“Megan, why are you still in bed? Didn’t we agree to head out to the reservoir together today?”

Someone was shaking her hard, jolting Megan Daniels awake.

Her head felt foggy, the heat was unbearable, and her limbs were heavy with exhaustion. She barely pried her eyes open and saw two blurry figures.

“You sleepyhead, hurry up! Everyone’s already gone! If you don’t get up now, we’re leaving without you!”

Megan was confused. She clearly remembered getting hit by a car after work. What reservoir?

Then someone tugged her up to sit. “Come on, get moving!”

She forced her eyes open. What met her gaze was an old tiled-roof house… a wooden wardrobe, a three-drawer table, a redwood chest, and a New Year poster on the wall. Wait—wasn’t this her childhood home?

This didn’t make any sense.

Could this really be… rebirth?

Her nerves instantly tensed. She couldn’t believe it.

She pinched herself hard.

The sharp pain made it clear—it was real.

Maybe the heavens pitied her and gave her this one do-over? Rebirth was rarer than winning the lottery, and somehow she’d drawn that lucky ticket. Unreal.

The girl shaking her was Lucy Taylor—one of her best childhood pals. The other girl was Wendy Brooks, their neighbor, all around her age.

Seeing these two again out of the blue, Megan’s voice leapt with surprise. “Lucy! Wendy! It’s really you two!”

Lucy, who was a little older, knitted her brows. “Hurry up already. Olivia’s down at the reservoir waiting. We all made plans, remember? Come on, pick up the pace.”

Olivia?

Megan blurted out, “Wasn’t Olivia already dead?”

Lucy gave her a look, rolling her eyes. “What's wrong with you, saying stuff like that in broad daylight? Olivia's perfectly fine—running around like always!”

Megan remembered it all too well. Olivia Johnson, their neighbor, was two years younger than her—sweet-faced and pretty like a little porcelain doll. But in the summer of 1978, she drowned in the chemical waste pool by the reservoir.

That incident scarred Megan deeply. Even as an adult, she never dared go near water—not even a swimming pool.

And now Lucy was talking about the reservoir—and Olivia was still alive? That meant... this really was before the accident?

Megan jumped out of bed and ran to check the calendar in the outer room.

August 25, 1978.

No way!

Her heart pounding, Megan dashed out the door like a shot.

She wasn’t just running aimlessly—she remembered everything. That afternoon, ten-year-old Olivia had fallen into that pool next to the reservoir. By the time they pulled her out, it was too late. Her mother broke down completely. That tragic scene had haunted Megan for years.

But now—maybe she had a chance to stop it from happening.

She ran with everything she had, wind roaring in her ears, the scenery blurring by. It was like racing against death itself.

When the reservoir finally came into view, so did Olivia—standing on the embankment, playing with a bunch of kids.

Olivia always stood out in a crowd. Her skin was pale with a rosy glow, her frame dainty and delicate—like a little porcelain doll come to life.Megan Daniels had just stepped onto the embankment, barely making her way toward Olivia Johnson, when she saw—right in front of her—a pair of hands suddenly shove Olivia hard on the back. Olivia let out a frightened yelp as her body lurched, completely out of her control, heading straight toward the chemical waste pond.

“Oh no!”

Megan froze. This was exactly what she feared most.

She lunged forward to grab Olivia’s arm, but Olivia had just climbed out from the reservoir and was soaking wet, slippery as a fish. Megan’s hand slipped right off.

“Rannie! Help me!” Olivia screamed, voice trembling with fear.

Thank goodness Megan moved fast. She couldn’t grab the arm, but her hand latched onto Olivia’s smaller one just in time.

Still, Olivia’s body kept sliding slowly toward the edge. Megan, only two years older and not much stronger, was yanked along. The chemical pond wasn’t water—it was industrial waste from the fertilizer plant nearby, full of toxic sludge. Falling in... no one would stand a chance.

Lucy Taylor and Wendy Brooks, just behind them, screamed and scrambled to grab Megan. They pulled with everything they had, but the most they could do was slightly slow the slide. After all, they were just kids too—not exactly built for rescue missions.

The rest of the kids on the embankment started shouting in panic. “Somebody’s falling in!”

It was summer break, so the whole area was full of children. The oldest among them looked barely into middle school, while some were in kindergarten. Counting on them to rescue someone? That was wishful thinking.

Megan felt a wave of hopelessness crash over her. This was how she was using that miraculous second chance life gave her? Just got reborn, and already about to be done for?

But emotions aside, she noticed the real problem: if Lucy and Wendy didn’t let go soon, they’d be dragged in too. This wasn’t just one or two kids at risk—this could get all four of them pulled into a deadly mess.

Megan knew she was different from the other kids—on the outside, sure, she looked like them, but she was forty on the inside. She had to think fast, find a way to protect everyone.

The steep slope of the embankment was like a huge slide they were stuck on, and they were heading down fast. Without something to stop them, gravity would just keep working against them.

Heart pounding, Megan caught sight of the crooked willow tree nearby. Its bent trunk stuck out at an angle—she had an idea!

“Lucy, get someone to pull that crooked branch toward us!” she shouted.

The tree was barely a meter away. If they could drag that thick branch toward them, Megan could probably grab it and use it to climb back—with Olivia in tow.

A small group of kids ran over to help Lucy and Wendy stabilize themselves. Others rushed to bend the tree branch their way.

Strength in numbers really paid off. The kids might have been small, but there were enough of them to wrestle the stubborn limb into place. Soon it was right next to Megan’s hand.

“Okay, listen to my count! When I say one, two, three, pull the branch back together!”

The kids were pumped. At first, they'd been terrified, but Megan’s calm orders gave them something to do. They were actually going to help save someone.

Megan was by now dangerously close to the edge of the pond. She held tight to Olivia’s wrist, but her strength was slipping. Her arm felt numb, muscle strength draining fast. No matter how hard she pulled, Olivia kept sliding closer to the pit.

Olivia sounded the alarm, already in tears. “Rannie! Are you getting tired? Are you letting go?”

Megan’s chest tightened. Just moments ago, she'd been proud of her adult brain. Now all she felt was frustration with her weak child’s body. Smarts didn’t mean much if she couldn't hang on physically.

Then, just as her fingers began to loosen, a clear voice rang out:

“Don’t be scared, Liv! I’m here!”

And a strong, calloused hand gripped Megan’s arm tightly from behind.