Fire, an element that can bring warmth in a time of need or destruction in the most unpredictable and unwanted ways. I always had an interest in fire, a wild dancer with its own spotlight that grew brighter and feistier as it consumed everything in sight, including itself. I watched as the fire twirled and leapt from wall to wall, and crawled across the ceiling before shimmering down to the carpeted floor. Its movements were quick and aimless as it littered the spacious hallway with plaster and broken glass from fallen picture frames. The flames left an array of blacken trails that made it difficult to figure out where it started and where it would end. My eyes remained enthralled by its display as it freely danced without a care, whirling it's intense heat all around. It swayed past my sneakers as it swirled and tiptoed over the charred bodies of my parents.
They're dead. No point in denying it and the tears that brimming on the edge of my eyelids blurring my vision could not erase reality. Their blackened arms stretched out towards one another in a desperate attempt to reach the other; but only the tip of their fore and middle fingers managed to touch. The gleam of their unusual wedding bands caught my eye, two crows with ruby eyes they claimed matched my own, and glowed exceptionally bright as they reflected the surging inferno that raged on. I knelt down and touched the rings ignoring the slight burn I felt from the hot metal. The skin was rough and dry but I held on tight to each ring and slowly slipped them from their fingers. The skin of their fingertips was slightly melted together, almost similar to the relationship their shared when they were alive, always glued to the other. I held each finger with a bit of force before slowly pulling them apart. I tried my best to pull the skin apart slowly, only to feel the frown on my face grow deeper as my mother's fingertip began to peel away; exposing tiny veins as the blood gradually oozed out of the wound. When the rings finally slipped off I held each one tightly as I laid down on the blackened cream carpet perpendicular to their outstretched arms. My feet brushing against the glass and plaster left behind from the fallen family portrait taken during my tenth birthday last year. The picture had long curled from the intensity of the heat, but for some reason the heat no longer bothered me. At first it was so intense as if I had begun to descended into the mouth of a volcano, but now I drew comfort from the heat. The once searing flames that began to brown my pale skin and burned the small hairs on my exposed arms, now felt like the heat from my dad's intense bear hugs he would cage me in when I scored the winning touch down, or when I got the highest grade on a test, it was suffocatingly warm.
"That's my boy!" he would brazenly shout in a thundering voice while his dark brown eyes would crinkle in excitement as he'd run towards me. His herculean arms would lock tightly around my wire frame as he buried me into his chest. "Thats an Eunike male for ya! Victory is in our blood!"
Sssszzzz. I could hear the slight sizzling sound as I turned my head to the right to stare at the top of my fathers head. The slight crackling noise coming from his burnt scalp was very similar to the thick bacon he always begged Mom to cook. At the thought of my mother, I turned my head to the left and started at her thin black wiry hair, a complete contrast to the thick honey blonde waves that cascaded down her back and flipped like a supermodel when she spin in circles out of excitement. This was a weird routine Dad always teased her for, but she would smile brightly just before sticking her tongue out at him. A rosey blush would fill her pale cheeks as she breathed heavily with excitement, like a child drugged out on candy and soda.
"You're just jealous that I can dance better than you" she'd laugh. Her light voice similar to that of a singer, but sadly she didn't have the vocals to back it up; but that never stopped her from belting out a Dolly Parton song.
Now her tongue lolled out of her mouth, not in her usual teasing gesture, but because the tendons and muscles in her jaw were burnt to ashes. Her once pearly white smile, now stained brown, began to cross as her cheek slowly descended to the carpet; the muscles no longer supporting her chin that leaned upwards towards my dad, probably to get one last glance at him. Why won't the fire hurry up and consume me already?
"Ryan!" a voice shouted through a wall of flames. I stared at it hoping that it was the final curtain being drawn and the flames would finally descend on me as well. But suddenly a dark figure jumped through, his arms shielding him from the heat. When he finally moved I realized that the voice was Mr. Ashford shouting for me to get up. My dad's best friend from the special forces during his time in the military. His grey eyes frantic as he looked at the scene before him. I watched as his eyes became clouded with a pained look of heartbreak as he watched the charred bodies that laid crumpled just above my head. Why didn't he come earlier? If he did maybe he wouldn't have that look on his face and I wouldn't feel the slightly overheated tears brush past my temples. I listened as his feet pounded on the floor as he raced towards me, but I still didn't move. I didn't want to.
"Fuck, Samantha, Xander," Mr. Ashford cursed as he picked me up. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," he began to cry he as quickly wrapped his jacket around me to cover me from the flames. I remained limp in his arms as carried me back down the hall, away from the two figures that was once my family. The fire continued to dance like an uncoordinated ballerina, jumping and twirling all around us as we finally made it to the bottom floor. When we finally bursted out of the house the crisp autumn air felt like winters piercing gust on my exposed skin making me shiver uncontrollably. I coughed loudly as the fresh air filled my lungs, a motion I knew my mom and dad would never do again. My family and the memories were reduced to nothing as the two story townhouse morphed into a ball of flames. I watched as the red and orange hues grew angrier, attempting to swallow everything in its path, but I felt nothing. This numbness, is it normal?
Like paint falling into water, dark spots began to cloud my eyes, and I blissfully allowed the darkness to block out the small piece of sun that was once my house.
