Possessions

A short story for a contest. It is describing what a woman is seeing as her house burns down right in front of her eyes.

 

Possessions

 

      Burning. I watch as the flames engulf everything I own. The porch I spent so many days relaxing, reading, and talking to neighbors on is slowly burning away before my eyes. Ashes float from the roof of what was once my home, twisting and gliding in the air before landing on the dirt at my feet. Sirens sounding in the distance tell me that help is on the way, but they will be to late. My house will be gone, and everything I love gone with it.

     I drop to my knees, watching as the fire takes away all that is left of my life. If only I would have remembered to blow out the candle. If only I would have never lit the candle in the first place. It was something I rarely did. But on this night, I thought it would be a nice touch with dinner.

     Help arrives, and I watch as the firemen rush to put out the fire. A few paramedics appear next to me asking me if I was ok. I could only nod, for the shock was to overwhelming. I didn’t feel the blanket rap around me, or the comforting hands of my closest friends. Tears began running down my cheeks, and I felt myself be lifted and walked over to an ambulance.

     I could only look back to see the firemen, hoses at the ready, pull the nozzle and watch the water began to extinguish what was left of my home. John, my neighbor, best friend, and man I was madly in love with, stepped in front of me and grabbed my face, wiping the tears from my eyes. He smiled a soft, caring smile.

     That’s when I knew that everything was going to be ok. My house and everything in it were just possessions. I could always get new things, a new house. I glanced over John’s shoulder, taking one last look at my burning house. Then I looked back into the eyes of the man that I secretly loved. I could still hear the sound of wood burning in the background, but my attention was turned to John as he whispered words of comfort to me.

     

Author's Note

Ok, so let me know of any mistakes because this is for a contest to possibly have this published in a magazine. There are going to be two other stories put up for this same contest.