Wild Fire

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. They were a burnt mix of brown and bright yellow. The life was slowly fading away from them. Smoke billowed throughout the trees around my home. Honestly, I was a bit surprised it spread so quickly. The tv blared in the living room. Some reporter going on about a local wildfire. I’d like to see that reporter get this close to it. I want them to taste the burning tree sap. Nobody would be crazy enough to make their way up here now. There’s far too much smoke for that. If they could only hear how loud the forest crackles as it turns to ash. They would tremble before this magnificent show.

Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt. My phone lit up with a picture of my daughter, Jane. I think it’s sweet for her to call and check up on me. I can’t bear to answer it. Luckily, she is hundreds of miles away from this mess. She grew up in this house. I laughed as I remembered all the times she told me she hated living in the woods. She wasn’t kidding either. Jane went away for college and never looked back. I sat down on her bed, holding her favorite teddy bear. It was purple, with a big white heart in the middle of it. I traced the heart with my finger. It reminded me of a little girl with red hair, and red cheeks just like her mother. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt.

Over one-thousand residents evacuated so far they say. I wonder how they could leave a place so beautiful and full of life, or at least it was anyway. How could they let the fire chase them out? “A captain must always go down with their ship,” I murmured to myself. What a beautiful way to go. After the flames consume my soul, I will be reborn amongst the saplings. A phoenix analogy is all to obvious. Part of me still gets excited thinking about a helicopter coming and saving me. “Oh, forget it.” I don’t need to be saved. I know exactly where I needed to be. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt.

The sad part is, all the animals were gone too. Not a sound of a single bird chirping, or little scavengers rustling around for food. I enjoyed watching the hawks swoop down at their prey. The way they dove down with one hundred percent certainty that they had caught themselves a meal. I wish I could be that confident. That’s all gone now. All the hopes and dreams of every person and every animal around here is literally up in smoke. Sorry for the bad pun, that made me chuckle just a little bit. My dream will come to fruition soon, I can smell it. It’s not that different than the campfires we used to have all the time in the backyard. I loved watching the light from the campfire on Melony’s face. We would spend hours back there. I went outside to take one more look. After this, I don’t really need to see it coming. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt.

Well, there’s no turning back now. Blinding smoke engulfs the air in front of my porch. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, realizing how hard it was to build that damn porch. Melony just had to have ipé imported from South America to build it. Light and dark wood planks stretch across the floor in perfect harmony. She said how pretty and durable it was. I didn’t really care, but I would have done anything to see that woman smile. That porch will be the first thing to burn. I hold my hands over my eyes to shield them from the stinging smoke. I closed my patio door and raced to the bathroom. As I splashed cold water on my face, my blood shot eyes stared back at me. I don’t even recognize that person anymore. This is the beginning of my transformation. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt.

I knew it would be hard to breathe from the smoke. I knew that if I was still alive by the time the fire got to my body, it would be excruciatingly painful. I could burn a thousand times and it wouldn’t hurt as much as losing her did. I will suffer the same fate as all those trees outside. We will be turned to mere ash, blowing in the wind on a cool autumn night. The forest will rebuild itself slowly. I will never be made whole again. I picked up a picture that Jane got framed for my birthday. Those were happier times. It was a thick, brown frame. We took Jane fishing for the first time when she was eight. We didn’t even catch any fish, but we had a great time together. She’s standing there holding an invisible fish to show something for our efforts. I would give anything to go back to that day. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt.

When they first started urging people to evacuate, I thought about how I would make this play out if the fire ever made it all the way up here. I figured I would just take a whole lot of sleeping pills and doze off. I probably wouldn’t feel a thing. Then again, maybe I wanted to feel something. I haven’t been able to feel in quite some time now. I slowly drew back the curtain on one of the windows. It was so smoky I could only make out a tree or two. It’s probably better this way. I’d hate to see the house catch on fire and panic. I already told myself there was no turning back. Bzzzzt. Bzzzzt.

I went to my bedroom and sat down on the bed. I opened the drawer to my nightstand and grabbed the bottle of pills. My hands trembled as I popped the cap off. I took a deep breath and shoveled a handful of pills in my mouth. I picked up my revolver out of the drawer, holding the wooden handle tight. The engraving on the side of it says M & S Forever. The gun is heavy, fully loaded, and I’ve put it to my head several times. I could never pull the trigger because Melony would never hurt me. I also wouldn’t want Jane to find me like that. I know I sound crazy, but that is exactly why this was the perfect opportunity for me.

I walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. The pills kicked in, making it hard to focus. All the lights and the tv shut off. This area always has power outages. I was used to them. Not that that mattered anymore anyway. I dropped my gun on the coffee table. Bright orange flames crept up around the windows. Thick, black smoke found its way through them. My phone is dark and quiet. I really missed my opportunity to say goodbye. Melony did always call me a stubborn old man. My heart raced, watching the front porch burn through the windows. I was supposed to be asleep for this part! Why am I not asleep yet? I picked my gun up and put it underneath my chin. I pulled the hammer back, click. The gun shakes in my hand.

The back-window shattered into a million pieces; glass flew everywhere. I closed my eyes harder than I’d ever closed them. I wished myself asleep more than I had ever done before. The back door flew open, causing it to slam against the wall. I opened my eyes and put the gun down. A dark figure stands there. Is this the grim reaper here to take me? Am I already dead? It had the most angelic voice I’ve ever heard. I couldn’t make out any of the words, but I felt a sense of calm. “Please, let me see Melony now,” I cried.

The figure replied, “Daddy!”