The Story Of A Hero

With the dinner dishes put away, Mark settled down onto his couch and another evening alone. He hadn't had a girlfriend for a few years, but that was OK. He was content to wait on God's timing and for whoever He had in store for him. And if a good woman wasn't to be in Mark's future, then so be it. God was enough. Often, Mark would watch an episode of his favorite TV show before going to bed, but tonight he decided to read a bit. He went over to the bookshelf in his small, sparsely decorated apartment, and pulled off his copy of Dawn of Wonder. He had read it many times in the past, but it never got old for him. Mark always enjoyed going through Aedan's journey with him, and seeing the outcome of his choices. He then settled in and began reading.

* * *

Mark was awakened by the smell of smoke. He slowly opened his eyes in confusion, vaguely aware that the atmosphere in his apartment had a grayish hue to it. He realized he had fallen asleep while reading. The book was lying open, face-down on his chest. He carefully picked it up and set it down on the coffee table. He stood up, bewildered. Where is that smoke coming from? He wondered. He went to the window to check if it was something outside. Nope. Then he went outside his door and into the hall. The fray that met him was so frenzied that he lost his balance. It was then that he noticed the fire alarms that were going off. And the realization hit him with full force. The building was on fire.

* * *

Joseph couldn't sleep. His wife lay beside him, content as could be, deep into dreamland. Restless, he got up and went into his kitchen. Upon looking out the window, he saw one of the upper levels in the apartment building across the street burning. Flames lit up the night sky, and smoke billowed upwards. Joseph stood for a moment, shocked. It was the sound of the screams that finally galvanized him. He jumped into action. He raced back into his bedroom, located his phone, and dialed 911.

* * *

Mark made his way through the crowded hallway and out the doors at the bottom level. As he made it outside, and looked up at his apartment on the third floor, he couldn't believe his eyes. Thankfully, he had remembered to grab his wallet on the way out. Otherwise, he'd have nothing left to his name. He could see now that the fire had likely originated somewhere on the fourth floor. Right around where old Mrs. Parker lived. Oh, no. Mark thought, as he surveyed the crowd around him and realized that Mrs. Parker was nowhere in sight. She's still in there. She'll never get out on her own, not through this crowd.

Filled with purpose, Mark made his way back to the main door, against the flow of human mania. Jostled, and tossed, Mark quickly realized that this wasn't going to work. He turned around and followed the people in the other direction until he could exit the crowd. Once back out of the fray, he mentally regrouped. The side door. He had gotten into trouble once for using it in the past, but he was pretty sure nobody would care under these circumstances. So there he went. Upon reaching the door, he sent up a quick prayer that it wasn't locked. He tried the handle. It turned, and the door opened fluidly.

Mark's body was rushing with adrenaline as he ran up the stairs all the way to the fourth floor. He navigated his way through the smoke and heat to Mrs. Parker's apartment. He rapped loudly on the door and called her name. No answer. He took a few steps back, and rammed it open. Mark could barely see due to how much thicker the smoke was in here. It was also here that he could see the flames and the damage they were actually doing. His vision was clouded by red and orange and gray, but somehow he found the older woman. She was coughing violently, huddled in a corner on the floor by her bedside, twisting the front of her nightgown in trembling fingers. She looked up and saw him.

"Oh, Mark boy," cough, cough, "how glad I am to see you right now." She offered a grateful smile. Mark swooped her up in his arms, and raced her out the door, and down the hall to the elevator, praying all the way. As he passed an apartment, he heard a child crying. Mark knew he couldn't take both Mrs. Parker and a child. Instead, he memorized the apartment number, and raced the old woman to the first able-bodied person he saw, and obtained their promise that they would get her out safely. Then he ran back to the apartment, and rammed the door in just like had done only moments before, to find a young girl, no more than eight, but by her small frame, one would think she was five. She was holding a small bundle that could only be her baby brother. But, lying lifeless on the floor next to those children, was their mother. It looked as if she had been pinned by a fallen beam, and killed upon impact. Mark gathered the children in his arms, despite their protests about leaving their mother, and rushed them out to the main door, since the building was now practically deserted.

Just before they reached safety, a beam landed right in front of them, blocking the way. As Mark backtracked to go back out the side door, that path became blocked as well. They were trapped.

* * *

As Joseph was getting ready to go and offer his help, he heard the sirens of the approaching ambulances. Then he saw them. Accompanied by fire trucks and police cars. As he left his front porch and got across the street, he saw a young man go back into the building, only to turn around when he could advance no further. Then the man went around to the side of the building and entered through a side door.

About a minute later, Joseph saw another man helping out an old woman who was wailing on and on about the young man who was still in the building. She said he had gone back in for a child. That was when the beams by the main door collapsed. As did those by the side door the young man had just used. Joseph realized with finality that that young man and that child were trapped.

* * *

Mark didn't know what to do. All he knew was that the survival of these children was paramount to his own. Praying for help, he went back to the building's main door, and realized that there was a small opening that the kids could get through. But he couldn't follow. There was no way he would fit. He looked into the eyes of the crying girl.

"I need you to trust me for a moment, OK? Can you do that?" The girl nodded timidly, obviously petrified.

"Alright then. Do you see that opening right there? I need you to take your brother, and go through it to get outside. Do you understand me?" Mark could see in her eyes that she did. He gestured to where he meant, and sent her on her way. He saw her make it outside and be taken care of by the EMTs just as another beam fell and obscured his line of sight. Thank you Lord, he prayed, thank you for helping me save their lives. I guess I'll see you soon. I can't wait Father. It was then that another beam fell. This one sent him Home with his smile still on his face.

* * *

Shock didn't even begin to describe what Joseph felt when he saw those kids come out of the building. A young girl, cradling her baby brother in her arms, a look of pure awe on her face. As she was tended to by the professionals, he saw that she was telling them her story. Joseph meandered closer so he could hear better, and was amazed by the story he heard. The story of a man who gave up his life to save a pair of children that he didn't even know. The story of a hero.