Pyromaniac

1

"Mommy?"

"Yes, Rosie baby?"

"Grammy said that when the power goes out, it's because God flipped a switch he shouldn't have."

The mother laughed and hugged the small child. "Well, let's ho-"

She was cut off by a sharp beeping in the hall. The mother knit her brows and stood up. When she got to the door, she felt the ground beneath her was growing warmer. The woman picked up her daughter and ran down the stairs. Smoke was seeping from a room in the back of the house.

"Rosie, baby, I have to go find Daddy. I need you to go to Mr. John's house and tell him to call for help."

"Ok, Mommy." The small girl ran to her neighbor's house and knocked on the door. A young man opened it, surprised to see the child.

"Hello, Rose. Where are your parents? Is something wrong?"

"Mommy said you need to call help." The girl was obviously oblivious to what was happening. The young man looked over to his neighbor's house and saw flames creeping up the back wall.

"Holy sh-" he ran inside and called 911. A few minutes later firemen came. Rose was sitting in John's lap, tracing the tattoos on his arm. Her parents hadn't come out of the house.

The firemen doused the house with water. One walked over to John and simply shook his head.

"John?"

"Yes, Rose?"

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

There was a long silence. What was he supposed to say? She was only six.

"Rose... your parents are, um, well, they're somewhere else now."

"Like vacation? Last summer they went on vacation for a week, and I stayed with Grammy."

"No, not a vacation. Rose... There was a fire in your house. That's why the firemen had to come."

"But firemen save people from fires. Right?"

John rubbed his temple. What could he say to this poor girl?

"John? Are Mommy and Daddy in heaven? Is that why you don't want to tell me?"

The young man held the child, his eyes welling with tears.

"Yes, Rose. They're in heaven now."