Chapter 1—Times Change
------------------------------------------------------
August 11th, 2013
8:14 p.m. Mountain Standard Time
South Park, Colorado
Marsh Residence
"Kyle!" I yelled, "C'mon dude! T and P are back on!!"
We were both at my place, watching Terrance and Philip, while both our parents were sipping lattes in the kitchen and talking about boring crap. They've always tried to act too sophisticated for a group of people living in what is constantly being described as redneck mountain town by visitors. Normally, I would be very curious about what they were discussing, as my birthday was fast approaching. But everyone above the age of 12 was talking about the same thing—the drought. Everyone under the age of 12 was talking about the same thing also—the new Terrance and Philip we were watching.
All that mattered to me, during those few fleeting moments at least, was the fact that the Canada Channel (The only channel in Canada!) had two suspiciously close Canadians on the air, and our television was tuned to it.
"Hey Terrance, could you check under that rock over there for some bugs?" Phillip requested.
"Sure Phillip, I don't see why not." Terrance responded as he lifted up the innocent-looking stone. In doing so, two square butt checks were revealed. Believe me, neither I nor Kyle suspected such comedic gold.
Looking back, we probably couldn't have suspected what was about to happen to us, either.
While me and my best friend braced ourselves, our childish Zen was interrupted by the unmistakable piercing beep of the Emergency Broadcast System's alert tone (See author's note), quickly followed by a message authored by N.O.A.A. "alerting" us of a "red flag warning" and "advising" us to evacuate. These warnings had been going off the hook lately, but were immediately dismissed by everyone we knew, in the typical redneck fashion, as "liability protection", "government paranoia", and my personal favorite (courtesy of Kenny's dad) "Bullshit! Complete fucking head-up-the-ass bullshit! If those ass-rammers think they can pry me out of my place, I'll KEIHEL 'EM!"
"Goddamnit…", me and Kyle chanted, then proceeding to cock our heads at each other, doing both in perfect unison. We continued our mutual gaze until Kyle broke into laughter, as I quickly followed. It was only until later, although not much later, would I appreciate how close we were at this point in our relationship, let alone recognize it. In fact, this exact moment was quite the turning point.
A few more minutes into our show, our front door, not far from our couch, began a quick barrage of violent vibrations. My mother quickly responded by hastily walking to our front door. I'll never forget the way she looked then. He face was flushed and at a near pale, and her lower legs and arms were shaking as she quickly opened the door, revealing an unfamiliar middle-aged man with a brownish-blonde moustache, a slightly wrinkled face that resembled a sunburn in color, and an unzipped firefighter's coat with a navy blue t-shirt underneath that red PCFD in bold, white text.
I would never learn the contents of the brief conversation they held at our doorstop, but I can recall how quickly everything seemed to be happening after my mother closed the door. She paused with her head leaning on the door for a few seconds before she turned to Kyle and me.
"Kyle, I'm afraid you're going to have to go home now", she said in what was an obvious attempt at holding back panic. After calling for my father, she walked back into our kitchen, while we both watched perplexed.
Moments later, Kyle's parents both entered the room and grabbed Kyle by the wrist without saying a word.
"What the hell? Let go of me!" he retaliated, only to be slapped in the face by his mother.
"Damn it Kyle, where are leaving NOW!" He was silenced.
As Kyle was lead out the door, he looked at me one more time as if to say "Well, see you tomorrow."
The second the door closed my mother turned to me, bending down to eye level and grasping my shoulder in such a cold, sustained stiffness that I was reminded of death.
"Stanley, go get your Social Security card and the things grandma gave you last summer. You know where they are, right?"
Now thoroughly shocked, but still not having a fathom of what was happening to my world so quickly, I nodded my head once and ran into my room, where my question would be answered.
It is difficult to describe the surge of emotion that overwhelmed me when I saw it out my window. I think the best way is to compare it to a dream. Scratch that, nightmare. It is seeing something so horrific, so indescribably intimidating that every molecule of your existence is suspended in a state of terror. So terrible is this image, that you are unable to comprehend the validity of its existence before having the most infinitesimally tiny grasp of the peril you are now immersed in.
What I saw was but a flickering orange glow in the distance. By now, I knew what that meant. It was the same orange glow that had enveloped entire houses, neighborhoods, and lives. And yet, I was immersed in it. I think it's because I had the rare opportunity to see fate before it struck me. I finally knew what I meant to stare death in the face.
I quickly rushed down the stairs, my legs powered by strength previously untapped. I bolted out the front door upon seeing my mother's sedan idling in the driveway. Never before had time gone so quickly. Just as I positioned myself in the backseat behind my mother and left of my sister, I was thrown back into the seat cushion as the car accelerated, leaving my home a mere shrinking, fleeting sight in the distance. As I reluctantly looked back, I saw my father standing in the doorway, as hell advanced all around him. It would not be until much later that I would learn his fate, let alone who was responsible.
All I could do was sit, sit and pray. The car was traveling at speeds I before never thought achievable by my mother, but my attention was elsewhere. Smoke was billowing across the street now from the forests that encapsulated either side of the street. We were driving in this direction to get away from the fire, but the further we drove, the more smoke began to overcome the street. It started by rolling across the surface of the road, but in a few miles time, the smoke, a deep black in hue, seemed to have replaced everywhere that air once was. I was thrown into a false sense of security by being inside a vehicle, but such naïve emotions were soon crashed as smoke began to trickle through the ventilation system. I closed my eyes and vowed not to open them, which was made difficult by the tears streaming down my checks. To attempt to describe how I felt then, in words at least, would be futile.
I had been breathing in more and more smoke as the minutes ticked away. My eyes were still closed, but I opened them when the interior of my eyelids began to turn red. There was light up ahead. Upon opening my eyes, I expected to see divine intervention, as circumstances such as these could only be solved by the mighty finger of God himself.
What I saw was very different. It was another car, a sedan, breaking through the thick smoke and fast approaching our front windshield head-on.
I closed my eyes again.
-------
As you have probably guessed, I am writing this to you after the events I am about to describe haven taken place. How long after? How old am I now? What's my current situation? I don't think I'm going to tell you. At least not now. I'm going to leave my current situation unanswered until the very end. It's more fun that way. For the both of us.
---------------------------------
Author's Notes: You can listen to what I was trying to describe as the US Emergency Broadcast System's eternally annoying beep by clicking this link and listening to the sound file (you'll have to add the "wikipedia" into your url, because deletes it from the link):
.org/wiki/File:Emergency_broadcast_
If you live in the US and have ever experienced a thunderstorm, then you should recognize this. (Unless you're deaf. In which case I'm sorry.)
I got an email from a concerned fan asking how I can use slash if my characters are going to be nine years old. I just want to you guys to know there will be slash, but this story is about the evolution of friendship, so the intimacy level will rise as the story, and the characters, progress through time.
Watch this to get a general idea of the actual power of a wildfire, and use it as imagery when reading this story: (you'll have to add the "youtube" into your url, because deletes it from the link)
.com/watch?v=IDaNq9GONX4&feature=related
Disclaimer: All rights to the South Park franchise are legally reserved to their respective owners.