK, I LOVE YOU!” He smiled and got dressed, fixed his bed, took the money he needed, and locked the front door. He looked over and saw Miss Darla hugging Sarah. “My goodness, your getting so big!” Darla smiled and waved to Mark as he headed down the street. He held his head up high today, he felt proud. After a while, he made it to the bakery. He ordered one cupcake and paid the man. “Who’s this for?” “Its for the birthday girl.” “Ah, well, tell her I said happy birthday.” “I will, thank you.” Mark smiled and left, but something seemed different. He saw smoke in the distance. He started walking home, but the smoke only got worse the closer he got. He looked around and saw a few people with injures. He heard people screaming, others saying the city gangs are having a war. When he heard that, his face went white. He started to run, hoping that they weren’t fighting near his home. When he made it back to his home, he couldn't see because the smoke was so thick, but he heard a girl scream. He knew that scream…..it was Sarah!