The fire burned all around the nine year old boy. Smoke filled his lungs, and pain seared through his aching body. “Daddy,” he cried, “DADDY!”
Fifteen-year-old Kyle Martins jerked awake with a cry, a dream. It had all been a dream. “Calm down Ky,” he whispered. “It was a dream, just a dream, the nightmare’s over. It’s been a long time since that day; the fire’s been out a long time.”
“Ky?” his sleepy foster brother’s head poked up from the other bed. “You okay?”
“Yeah, Nate,” came his whispered reply as he traced the burn scars covering his arms. “Yeah, I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”
“Are you sure?” concern radiated from Nate’s face. He had seen Kyle like this before and knew that his brother was lying.
“I’m sure. Go to bed.” Kyle clutched his teddy bear close to him. The bear was care-worn and burned in places; patches covered its body, and the bear smelled of smoke. But despite all, Kyle pulled the bear closer to him. He didn’t care how weird other guys thought him. The bear was his last connection to his past, to his home, to his family, his last connection to his dad.
The summer sun shone brightly down on the two figures walking across the meadow. Father and son, hand-in-hand, the two came to a halt.
“This looks like a good place,” the man said, setting the basket down. “What do you think, Ky?”
The boy’s bright eyes surveyed the ground around them, and then he agreed. “Sure, Daddy, this is a good place.” In a spell the blanket was laid out, and the basket was unpacked.
Slowly as the afternoon unfolded, the two did all the things that many fathers and sons do, in many places. Eventually the two fell to talking. Kyle began to tell his father about the bullies at school and how he was sometimes scared of them. “Are you ever afraid, Daddy?” Kyle asked.
“Of course, everybody is sometimes afraid. But you know what?”
“What?”
“No matter how scared you are your fears are never too big to be faced. I will never be more proud of you than when you come up against your biggest fear and face it head on.”
The blaring of an alarm clock radio brought Kyle out of the dream. He was almost grateful. If it had lasted much longer, he would have had to relive the events of later that day, relive the fire, his father’s death. Having that happen twice in one night was more then he could bear. The radio announcer’s words suddenly broke in on his thoughts. “Snow blanketed much of the area last night, causing schools to be closed in the following districts…”
Kyle took a mental checklist as the announcer reeled off the district names and heaved a sigh of relief when his was mentioned. Quietly, he turned off the alarm clock and walked over to the window. Snow was all that could be seen in all directions. The
landscape was only broken by a small shed, which sat at a couple hundred meters away. Kyle smiled. There were times when he liked living in the country.
Suddenly, Nate awoke with a start, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“That’s what the alarm clock’s for. Besides, we have a snow day, so you can go back to sleep if you want.”
“That’s okay.” Getting up, Nate moved to stand next to Kyle. “About last night…”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Suddenly, their mom appeared at the door and said, “Glad to see you boys are up. It snowed last night, and we need someone to shovel the driveway. Also, Jack has been up for half an hour, and I told him he couldn’t go out until one of you two went with him.” With a groan, the two got up and went down the stairs to start another day.
That night, after the snow had been shoveled and the hill near their house was so covered with boot prints and sled tracks that it no longer appeared to have any snow on it, Nate’s father lit a fire in the fireplace, and the family gathered around it. Nate sat with his parents and Jack on the couch. Kyle was curled up in the corner, as far from the fire as he could get without actually leaving the room.
Desperately trying to look at anything but the fire, Kyle focused his gaze on Jack. He watched as Jack yawned and snuggled deeper into his daddy’s lap. Gently, his father stroked the hair out of Jack’s eyes. As he watched, a pain shot through Kyle’s heart, and
tears filled his eyes. He had been like that once, so trusting, so sure that his daddy would always be there for him, that he could protect him from any harm.
A voice broke through Kyle’s thoughts. “Ky, why don’t you move closer to the fire? You’ve got to be cold, sitting there in the corner.”
Fear showed in Kyle’s eyes as he stammered out a reply, “N-no, I-I’m fine over here. Actually, I think I’ll go upstairs if you don’t mind.” Kyle got up and fled from the room like a startled deer. Pure terror came through in his every movement.
For a moment after he left the room everyone remained silent. Finally, Nate’s dad said, “I wonder what that was all about…”
Disbelief registered on Nate’s face as he stared at his father, “You mean you don’t know?” The shock in his voice was hard to ignore. “Dad, Ky’s terrified of fire! We probably shouldn’t have lit the fire at all, `cause now he’s going to be up half the night worrying that the fire isn’t totally out and that it is going to spread. And I can’t say I blame him. One house fire is more than anyone should experience.” As he finished, the room grew deathly silent.
A few days later, new snow lay on the ground, and Kyle and Nate were back out with the shovels while Jack built a snowman nearby. As they finished, Jack began to beg to go sledding. Finally, Kyle relented. “Why don’t you go get the sleds while I head inside to get some snow pants on.”
“Okay,” Jack practically shouted, his face gleaming with excitement.
A few minutes later Kyle and Nate emerged from the building. As they stepped through the door Kyle stopped short. Shocked, he stared out across the snow. Then, he whispered, “The shed, the shed’s on fire!”
Suddenly, over the sound of the flames, Kyle heard a shout. “Help, Help me!” Jack, Jack was in the shed.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Kyle took off across the snow-covered expanse, shouting back at Nate as he went, “Get Dad. Jack’s in the shed.”
Kyle neared the shed. He hesitated, then dashed headlong into the flames. His fear didn’t matter now; nothing mattered now, nothing but getting Jack out. Bravely, he tore through the inferno until he reached the boy. Grabbing Jack up, he raced through the building, desperately trying to get out. Finally, he saw sunlight. Bracing himself, he pushed through the last few steps and reached the outside.
As he stepped through the doorway, Kyle collapsed, right into Nate’s father’s arms. “Kyle, you did it. You saved Jack.” The joy in the man’s voice was unmistakable, “You faced head on that which you were most afraid. I’m so proud of you.”
As everyone surrounded Kyle, he looked up to the sky and whispered, “Daddy, I know that you’re proud of me right now too, prouder than you’ve ever been, and all because I had the courage to face the flames.”
This was a short story I wrote for a contest and I would appreciate any input you are willing to give.
~®®§
