Everything Burns
Darkness.
Then the glint of a flashlight as its beam rocks to and fro inside of a gear-filled small storage room.
"You're doing it wrong."
"Shut up." the younger kid snaps back.
"You're doing it wrong," the older boy repeats smugly.
Huge, dark coats line up like sides of beef in a meat packing plant. Bent, stained helmets hang like masks. Beneath them, the two boys struggle to slip the massive coats over their clothes.
"It doesn't go like that."
"Who asked you?" the younger boy sticks out his tongue.
"If you do it like that it'll open in the fire. Then you'll get burned and die." his older brother explains.
The door suddenly opens, and morning sunlight roars into the room.
Their uncle stands in the doorway looking larger than life.
"Who's going to die?"
"He's not doing it right!" The older boy points at the younger one. "He never does it right."
The man gestures for them to come out. "Well, let's have a look."
The two boys stumble out of the closet. The rubber turnout boots are as high as their thighs. The ends of the coats drag on the floor. They salute their uncle with empty sleeves.
The man kneels down and re-fastens the younger boy's coat.
"Your brother's right. If you don't fasten these correctly they could open and you will get burned."
"And DIE!" the older boy adds with a bob of his head.
"You wouldn't let me die, would you, Uncle Bob?"
The man playfully slaps their shoulders. "We're smarter than fire."
The station suddenly fills with the bellow of an alarm.
A young fireman appears with a dispatch card.
"Big deal?" Bob asks.
"We'll find out."
"Want to come along, young rooster? Watch your uncle earn his keep?"
"What about me?" the older boy glowers at the younger one.
"You've come along a dozen times, give your brother a chance. We'll be back in a few minutes."
Turning to his younger nephew, Bob asks, "How about it, sport?"
"Sure!" the younger boy gives his big brother a smug look as their dad scoops him up and loads him into the fire engine cab.
Three other firemen climb aboard and take their places.
There's a cough of diesel, a crunch of gears, and the engine is pulling out of the station.
"Hit the button."
The boy stamps his foot on the siren button. The red light snaps on, the siren growls and blares, and they're heading down the street. The boy turns around in his seat and, at the last instant before the corner, makes eye contact with his older brother. They stick their tongues out at each other.
The engine howls its way through the city. The young boy, sandwiched between his uncle and the other man, looks out in wonderment at intersections zipping past like picket fences, at people on sidewalks holding hands over their ears at the sound and emergency lights bouncing crazily off shop windows.
Lazy smoke curls out the second story of a commercial block. The engine pulls up and the firemen are jumping off like bilge rats from a sinking ship. Bob opens his door, hops down, and pauses just long enough to point a serious finger at his nephew.
"Stay near the truck. And keep an eye out for us. We're a little short-handed today."
The little boy nods vigorously.
Bob smiles and is off, dragging a hose line with his crew toward a doorway they disappear into.
The boy climbs down from the cab.
"Don't stray too far, little man," another one of the firemen cautions.
The child smiles at the pumper operator. He just wants a better look.
The smoke turns evil and dark now, taking on purpose. There's a level of apartments above the storefronts. As the boy watches, a window opens, and out steps Uncle Bob and another man onto a small fire escape.
Suddenly his uncle climbs up onto the fire escape railing, armed with only an axe, and jumps across to the next metal balcony. He kicks in the window, breaks out the frame with his axe, and dives in. A beat later he reemerges on the balcony with a terrified, smudged little boy. He hands him over the railing to a fireman who carries him down on a ladder.
His uncle looks up and grins at the young boy; dirty, bigger than life, invincible. He winks at him and he's gone again, back into the swirling darkness.
As the boy stands there, he sees a piece of awning along the roofline crack; releasing a sickly yellow tongue of flame that slinks over the roof.
The flame seems to pause, to stare at him for a beat.
The child is transfixed, his little head staring up in astonishment. He can see his uncle and the other man through the window; probing, looking for the flame lurking just above.
The boy starts to call out in a small, hesitant voice, "Uncle Bob..."
He tries to call louder... But suddenly everything is happening both very fast and in slow motion at the same time. He can see a fireman testing the ceiling with a pike pole as the boy steps forward, under the power of a flame that beckons him.
His uncle suddenly throws his body against the other man, knocking him clear just as the flame explodes downward from the ceiling fully against him as all the building's windows blow out.
To the boy, it looks like the sky's erupted, a burning hailstorm that falls and pelts the ground around him. Plaster, wood, and something metal that cracks against the pavement and spins slowly.
A fireman comes out the door now, blackened and torn, hopeless tears streaming down his face.
The sky is raining fire as the flames on the roof rise up now to a horrifying size and it's laughing now, laughing at the little boy as the helmet stops spinning.
This fireman rushes to the little boy and folds him in his arms.
The child pulls away and walks up to his uncle's helmet...
Hello everyone. I guess I just can't stay away from DE. I used this time away to write this story and something for the DE holidays this year. I can't believe it's already October!
Thank you, Eva. Love you!
This sets the stage for the plot. Chapter two will introduce Elena and is set 20 years after the events of this chapter. I will try to post it tomorrow.
Hope you all have a beautiful day. We'll see you next time.