Saved from the Flames

ENGLISH
EDITION
Saved from
the Flames
Tuula Pere • Catty Flores
W
ickWick

Saved from the Flames
Story by Tuula Pere
Illustrations by Catty Flores
Layout by Peter Stone
English translation by Mirka Pohjanrinne
Edited in English (US) by Susan Korman
ISBN 978-952-325-726-9 (ePub)
ISBN 978-952-325-226-4 (Print)
First edition
Copyright © 2016 Wickwick Ltd
Published 2016 by Wickwick Ltd
Helsinki, Finland
Printed in EU
Originally published in Finland by Wickwick Ltd in 2016
Finnish “Tulesta turvaan”, ISBN 978-952-325-225-7 (Print), ISBN 978-952-325-725-2 (ePub)
English (US) “Saved from the Flames”, ISBN 978-952-325-226-4 (Print), ISBN 978-952-325-726-9 (ePub)
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ENGLISH
EDITION
Saved from
the Flames
Tuula Pere • Catty Flores
W
ickWick
Children’s Books from the Heart
1

2

Sunita was having breakfast with her cousin Dina. Had things
been normal, the two girls would have been talking and
having fun, but now everything had changed.
“You can’t sit around the house all day, Sunita. Why don’t we
go out somewhere together? For a swim, maybe?” Dina said,
trying to cheer up her guest.
Sunita nibbled on some bread, but her appetite was gone. She
stared at the pattern on the tablecloth, too tired to even answer.
Her cousin finally got up and left the room.
“You’re one strange little creature, Sunita,” Dina sighed. “I do
understand how awful it is when you lose your home in a fire,
but you could at least talk to me.”
3

After her cousin left, Sunita went to the open window and looked across the
yard. Just one week ago, Sunita’s home had stood there on the other side of the
yard. Now all that was left were ashes and ruins of walls and furniture. Fortunately,
the family had managed to escape the fire.
Outside, Sunita’s parents were clearing out the damaged remains and arguing loudly.
“How many times did I mention the broken fireplace?” Sunita’s mother said angrily
in a high-pitched voice. “You should’ve fixed it ages ago. This wouldn’t have happened
if you hadn’t been so lazy.”
“The fire wouldn’t have happened if you had been more careful with the stove!”
Sunita’s father snapped back.
4

5

The fire had been a terrible shock to the entire family. They had few possessions
before the fire. Now everything was lost. Even their photographs and memories
had burnt to ashes.
Sunita was mourning over her burnt toys, bed, and clothes. But her biggest concern
was their puppy, Taro. After the fire there had been no sign of him, even though the
cousins had searched everywhere in the neighborhood for days.
Sunita’s parents went on and on bickering. She was too tired to listen to it, feeling
bad enough as it was.
“This is not my fault either!” she yelled at them and slammed the window.
“She’s not herself,” her mother said, shaking her head, and continued to search
through the ashes.
6

7

Sunita looked around her cousin’s house. There was Dina’s bed with her sleep toy
on it. And there was the wooden box full of colorful buttons. Her schoolbooks
were neatly stacked on a shelf.
Dina is so lucky to have a home, Sunita thought. All my stuff is burnt. All my schoolbooks,
drawings . . . Everything’s in ashes. I wonder if I can even go back to school
again . . .
There were many things troubling Sunita. But no one seemed to have time to listen
to her worries. And she could not even get anyone to look for Taro with her anymore.
8

9

10

The nights were the hardest. Sunita barely slept, and when she did, she slept
restlessly. She dreamed she was in a rush to get out of a burning house. She was
trying to collect her things, but there was no time to take anything with her.
“Taro, come here, boy! Now!” Sunita cried. Her own scream startled her awake.
“Just go back to sleep,” her mother whispered in the dark. “Let’s not wake the others.
We have so much to do tomorrow.”
But Sunita could not sleep. She did not even have her old sleep toy with her. It was a
white lamb made of wool, lost in the fire. Her mother had not had time to make her
a new one yet.
11

12

Sunita had gone back to school. Dina had given her some of her clothes, and her
teacher had given her new schoolbooks. At first her classmates surrounded her
with questions about the fire. Eventually they left her alone, since she did not want
to talk about it.
The days went by. Sunita grew sadder and lost weight.
“How is your family doing?” the teacher asked one day at recess, worried. “Have you
started to build a new home yet?”
“Mom and Dad are working on it all the time,” Sunita answered quietly. “We’re
building everything ourselves with the help of our neighbors.”
Sunita felt like running into her teacher’s arms and having a good cry, but what
would the other kids think? The bell rang and everyone went back into their classrooms.
Sunita sat in her place, but did not hear anything that was being said around
her.
13

The next day Sunita’s teacher came to meet with her parents.
Sunita could see the grown-ups talking, looking
worried.
Her mother and father spread open their hands and gestured
towards the ruins of their house. The teacher looked determined.
Finally, Sunita’s parents nodded and asked Sunita to
join them.
“Your teacher is going to take you to the town,” her mother
told her. “She knows a good doctor there who can help you
feel better.”
“But we can’t afford a doctor now, can we?” Sunita asked anxiously.
“We have to rebuild our home.”
“Don’t you worry, dear child,” the teacher consoled her. “This
doctor is my friend and happy to help you.”
14

15

In the doctor’s waiting room, Sunita felt nervous. Fortunately, her
teacher was with her. It was nice to look at the colorful drawings
on the wall. Children had drawn them while visiting the doctor. Perhaps
there was nothing to be afraid of, after all.
“Hello, Sunita, come on in,” the friendly doctor said, opening the
door. “This teacher of yours is my childhood friend.”
16

To Sunita, the doctor’s kind voice felt consoling;
someone finally had time to listen to her. At first
the girl found it hard to talk, as too many frightening
and difficult things had happened.
17

Sunita and her teacher stayed at the doctor’s office for a long
time. Little by little, the girl started talking. She told them
what she had been through.
“Sunita, dear, when something as bad as a fire happens, it’s
such a deep shock that it can hurt your mind, too,” the doctor
said gently. “You can get burns or skin injuries, but sometimes
the injuries also go under your skin, into your mind.”
18

On the way home, the teacher bought Sunita a ball of yarn.
“I will teach you how to knit your own sleep toy,” the
teacher promised.
Sunita smiled for the first time in ages.
19

During the days that followed, Sunita sat on the lawn under a big tree,
knitting her sleep toy with the yarn from her teacher. She was not very
good at knitting yet.
This toy doesn’t really look like a bedtime lamb, she thought. It’s more like a
bedtime fish! But at least it’s soft and warm.
Content, Sunita watched how her parents were getting along with their own
work. A small house had gone up in the place of their old home. It was built of
material donated by their neighbors. The walls were made of boards and cardboard
of different colors, and every window was a different size.
“Now we have a home again,” said Sunita’s father, pleased. He hugged his wife.
20

21

22

In the evening, for the first time in a long while, Sunita’s
family sat together at their own table. Sunita’s mother ladled
out soup into bowls. She was quietly humming a happy tune.
After supper, they laid out a new treasure on the table. Their
neighbors had collected photographs of the family from their
own albums. Over the years Sunita’s family had celebrated
many birthdays and weddings with their neighbors. Inside the
new album were also pictures of Sunita with other children.
“Now our memories are not just in our minds,” Sunita’s mother
sighed with pleasure. “We do have some wonderful friends.”
“Sunita, why don’t you come and see your new sleeping place,”
her father said, drawing aside a curtain that covered an alcove.
Sunita smiled and put her bedtime fish on top of the blanket.
Now she would surely fall asleep easily.
23

24

In the morning, the family had two visitors. One was a stranger,
but the other visitor was someone they knew very well.
An old man was carrying an animal wrapped in cloth. “This little
thing showed up at our house a few weeks ago,” the man said,
stroking the dog in his arms. “His side was badly burned, but I’ve
tended to it as well as I could. He’s doing great now.”
“It’s Taro!” Sunita exclaimed happily. She took the dog into her
lap. “Thank you so much for your help. Now I can take care of him
myself.”
“When I found the dog, he was carrying a toy,” the man told her.
“It was a lamb or something, I guess, pretty worn-out and dirty.
Somehow the poor little dog managed to save it from the fire.”
Sunita did not know what to say. Tears of joy fell on Taro’s fur.
The puppy wagged his tail in excitement. Now that the two friends
were together again, their wounds would heal quickly.
25

Little Sunita and her family are trying to start a new life after
a terrible fire. Their home and possessions—including all of
Sunita’s schoolbooks and toys—burned to ashes in the blaze.
Worst of all, their puppy Taro is missing.
Sunita’s parents are busy building their new home, and no one
has time to listen to Sunita’s worries. But she is lucky enough to
have an observant teacher, who comes to her aid. The teacher
takes Sunita to meet her doctor friend and she teaches Sunita
how to knit a new sleep toy to replace the missing one.
Sunita learns that you can be wounded not only on the outside
but also beneath the surface. Fortunately, both can heal.
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