Poor Janitor Single Dad Saved an 8-Year-Old From a Sinking Bus — Unaware Her Mom Was a Billionaire
Chapter 2
The bus had only traveled six blocks when the driver noticed something was wrong.
Water had risen across the road.
The storm drains were overflowing.
A traffic light ahead was barely visible through the rain.
The driver slowed.
“Everyone stay seated.”
The children stopped talking.
Sophie Bennett sat near the middle of the bus, clutching a small purple backpack against her chest.
She hated storms.
Not because of thunder.
Because her mother had once told her that water could be dangerous.
Sophie looked out the window.
The street had disappeared.
Only brown water remained.
Then the bus tilted.
Children screamed.
The driver fought the steering wheel.
The engine sputtered.
And then stopped.
Water rushed against the lower half of the bus.
“Everyone stay calm!”
Nobody stayed calm.
A boy started crying.
Someone shouted for a teacher.
The emergency lights flickered.
The bus shifted again.
Sophie grabbed the seat.
Her backpack slipped to the floor.
Then the rear door jammed.
The driver tried to open it.
Nothing.
Water began entering through the lower windows.
The children screamed louder.
Across the city, Daniel had just reached the corner where he planned to take a shortcut home.
He heard sirens.
Then he saw the bus.
It had been pushed sideways by the flood.
Police vehicles were approaching, but the street was almost impossible to cross.
Daniel recognized the bus immediately.
It was one of Jefferson Elementary’s buses.
His heart stopped.
“Lily.”
He ran.
A police officer grabbed his arm.
“Sir, stay back!”
“My daughter is on that bus!”
The officer looked at him.
“What’s her name?”
“Lily Brooks.”
The officer checked his radio.
“No confirmation yet.”
Daniel pulled free.
“I have to get her.”
“The water is dangerous.”
“I don’t care.”
He stepped into the flood.
The water reached his knees.
Then his waist.
The current was stronger than he expected.
He nearly fell.
A police officer shouted:
“Sir! Get back!”
Daniel kept moving.
Then he heard children screaming.
He reached the bus.
The front windshield was cracked.
The driver was trapped.
Daniel climbed onto the side of the vehicle.
“Stay calm!”
A child screamed:
“We’re sinking!”
Daniel looked through the broken side window.
“Where’s the emergency exit?”
The driver pointed weakly.
“Back.”
Daniel climbed inside.
Water was already rising.
He searched the children.
Not Lily.
Not Lily.
Not Lily.
Then he saw a little girl trapped between two seats.
Eight years old.
Purple backpack.
She was crying.
“Are you okay?”
She shook her head.
“I can’t move.”
Daniel reached for her.
“What’s your name?”
“Sophie.”
“Okay, Sophie.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
Daniel pulled the seat away.
It didn’t move.
He braced his shoulder against it.
“Close your eyes.”
He pushed.
The metal groaned.
The seat shifted.
“Now climb.”
Sophie crawled toward him.
Another wave hit the bus.
Daniel grabbed her.
“Hold onto me.”
He lifted her toward the broken window.
A police officer reached through from outside.
“Give her to me!”
Daniel passed Sophie out.
Then he looked back.
The remaining children were still trapped.
And the bus was sinking faster.
He turned around.
He didn’t think.
He went back in.
