From the Ashes

It seemed like an average Summer night. Peaceful, with crickets playing their night music, and fireflies twinkling like stars that had come to visit. Laughter rang out from the firehouse as a group of firefighters played poker around a rickety table.

Aiden Brand loved his job, and was a good friend to those that knew him. He had short black hair, with gentle green eyes, that at this current moment, were twinkling with mirth as he saw the Captain lay down two pair. In his hand he held a full house of queens over sixes, but before he could lay them down, the fire alarm went off and cards went flying as the men scrambled for their gear.

They pulled up to a two story house with flames roaring towards the sky, and everyone there got straight to their jobs. Aiden spotted a sooty woman coughing and trying to get away from the EMTs and back to the house, but they were keeping her back.

"Ma'am, is there anyone else left in the house?".

She nodded, trying to get her breath back, and finally managed to croak, "My daughter, Autumn." She then pointed to a window on the opposite side of the house from where the fire started, but he could see the tell-tale glow that meant it wouldn't be long before it was engulfed as well. He signaled to the Captain that he was going in, and not waiting for an answer, set his mask in place and ran.

If Hell existed on Earth, this is what it would look like. Flames licked the ceiling and dripped from burning crossbeams, while fire climbed the walls and created moving barriers wherever he tried to go. The banister was burning, and the stairs were smoking, letting him know that he only had minutes before the whole thing went up as well. Quickly, but carefully, he made his way up the groaning staircase, and had to keep his head low as the entire floor was covered in smoke and flames. Visibility was next to nothing, but keeping a hand on the wall he counted the doors until he came to the one the woman had pointed to.

The door was open, and looking up he could see the rolling waves of flame engulfing the ceiling, but not much else. As he moved forward he almost tripped over the body of a young girl. It seemed that she had been sleeping when the fire started, and had tried to get to the door when the smoke that had woken her, became too much. If he didn't get her medical treatment quickly, she could die.

Aiden picked up the unconscious girl and turned back the way he had come. He could hear the snapping of wood as it burned and kept low as he made his way back to the stairs. As they began sinking under his weight he rushed down them before they broke and flames roared where they had been.

"We're almost there, hang on just a little bit longer."

Through the smoke he could see his Captain standing in the doorway, but as he stepped forward with the girl he could hear the groan of the roof finally giving up the struggle, and had just enough time to throw the girl into the arms of the Captain before the entire ceiling came down, crushing his body in tons of burning debris..

The entire fire department showed up, along with the police force to show Aiden off. Hundreds of people came to say goodbye to the fallen hero, as his casket was walked from the church, and down the street to the cemetery. The streets were lined with people in uniforms saluting his final journey, as a little girl with red hair and teary blue eyes followed; her hand clasping tightly to her mother with a handful of flowers she had picked herself for her hero.

Final goodbyes were said, and the little girl stayed behind as the hole where Lieutenant Aiden Brand was filled, and the final glimpse of his coffin was covered by several feet of soil. When the workers departed, she was left alone, and as the sun set she laid a handful of marigolds on the freshly dug earth. With a quiet voice she said, "Thank you for the gift you've given me. I will make you proud."