Faith

A story about time, faith, and love

CHAPTER Six

“Bow ties are cool.” I loved bow ties. Just compare them to normal ties. They look so formal and so fancy. But you didn’t have to be at a fancy dress competition to wear one.

My father was scooping up his last strands of pasta when he said, “That was a great meal, son.” His eyes grew open wide, as he stood up. "Son..." I stood next to him when he whispered, “There’s a man in our backyard.” I turned around. Our eyes locked. And the last thing I remembered before I fell unconscious was him taking out a flamethrower.

*****

Something was stopping my eyes from opening. I felt heat rub across the whole of my right side. I needed to see. I needed to see! I rolled around so my nose was touching the ground. Ahh. Much better. I opened them and then rolled back around to see where I was. I was lying down on the carpet, in the dining room. With a piece of the roof about to fall on top of me.

Oh crap! I stood up as fast as I could and ran to...to...where?! There was fire surrounding me. Everywhere I looked - fire. I would have to make a dash to the Boulevard. I looked up and saw the roof slowly peeling off, like an orange peel. This is it.

I leaped towards the door and then ran. Ran like I never ever had ran before. Adrenaline ran through my legs, my heart pumping like constant beeping of a heart monitor. Faster and faster and faster and faster, until I thought it would blow up. I squinted my eyes as the wind gushed past me and hit my ears. I felt the heat starting to wade off behind me. I turned around, still running, as I saw what had become of our house.

The modern facade had disappeared and had now turned into an old, rotting, skeleton. The wooden frames which were left were being engulfed by the fire, charcoaled black smears of paint sprinting down them. It was impossibly hard to say that the house was ever more than a single-story, yet if you said that either, people would still laugh. I watched as our house - our only house - burned down to the ground.

I turned back around and stopped walking. Abba was limping his way over to me as I ran to help support him. It was only then when I saw the burn marks he had on his arms and legs.

"Oh my god...what happened to you?! We have to get to a hospital..."

"No...no...I'll be alright...no need for going to a hospital." I sighed. I knew it. He knew it. We both knew what was stopping us - the price. Oh, we should've moved to Canada... I tossed those thoughts away and sat Dad down in the car.

"We're going to the hospital to get you all fixed up." I knew what was coming next. We had already experienced it. Hell.

*****

I sat in the hospital hallway, crying. I was asking myself how this happened. Who was that man? How did he get into our house? How did he have a flamethrower?! A nurse came over and asked me if anything was wrong when I quickly wiped my tears and politely replied with a no. What did she know about what I had gone through in my life?

It was then when I heard footsteps racing down the hallway.

“GERONIMOOOOOO!” I arched my back and looked to the left to try and get a better look at what was happening. No way. How was he here? Him and his companion slid down the hallway all the way up to...to...me? Were they here for me?

“Ah, now, are you by any chance Charles...Charles Smith?” I could now see him close-up, and I instantly loved his outfit. His hairstyle: a 90’s slick to the side, with a small side fringe covering the left part of his forehead. A blue collared shirt, which hid the tail of his bowtie. I stared at his bowtie for a second or two. The navy blue colour, with little white dots on it. Over all of this was a brown, striped coat, which looked like it had been made of cloth. Two buttons were done up, formally, yet casually.

“Hello…?” I snapped out of the trance I was in. “Ah, there we are! So as I was saying–” I interrupted him.

“Yes, yes, I am Charles Smith.” The Doctor, Abba called him.

‘Ah, well, we’ve come to the right place, haven’t we?” He looked over to the other man.

“Yes...indeed, we have. Now shut up, and let’s introduce ourselves.” I wanted to smile a little bit. But I didn’t. I didn’t know who the hell these two people were. They could be kidnappers for all I know.

“I’m The Doctor,” he said with a wide grin on his face. As he said this, he straightened his bowtie.

“Sherlock.” The other man raised his hand for me to shake. “Sherlock Holmes.”