Fate

Fate                                                                                                               

I watch as Tatum came to visit me.

 A special day for her, she had graduated from college.

She looked beautiful, dressed in her graduation hat, her dark maroon robes, her dark brown hair tied into a bun, with little flowers all through it, matching the yellow roses she carried in her hands.

I was there when she graduated, along with Mum and Dad. We are all very proud of her. Tatum, all grown up.

“So, a big day? Huh?” I asked and she smiled and looked down.

“It was very busy today, the whole place was full.” She confirmed.

“And you?” I asked, “You must be happy it is all over and done with?”

“It has been a stressful course, it had its ups and downs but I think I will miss it.” She nodded.

“I am sure you will.” I agreed.

I smiled as she rearranged her bunch of roses. Pretty soon Tatum will be helping the community being the doctor she was destined to be.

But it has been a long journey it was not always this easy for Tatum, I remember around seven years ago…

Tatum had come home from school by the bus and had opened the door to her house to get started on a ton of homework.

Her parents were yet to get back home, her father having left the house hours before to start a night shift at the local gas-station and her mother was on a week-long business trip.

Tatum was a quiet kid. Mature well before most of the other fifteen year olds in her grade.                       A contrast to her brother, Danil, who was seventeen. They were polar-opposites yet that got along beautifully, like butter and bread.

“So how was school?” Danil asked turning around from the home computer as Tatum entered the living room.

On this day, Danil had gotten a lift from a friend to home and had arrived there before Tatum had from travelling on the bus.

“Not bad. You?” Tatum asked dumping her school bag at the front door and then dumping a few math’s books on the couch before flicking on the TV.

“Same.” Danil shrugged as he continued working on a document on the computer.

“What are you working on? Your resume?” Tatum asked coming over to her brother and looking over his shoulder at the document on the screen.

“Yup.” Danil nodded proud of his one-thousand and eighty word resume.

Tatum giggled before pointing at the document, “If you want to be a fire-fighter, at least learn to spell the job or are you wanting to be a fire-fighter?”

“Shut up.” Danil laughed pushing his little sister away jokingly, “Don’t you have homework to do?”

“Yeah.” Tatum sighed, “I will start it now.” She grumbled before taking a seat on the couch and got buried in studying.

It was a couple of hours later before Tatum finished her maths homework.

“I got some pizza ready, you want some?” Danil asked coming out from the kitchen, the warm, tranquil smell of pizza wafted through the house.

Tatum nodded and raced over to the table to get her favourite chair, the one that Danil and her were constantly in competition for to sit on it—really it was just an ordinary chair.

 “Aww, come on!” Danil exclaimed as he saw Tatum take the prized place, “I even cooked the pizza and everything!”

“By cooking it, you mean putting the frozen one, Mum bought a few weeks ago, in the oven.” Tatum laughed.

“Yeah, what of it?” Danil grinned before cutting Tatum a piece around the size of a  third of the whole pizza and dishing himself the rest.

“I thought fire-fighters were meant to keep fit.” Tatum said pointing to the over-sized piece of pizza on Danil’s plate.

“Yep.” Danil smiled, “That’s what the orange juice is for.” He said pointing to his cup full of fresh organic orange juice.

“Aha.” Tatum nodded raising her eyebrows not convinced.

Danil laughed and he and Tatum ate their dinner in silence.

Smoke…burning…flames…fire…fire? FIRE!

Danil woke up having fallen asleep on the couch after dinner and then watching a marathon of The Avengers.

Danil got up, coughing a little as the heavy smoke entered his mouth, the room seemed engulfed by a blanket of red and orange everywhere he looked.

Tatum! Where the hell was Tatum?

Danil looked at his watch; 11:30pm.

Surely Tatum would be sound asleep by now? So she would be in her room. Decision made, go to Tatum’s room.

Danil raced upstairs, shirt over his mouth to stop breathing in anymore smoke than necessary. The whole house was rapidly burning.

The flames seemed to chase Danil up the stairs, licking at the skin on his arms, but he was too fast for the flames to latch on.

Not much time to get out of here. Tatum’s room. Yes! Found her! Tatum’s asleep.

Danil picked up Tatum who stirred a little.

“Tatum, I am going to throw a mattress out of the window. You have to climb outside and jump down onto it.” Danil quickly told Tatum as he through the mattress on her bed out the window.

“What?” Tatum asked waking up in seconds, “Why…Oh sh*t!”

“Yeah. I know.” Danil nodded, “Just climb out the window, ok? I’ll be right behind you.”

Tatum nodded and climbed out of the newly smashed window as quickly as she could before jumping down and landing safely on the mattress.

“Sweetie, are you alright?” a neighbour asked as she rushed over to Tatum, “It’s alright, we’ve called the fire brigade and ambulance.”

Tatum nodded her thanks and watched anxiously as Danil neared the window…a burning curtain rod…falling… hitting Danil’s back…screams…ambulance sirens…fire engine sirens…strangers asking questions…getting examined…feeling faint…in the ambulance…

Present Time…

“It’s been seven years, now, hasn’t it?” I asked Tatum, “You should learn to let go.”

“My aim for life is to be like that. To save people’s lives. That’s the biggest reason I aimed to be a doctor.” She muttered tears in her eyes.

“You are going to make a great one.” I assured her and place my hand upon her shoulder.

Tatum sighed and knelt down and placed the roses she was holding on a grave, the tombstone read the name; Danil Jaiden Wright – my tombstone.

“Aww geez Tatum.” I sighed, “You should keep the flowers. It’s your special day, not mine.”

“You’re my hero forever, Danil.” She murmured as she made the sign of the cross and silently prayed.

“Go on Tatum.” I told her, “Don’t worry about me, I am fine. My fate has been and gone, now it’s time you found yours.”

Tatum got up and walked drearily away. I smiled and watched my little sister leave, if I could of, I would have walked with her back home.

My life was gone but I knew that many more would be saved with my sister