The Color of Jade

Hero of the Fire

I sat on the carpet in the living room with my brothers and my parents. We were playing a game. The game though, I don't remember. We were all laughing and having a great time. Then a shatter came from upstairs.  My parents, of course, worried for us and hid in a closet downstairs, while they went to go check it out. I was pretty talkative back then, but inside that dark closet, I was silent. The only sound I could hear was our breathing and my parent's footsteps upstairs.

The faint smell of smoke told me something was wrong. Very wrong. I opened the door to the closet and the smell of smoke intensified greatly. It stung my eyes, making tears blur my vision. Heavy footsteps were rushing down the steps as flames engulfed the ceiling. My father ran past me to the closet, while my mother picked me up. My father handed her my littlest brother and they carried us towards the door. They stayed low as the world around me collapsed and burst into hot flames. I was suddenly placed outside on the soft wet grass next to my brother. My mother was putting the other two outside with me, and just as she put down the last of us, wooden boards came down and blocked the front door.

My parents were trapped inside the burning house.

A small bit of light caught my eye and I could hear faint sirens in the distance. My heart was pounding and I was shaking terribly. Billowing smoke was forming at the top of the house, while all the windows were on fire. 

"It's okay sweetheart," My mother soothed. "Everything will be okay." Tears ran down my face and the sirens were getting closer. I looked into my mothers eyes one last time before she was covered in flames.

The one place I knew, the people I loved, we gone. The last thing I remember was the words my mother whispered to me.

"Be brave, my little gemstone. Be brave."