Bush Fire Night

The fire was spreading rapidly. Thick smoke filled the air. The small town was in a state of panic as the fire moved towards it. The first house on the edge of the village went up in flames as the fire reached it. Sirens shrieked loudly as the firemen hurried to fight the fire from spreading further. Finally, the townsfolk grabbed a few precious belongings and evacuated the town, fleeing to safety.

Rita had been at her friend's house. Now, as she hurried back home, she hoped her family had not left yet. But, unfortunately, Rita was only young, and the fire was getting rather freaky. So she had to find her family and evacuate with them.

The night sky was slowly turning orange. Embers were falling everywhere in the town, some places thicker than others. Rita started running. Her house came into sight, and she quickly climbed the few steps and hurried across the veranda to the front door. Flinging the door open, a smokey quiet greeted her. Rita screamed out for her parents, then her siblings. No one answered her because no one was there. Her family had left without her. They must have thought she would stay and evacuate with her friend. Now both of them had left without her. Rita screamed again. She didn't know what else she could do.

A loud crash came from somewhere nearby. The house was burning down. It was ablaze around the back, and the smoke inside was getting thicker. Rita realized she had to get out of here before it was too late.

She started walking quickly away from the fire. Glowing embers were falling everywhere; the town was well and truly burning. Rita glanced back at her house. It was probably the last time she would see it standing.

The loud roar of the fire and the shouts from the firemen fighting the fire were the sounds that filled the night. Then, as Rita walked quickly down the road and reached the edge of town, she heard another sound, the sound of someone crying. She hurried towards it and saw a huddled form on the side of the road. It was a little girl.

'Are you alright?' Rita bent down and touched her.

The girl started and looked up. 'I don't know where my family has gone. And I'm scared of fire.' She started crying again.

Rita put her arms around her and hugged her. 'My family has gone too. Come on, you can walk with me. We need to get out of here quickly.' Rita helped her up and took her hand.

"Where are we going?" the young girl asked timidly as they started walking.

"We're going away from the fire, and hopefully, we'll find our families."

The smoke was thick, and embers were falling all around. Rita nervously kept touching her hair to make sure it wasn't burning.

'I'm Rita. What's your name?'

'I'm Olivia,' the girl responded. Then she started coughing. Rita was worried; the smoke was thick and getting rather dangerous as well. Embers were falling all around. 

She took off the cotton scarf she was wearing and managed to tear it in half. 'Here, tie this over your face.'

Olivia did as Rita instructed and giggled as Rita did the same. 'We look like robbers.'

Rita smiled. They did look a bit peculiar. But the thin material helped a lot, and so they continued walking away from their burning town.

The two walked and walked. Olivia's hair caught fire at one point from a falling ember. Rita noticed her hair smoking, and after gasping with alarm, she started patting it with her hand quickly, and it went out after a few moments. Rita nervously kept touching her hair after that to make sure it wasn't burning. 

They were both exhausted. Olivia was limping, and Rita's own feet were quite sore. Rita didn't know where they were; all she knew was she was heading away from the fire, and she was following a road. Although she hoped the road led somewhere, her eyes were getting very heavy from smoke and fatigue.

After a bit, there was the sound of a vehicle behind them. Rita and Olivia stopped, and after peering anxiously down the road, saw it was a fire truck. It stopped when it saw them. 'You two alright?' The driver called them, climbing out of the vehicle when he saw how exhausted the two girls were. 

'We got left behind,' Rita answered, tired.

'Climb in. I'm heading to the evacuation centre; maybe your families will be there.' He was filthy and also appeared quite tired. Rita decided he had been fighting the fire and was either on a break or getting fresh supplies or something. She glanced fearfully behind her. What was left of her hometown? 

They climbed aboard and started driving. Olivia had cheered up immensely and was hopeful that she would find her family at the evacuation camp. 

Rita thought silently for a bit, then shyly asked the fireman. "Is...is the fire out?" 

The fireman grinned at her. "Almost. It's under control. The rest of the guys are managing it fine now."

"How much damage is there?" Rita couldn't keep the fear out of her voice as she asked the question. 

Through the dirt on his face, Rita saw his face become sombre. "A lot of houses were burnt, but we managed to save some houses still. Of course, it will take a while to rebuild the town properly, but there are still buildings standing, so that gives us plenty of hope."

Rita nodded, taking this information in. She hoped at least some of her house was still there. Her last vision of it was the house with flames behind it, burning from behind. She wondered what her family would do if they didn't have a home anymore. 

Olivia interrupted her thoughts with a small shriek. "I see the evacuation camp!" 

The fireman pulled up the truck outside the evacuation centre. As soon as they walked inside, Olivia rushed over to a family and was hugged and cried over. 

Rita scanned over the many people that were crowded inside. There was bedding laid out everywhere, as well as the random belongings that the townsfolk had bought with them when they evacuated. Eventually, her eyes landed on the face of her mother, and she rushed over to her family. They were overjoyed to see her. 

'We wanted to go back and look for you, but they wouldn't let us.' Her dad said.

Rita smiled. "We're all safe and sound now, so it doesn't matter." Her home might be burnt down, but she realized that didn't matter. She was here, safe and sound, with her family. They were safe and together, and that is all that mattered.