Under The Ashes

Prologue

First, the smoke hit us.

        It wasn't that bad in the beginning, but by the end of the second night it had filled the streets, and settled amongst the trees. It clung to our clothes and stung our eyes. Soon enough we were all coughing from smoke inhalation.

Then the ash started to fall.

        It rained down like snow. Vehicles were covered in it. It wouldn't settle for long, but long enough.

        The fire started two days ago at two hectares. Since then it has grown to 3,200 hectares. I've lost count of how many properties have been evacuated. Once the flame lit it took anything and everything in its path. The first few days it blew away from town, and only burnt a few houses. When the wind picked up and turned it around our wonderful, homely town became hell.

        Flames engulfed the town and flushed everybody out. The sun turned red due to the smoke whichca cast a red glow over us. The heat was unbearable, and the smoke was worse.

        Once, when I was in grade 4 my dog, who was my best friend, was run over. I was mortified. My parents made me go to school the next day anyways. When I got to school my friends and teachers were cheery and acted as if nothing happened. It bothered me that nobody was grieving like I was.

        Now though, the whole community is panicking. There are lines at every gas station to fuel up before they run out. The grocery stores are quickly running out of food and water and other necessities. Everything has become so surreal. Neighbours are packing their trailers and leaving. That's the strangest part; it's no longer a little problem. We are making national news, and on the second day the province was declared a state of emergency. Helicopters fill the sky during the day, and more than 100 men and women are on the ground fighting the fire. Everybody is afraid, and prepared to leave when the policemen knock on our doors telling us we're on an evacuation order.

      Everything was boring four days ago. Work had become routine, and all I was worried about was seeing my best friend on my days off. Today, I'm worried about losing everything I've ever known in the blink of an eye. There's something very surreal about choosing which things you value enough to take with you, and which things to leave behind and let burn. When we put our home town in our rearview mirror we expected the fire to burn it all to the ground. That's exactly what it did.