"Can I get a ride home?" This was the question Louise Hawley has had to ask her boss, Mike Butler, every day since the mill shut down. Louise worked the 2 pm-11 pm shift at the Big Grasshopper Convenience store and gas station on N Jameson St. in Landers, SC. Unlike the mill, the store was too far for her to walk. Mike agreed to give her a ride home again tonight.

Life for Louise was dreary now. When the mill was open, she was a top-notch weaver, and made $12.00/hr plus a production bonus depending on how well her 20 looms ran over her bi-weekly pay period. She had made enough then to have a comfortable life for herself and her 12 year-old son, Josh. She lived in a mill house, in a mill village, which meant that rent was low and all utilities were paid for by the mill. The three years since the closing had changed everything. After the bankruptcy, the mill village went to a big developer in New York. Rents went up, as well as utility expenses were now paid for by the tenants. She had to work 2 jobs now to make what her 1 job used to make. She worked at Hancock's, the local fast food joint from 4 am until12 noon, and then went to work at the Big Grasshopper. She was able to ride to Hancock's with her neighbor, Helen, who also dropped her off at the Grasshopper on the way home. Just like tonight, Mike would then get her back home after her shift was over at the convenience store.

It was now time to go. "Let's get outta here, Louise," Mike said. They walked out into the chilly December night and got into the car. Mike led the car down N. Jameson and then wound his way into the mill village. Louise just stared out her window silently, staring at the Christmas lights on the houses. Mike tried to make small talk, but Louise wouldn't say a word. All she could think about was tomorrow, Friday December 23rd. Josh was going to have to go to the Landers Baptist Association office to get some food from their Crisis Center in order for them to have a Christmas dinner. All she could think about was how this was a terrible thing to make a child do, but she had no choice. She had to work in the morning at Hancock's, but was off until Monday from the Grasshopper.

The car finally found its way to Louise's run down mill house. She could barely afford food to eat or oil to heat the little house; much less do anything to make the house look like someone lived in it. "See you on Monday, Louise. I hope you and Josh have a Merry Christmas." Louise just silently trudged out of the car and collapsed on her sofa to get a few hours sleep before having to work again.

Inside, Josh was sound asleep. He had gone to sleep listening to Louise's favorite song, "Elijah" by a now deceased Rich Mullins. Louise sang silently the poignant lines from the chorus, "when I leave I wanna go out like Elijah, with a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire…..and it won't break my heart to say good-bye…" The thought of saying good-bye to it all seemed to make Louise smile for the first time today. She turned up the heat on her little space heater and pulled it closer to the couch and drifted off to sleep.

About 2 am, an hour before Louise was to wake up, she rolled over on the couch, which made her blanket drape over the heater and it began to smolder. By the time she smelled the smoke, it was too late. The flames were racing across the floor and starting to climb the walls. Louise immediately ran toward Josh's room, but the flames had beaten her to the back of the house. She was surrounded by hot, orange flames. She just collapsed and began to scream out to God, or to the walls, or to anyone who would listen.

It must have been a hallucination, she thought at first. A dark figure came toward her and began to speak. "Louise, I'm sorry it took me so long to help, but I'm here now. Let's get outta here" "B-b-b-but what about Josh?" Louise pleaded. "Don't worry; I've got big plans for him, he'll be fine. You're exhausted, you're empty, and you're longing for something better. Let me take you to a better place." Louise knew she should want to stay to be sure Josh was OK. What kind of mother abandons her child in a time like this? She couldn't make herself want to stay, 3 years of working 2 jobs on 3-4 hours sleep a day had taken away any bit of goodness left in her heart. The dark figure pointed toward a flaming chariot that had pushed everything out of her small kitchen. He drug her toward the chariot and grabbed the reins. As Louise stepped in, the fire reached the above ground tank that held the heating oil and everything went white.

The Fire Department outside knew what happened. They had pulled back to the trucks when the fire moved toward the tank. All these mill houses had them, the tanks right outside the walls of the house that held oil to power the furnaces. All they could do was just watch the explosion and then put the fire out. There wouldn't be any survivors in this one they all thought.