For Eddie Turner, life began with adversity and misfortune. He had been born prematurely, weighing only four pounds at birth, and the first three years of his life were spent in and out of the hospital. As a result, his physical development was abnormally slow, and he remained quite sickly. It has been said that children can be extremely cruel, and as Eddie grew, so did his low self esteem. The other children in Eddie's neighborhood would taunt and mock him with persistent criticism, and his mother's overprotectiveness and coddling, only served to contribute to his weaknesses.
During the summer, whenever he and the other children were at the community pool, Eddie was made to stay in the shallow end. Or if they went to the fair, the only
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He heard the sirens wailing and wondered where they were heading, Eddie quickened his pace. When he rounded the corner, he saw the blaze. John Lipton's house was on fire! John had been the Capitan of the high school football team, had made sergeant during the war, and the one who had given Eddie his hated nickname.
John was screaming franticly for his wife, and the firefighters were trying to calm him down, his wife appeared from around the back of the burning house. She was screaming hysterically that their little boy was still in the inferno. John begged the firefighters restraining him, to let him go, but it was far too dangerous to go inside.
Suddenly, someone screamed out that they had seen someone darting into the raging fire. Presently, a figured appeared, looming in the doorway of the burning home. They were carrying a bundled object. The figured staggered out of the building a few feet, then collapsed on the ground. Firefighters rushed to the collapsed body of Eddie Turner. He had gone into the inferno, found the little boy hiding under his bed, wrapped him in a blanket, and found his way out of the burning hell. Except for a little smoke, and a slight burn to his foot, the little boy was fine. John and his wife clutched him tightly in their arms, as the paramedics tried desperately to revive Eddie, but there was nothing they could do. He'd suffered far too many burns, and inhaled far too much smoke. The paramedic pulled a sheet over Eddie s lifeless body. The community coward was