Born By Fire

  " The fire had started in the basement of the home", the police had said. From the breaker box. By now, the monster had engulfed the entire basement and the backside of the ground floor.  The family asleep on the second floor- the Masons, Tom and Helen. And their two children, Anthony and Ruby. The smoke detectors would have woken them, but there were none. That was just one disadvantage of living in the slums.
  Finally, Tom caught a whiff of the smoke and snapped awake. "Helen!" He screamed, jerking her awake. " We have to get the kids! The house is on fire!"
  Young Anthony woke to a burning sensation in his nose. He remembered that smell, that of wood burning.  Anthony jumped out of bed and went to the window. There was smoke- black smoke rolling against the glass.  He ran to his little sister's bed and scooped her into his arms. 
  Suddenly, his Dad burst through the door. "Good boy!" Tom said. "Get her out of here!" He guided his son down the hallway - which was now illuminated by flames.
  "But what about Mom?!" Anthony asked.
  "I'll get her!" Tom replied. "You two go!" As Anthony started down the stairs, he saw movement amongst the flames from his parents room.  A dark figure emerges from the flames. "Go, son!' Tom said, taking a fighting stance. Anthony forces himself to look away and sprinted from the inferno.  He ran all the way to the Youth Center. Sensei Wyatt would know what to do. Anthony set Ruby down, causing her to wake up and cry. Anthony pounded on the door with all his strength. " Sensei Wyatt! Open up!"  Sensei Wyatt opened the door within seconds. He was wearing shorts, a tank top, and his dog tags.
  "Whoa!" He said, scooping both children into his grip. " What's going on?"  Wyatt gave Anthony and Ruby a blanket, and some hot chocolate. Then he listened to Anthony tell him what he had seen. Anthony was quite young,but Wyatt called the Police anyway.  Both kids did smell like smoke after all.
An hour and a half later...
  Wyatt's telephone rang,and he snatched it from the receiver,so as not to wake the children. "Hello?" He said.
  Mr. Wyatt, this is Detective Reynolds. We spoke earlier?"
  "Yes," Wyatt said. " Are Tom and Helen alright?"
  The detective sighed. "Mr. Mason and his wife burned alive. Neither of them even made it out of their bedroom."
  Wyatt's heart dropped. "But what about what the boy saw?" He asked.
" I believe the boy imagined it all. " Reynolds said. " He was suffering from smoke inhalation and terrified on top of that. In fact, probably need to have both kids checked out tomorrow. "
  The next morning, Wyatt let Anthony and Ruby sleep late. He saw no need to wake them, especially since all he had for them was bad news. When they finally woke, Anthony wasted no time.
  " When can we see Mommy and Daddy?"