Messiah Smiley

419 Churchill Lane

“As soon as I turned into the neighborhood, I saw it. I saw the horrendous sight of 419 Churchill Lane surrounded by blaring sirens and dense gray smoke that lit up red and blue with each flash of the siren and blanketed the surrounding area with ash and ember. I was stricken with shock, almost constricting my body, then a rush of adrenaline hit me once I recalled that my wife and twins were in there. I sped the car up to arrive as fast as possible and instantly jumped out of the car once there, forgetting– and frankly, not caring in that moment of time– to remove my key from the ignition and close the door behind me. I blazed towards the door as aggressively as the fire was blazing before I was stopped by a fireman who told me ‘Sir, this fire is too intense for…’ That was all I heard before I shoved him out of my way and sped towards the door. The fire was not nearly as intense as my fear that my family was still in there and my foolish impulse to rush in and save them, even though I was totally unprepared to enter the fire that seemed to reach the heavens and that burned as hot as hell. And that’s when I saw a sight so… so… so grim I wouldn’t even wish it upon the lunatic who killed my father.