Fire
Fire Lieutenant Le Blanc waved his colleagues over, "Look up there! There's a kid on the roof!"
Le Blanc's team rushed over, staring at the roof, shocked and dumbfounded. A tiny girl in a white nightdress with long wispy blonde hair crawled out of a broken window billowing with smoke, and seated herself precariously on the roof.
"Don't just stand there gawking, get the rescue net out!" Le Blanc shouted, "How do you expect her to get off that roof without the net!" he scolded.
The firefighters hastily dragged the rescue net out of the fire truck. Hurriedly unraveling the bright orange nylon net, each man took one corner of the net, pulling it firmly open. Lieutenant Le Blanc prepared himself to make a demand most grown men, let alone a terrified little girl, would be at loathe to do: Leap off a roof and plummet 2 storeys into a flimsy nylon net held by a circle of complete strangers.
"Sweetheart, can you hear me? I need you to be a brave girl, and do something for me!" Le Blanc shouted over the frantic commotion surrounding him.
The frightened child remained curled up on the roof, her legs pulled up against herself, chin tucked between her knees. Through the blinding haze of smoke, the firefighters made out a second figure climbing out the broken window.
"Sir, there's a second one! There's another kid climbing out the window!" a junior fire fighter shouted.
Lieutenant Le Blanc raised his voice above the crowd, "Girls! Can you hear me? I need you to answer me if you-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the child's nightdress snagged on a pointed shard of the broken window. Slipping on the slick roof, she fell forwards, tumbling head-first off the roof, hurtling quickly towards the ground. Her terrified scream pierce the cold night air like a siren.
"Quick! Move left! Move left!" Le Blanc yelled.
The fire fighters hastily shuffled to the left, leaning forwards to catch the child. They drew the net back as she landed into it, softening the blow. Tumbling gently onto the grass, little Phoebe clasped her neck with both hands; coughing, wheezing and spluttering.
A fire fighter knelt to the ground, pressing an oxygen mask over her face. "Calm down, calm down, you're alright now. Take slow deep breaths," he soothed.
Lieutenant Le Blanc called out to little Ursula, "Alright honey, you see what happened to your sister? She fell into our net, and now she's safe and sound! We need you to do the same! Can you be a brave girl and jump into the net for us?"
Ursula gripped tightly on the roof gutter, shaking her head vigorously, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Yes you can, honey, yes you can! Your sister did it, and she's perfectly fine! You can do it to! You have to do it, do you understand?" Le Blanc insisted.
Ursula sat frozen to the spot, pale as a ghost. "Sweetheart, I promise you'll be okay, you just have to trust us! We're fire fighters, trained professionals, we'll catch you! You can't stay up there forever, it must be getting pretty darn hot up there!" Le Blanc continued. Feeling the oppressive heat blaring out of the broken window, Ursula knew she had no choice. Taking a deep breath, she inched forwards towards the edge of the roof, reminding herself not to look down.
"That's a girl, now on the count of five, you're going to jump! I promise you, we'll catch you, just like we caught your sister, understand?" Le Blanc instructed firmly. Ursula nodded weakly.
"Alright gentlemen, position yourselves," Le Blanc ordered. The fire fighters shifted slightly, ensuring they were directly below Ursula.
"Get ready, sweetheart, on the count of Five you have to jump! Five, four, three, two, one!"
Ursula shut her eyes tightly and allowed herself plummet off the roof. The fire fighters caught her gently, tumbling her onto the grass by her sister's side. The usually headstrong and combative Ursula pulled her sister into a tight hug, sobbing in Phoebe's arms.
"Alright men! Now is not the time to rest on your laurels, we need this fire out! Now!" Le Blanc shouted. The fire fighters dropped the rescue net, unfurling the hose from the fire truck.
"Clear out, people!" a police officer ordered, pushing the surging crowd of curious neighbours backwards.
The police officer approached the girls, crouching down till she was eye-level to them. "Alright girls, now I know you're scared, but you're safe now. The fire fighters are taking care of everything."
"Where's mummy?" Phoebe asked in a small voice.
"Your mum's in an ambulance being rushed to hospital. I'm confident she'll be okay, she just has a bit of smoke in her lungs, much like you do," the police officer soothed. "Tell you what. You hop in the ambulance with these nice paramedics, and they'll take you to hospital. You both need a check-up, and your mum will be there. How does that sound?"
Both girls nodded vigorously. The police officer waved a paramedic over. Taking them by the hands, the paramedic escorted the twins into the ambulance. As the ambulance pulled out of the driveway, Phoebe pressed her face against the back window, watching as the last remnants of her beloved home collapsed in a cloud of smoke.
"Goodbye house," she whispered sadly.