The Fire (A True Story)

Even though the fire was blazing, warmth was nowhere to be found for my family. But together, we got past it, hand in hand.

It was my seventh grade year and I was decorating for Halloween with my family all weekend in hopes our house would be the scariest for the upcoming Apra View walk. We hadn’t ever really had one of these and we’d lived in the same neighborhood for over six years. I really wanted this because I hadn’t really felt like the same person ever since my mental health took a toll and all of my friends were forced to PCS. Everyday they were just a block away but I assumed I’d never get home early enough to spend much time with them. Now they were gone, but it was about to get a whole lot worse and I could feel it in my bones.

“It appears your house is on fire.” I’d just been called up to the front office for what I’d thought was a dentist appointment, but to my surprise, it was actually a hundred times worse! My house had just been destroyed, and I didn’t even really know what to think. “How will we get home?!” I asked with fear in my eyes. My mom didn’t respond, but I’d later discovered that some of my mom’s coworkers would be driving my mom and I back home.

Once we’d finally arrived, I ran out of that car as fast as I could. My stepmom wasn’t crying anymore, but I knew she had been, not only because of the red in her eyes and the saggy bags around her eyes but because of the circumstances. Before that day, I don’t think I’d ever really seen her cry. I knew she was just like me; she was obviously able to cry, but unlike me, she was very tough. Although I didn’t appear very worried on the outside, on the inside, I wanted to bang my head on a brick and forget everything that happened that day. I was never a child who was all about puppies and rainbows. I never even knew whether I was happy or not, until now, whether I liked it or not.

I ran to my stepmom, and though she’s told me multiple times that “love is not meant to be expressed in words, hugs, or kisses, but by caring for one another”, I really thought she needed a hug. This time I think I was right. For the longest time, I felt that warmth. Either way, at the time, it was the only thing comforting me, and I liked that.

After I’d heard the entire story about the dryer and all, I asked the firemen what had happened and when we could go back inside. We didn’t even have a place to live and they wanted us to get our items out by ourselves?! But I wanted to know more. “Your house is uninhabitable.” The fireman said. “It means you can’t live there anymore due to the conditions.” I knew what it meant! Half my life I’d lived in that house, and it was gone in minutes.

In the meantime, our new neighbor invited us to stay with her inside her house until we could find a hotel that would allow a dog to stay in it along with the four of us. She was super nice, and she’d do anything to make us comfortable, but what she couldn’t do was get rid of the unpleasant smell of smoke in the gruesome house next door we’d called home for so long.

When it was safe enough, I went inside the old house with my stepmom to take pictures. What I saw was not a home and I wondered if anyone would ever be able to call it home again. I tried myself to stop, but my mind just went crazy and I couldn’t help thinking about how this monstrosity had been our home for over 6 years.

After gathering food, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and water bottles for the upcoming typhoon, we headed for Wyndham Garden Inn hotel. Once we’d settled down we began to eat our dinner. I honestly don’t know what was better about dinner, that it was chicken tinaktak or the fact there were no veggies!

That day was just about the longest day I think we’ve ever experienced, and the stench of smoke in the hotel did not help us forget. The room was not only filled with the presence of smoke, but also so small that not all of us could sleep on a bed. My brother would have to sleep on the couch and I’d have no choice but to take the frigid floor.

This continued on for a while and it soon got tiring. After the same routine everyday for weeks, it was time to clean out our house. The hotel we’d be transferring to was one in Lockwood, but it was more of a house than a hotel. It felt very homey at the time. I continued to go to school, as well as run Cross Country, then rode back home. Of course, the time came that we would have to clean out our house, but that was already in November. The best part about this was that my brother was in Boy Scouts and the Boy Scouts offered to help!

The house reeked of smoke and soot got in our eyes. The Boy Scouts came, and even though there were only several of us, we were making progress. We dusted and wiped down furniture, hosed down hangers, and soaped the pipes we’d used to create racks. Then the time came for us to lift the heavy furniture out of our house, and put the mostly destroyed objects out on the curb for the trash people to collect. We then lifted all of the bags of stuff into a platform attached to Mr. J.T.’s car. In the end, we put in seven long hours of work then celebrated with pizza!

The next day, there weren’t quite as many Boy Scouts helping out, but I knew we’d manage. We worked, and worked until 6 o'clock and celebrated with KFC, then everyone headed home. It was nice, and even though our garage smelled of sut, the new hotel smelled amazing!

Finally, it was time to move our items into our new house, in Lockwood. We really wanted one in Apra View, like our old one, but we didn’t get one. Really, what we hoped for was to move to Andersen so we could just walk to school each morning, but instead they planted us right next to McCool, my former school. “You’d just have to transfer back again and there's no point in doing that.” my mom said. I knew it sounded illogical, but I really, really wanted to go to McCool. But then again, she was probably right, like she always was.

By Sunday night, we’d yet again accomplished the task of moving all our furniture to the house. The Boy Scouts mostly did the heavy lifting, and I did the cleaning with C.J., one of the younger Boy Scouts. I’d been working on the same task for 2 hours, and the trash bags were flooding with paper towels, wipes, and tissues and napkins: we’d run out of actual cleaning equipment. The good thing about the dresser being black is that it was impossible to tell if it was burnt or not!

We were full of relief, knowing that we’d no longer be moving constantly.

This was it. We were finally done moving from place to place every other month. It felt amazing to finally have a house again, and really feel at home. Our dog wouldn’t be afraid of moving anymore for there would be no more. My brother and I could once again go on our long walks we’d been missing, and talk to each other about whatever we wanted to. And our parents could stop worrying.

But despite all the pros, there were still cons, just like there'd be in any other situation.The cons were that we’d no longer be continuing our adventure of finding a new place to live and we weren’t the slightest bit familiar with the house we’d be moving into, along with any of the people there. Most of the kids I’d known from McCool most likely had moved by then.

The days flew by and I still hadn’t gotten used to this new place and some nights I’d hear my stepmom crying but once we’d really settled into our new place, we realized how homey it truly was. We’d finally accepted that that was our new home and it wasn’t long before we’d considered it our home. With two holidays just around the corner, we couldn’t have been happier!

Not long after Thanksgiving, Christmas Break had come and I wanted to do something special for my family, so I silently snuck out some of my mom’s coasters from her classroom. Although I only had fifty dollars from babysitting, everything was on clearance so I could even afford a small toy for our dog, Camie!

Christmas Break did more than just bring us closer together, it also gave us a chance to get used to our new home. We sang karaoke, baked cookies, watched movies, and danced with one another. I honestly didn’t feel like our old house was any homier than our new.

Warmth reached my family before the end of that year. Warmth touched our hearts, and brought us closer together. Everything happens for a reason. The reason we had the fire, I believe, was to bring us closer together and now we are inseparable.

Life is tough, but the more one thinks about if they are happy or not, the more unhappy one becomes. Life is a gift. Happiness is not guaranteed. Only those who make an effort to be happy will succeed. Those who enjoy the attention they receive when they grieve, shall grieve.