DAWN WILL RISE 

Part 2: HEROES 

    Ella had pulled herself together long before the children were due home. She had texted Jan, her sister to let her know she was able to collect her own children.
    The house was reasonably tidy, the dishes done, the washing finished.
    Mark was delivering hay to some farmers affected by drought or fire - she wasn't sure which. As she drove to the primary school, Ella felt suddenly she had so much to be thankful for - the house they almost owned, the enclosed back yard with a few shady gum trees, the tiny garden bed where the kids sprinkled flower and vegie seeds every year....And Dawn's foot was almost better!
    Lately, she had seen awful pictures on the news of starving people in a war-torn South Sudan. There were two students from that country in school. They both needed help with lessons and Jan, with her older kids, had volunteered some time. 
    The Sudanese children running from dangerous men had seen their slow grandmother shot down, but were not able to turn back....
    I will try to understand Mark, she thought. He is trying to help us all and his job is hard.

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