Short Stories: Frostcup Oneshots

What we lost in the fire - ONESHOT

It happened suddenly in the late hours of the night, lighting the sky brighter than any sunset or sunrise, coating the sky in a thick blanket of red smoke as the fire flickered against the dry oak. I remember waking up to a warm haze, my vison blurred by the thick smoke that circled my room, and diving deep into my lungs.

I coughed as I pulled the collar of my shirt to my face, blocking all the smoke I could from entering my system. Nothing helped. I pulled myself up from my bed quickly, letting the covers drop to the ash coated floor boards. I coughed again as I reached for my prosthetic leg, however, I realized I had no time to put it on.

"Hiccup!" called my father, a sickening crack made me flinch as he kicked down my door. "D-Dad" I chocked, holding out my prosthetic to indicate I was helpless. Stoick growled stubbornly and rushed to my side, picking me up in his strong arms and bolting, my vison fading.

Everything in that moment happened to fast for me to comprehend, so, when I was launched from my father's arms and onto the fire red floor, my vison snapped back.

I raised my head up to see my father, reaching a hand out towards me, my fake leg tucked under his folded fingers and in the center of his large palm. "Dad!" I screamed, now noticing that his lower back was held under a burning stack of debris. "Hiccup!" my mother, Valka, screamed for my attention, saying it was no use even though the words pained her.

I cried as my father smiled weakly, whispering "you make me proud...to call you....m-my son" as he handed me my prosthetic, his eyes rolling back as he died right in front of me. "Dad!" I cried as my mother took my shoulders, pulling me to my feet the best she could. "Let's hurry" she whispered as we hurried out of the ashen air and into the blue night light.

It happened quicker than I could blink. The fire, my father's death, and the fading of the flames. I lost many things in that fire that night, however, those things could be replaced. The death of my father could not be and that struck me harder than anything I have ever experienced in my life.

.

It was now spring, 2015. Two long years after the fire and my father's death, and two long years of moving trucks and boxes and new homes. No matter how hard my mother tried, she just couldn't find a place that suited us for longer than two months. It was one of those moments.

I sat in my mother's car, with arms crossed and a hardened scowl on my face, as we drove down a silent neighborhood. "Oh cheer up Hiccup, I have a really good feeling about this place" Valka chirped as she tried to lighten the mood, it didn't work.

"Right, that's what you said about the last ten places we moved out of" I grumbled, rolling my eyes and looking out the window. "I know, but at least give this place a chance." She began, her voice persuading. "I mean, who knows, you might find a nice boy to settle down with"

I rolled my eyes and sighed bitterly. Don't get me wrong, I love my mother with all my heart, but when it came to my love interests, she was a little too keen on finding me someone to be happy with.

"Mom, I think can handle my love life, I'm 20." I said stubbornly as we rolled into our new drive way, parking with little to none excitement. "Okay, here we are" my mother squealed as she unclipped her seat belt, opening her side door and stepping out into the fresh air.

I sighed and unclipped myself as well, and rubbed my palm to my forehead before stepping out of the car. I slowly closed the door and looked around. It was a small place with houses of different sizes and colors galore. I looked to my new home and bit back a smile; it was a large home with two floors—three if you count the basement—and it was painted a light yellow with a white trim.