H was filled with joy as he
watched his wife Janie open the
gift. He had been listening to her
go on and on about wanting a
particular blouse, that against his
wishes, would not leave the store
window. Going to the mall was
almost a special outing on
account of their own schedules
and the logistics involved. Three
buses and a taxi was not a hop,
skip and a jump. One day H
found himself at that very mall
alone, and with a small surplus
of cash. So he bought the blouse
for his wife. She was overjoyed
to have it.
Christmas was coming, and
fireworks in the city limits were
the number one way to show
one’s excitement towards the
holiday. Night and day, no
matter the hour, the sounds of
what could be the next
revolution reverberated up and
down the street and echoed in
the distance.
A week or so after H had
surprised Janie with the gift, they
were sitting on the front porch
of the house they were renting.
It was late, but neither had
anything to do the next day, and
it had been a while since they
had spent any real time
together. At midnight on the
dot Catholics all over the city
took control of the night as
fireworks filled the sky in
celebration of some saint most
likely. Bright flashes and loud
booms interrupted any activity
someone may have been doing:
sleeping, watching TV, driving…
Janie went inside and came back
with her cell phone to begin
video recording the show. It
seemed as if it would last
forever. The two held hands
and enjoyed the romance of it
all.
No more than one block away a
rocket took flight, shooting
straight up into the darkness.
Their eyes were immediately
drawn to it. As if the rocket was
being operated by radio control,
it changed direction in mid flight.
The rocket screamed past H and
Janie a few feet above them,
landed on the roof, followed a
groove in the metal roofing and
fell into the laundry area at the
back of the house. It came to
rest on the floor below the
sheets that had been hung to
dry earlier that evening. The fuel
was finally spent, the rocket lay
there motionless for a second or
two then exploded. Beautiful
and burning red pieces of
magnesium flew in all directions.
Two of the bed sheets caught
fire.
H and Janie had no idea that a
fire had been started as he led
the way inside to investigate.
They reached the kitchen and
could see through to the laundry
area. Janie screamed and H
quickly grabbed the other end of
one of the burning sheets. He
pulled hard and the whole thing
fell to the ground as Janie
stomped it out.
H was not fast enough to catch
the other burning sheet before
the fire spread. He tried to get to
the other sheets, but he could
not. It was just too hot, and no
matter how much he tried, his
natural reaction prevented him.
Janie looked up from the sheet
she had extinguished, and was
frightened by the tall flames.
H shuffled around the utility
room, back pressed against the
wall as far away from the heat as
he could get. He went into the
kitchen and grabbed a knife
from the drawer, went through
the garage and entered the
inferno from a second entrance.
He cut the three close lines bring
the blaze to the ground.
He tried and failed to smother
the flames by stepping on them.
Panic began to creep into his
mind, and he was out of ideas.
Just then water, as if from
heaven, fell on the fire putting it
out with a hiss. H had not been
able to see his wife through the
bright light. She was on the
other side of the room with the
burning sheets between them.
She too had been trying to fight
back the flames with her feet,
when she saw from the corner
of her eye a bucket of water.
Without hesitation she threw the
water at the sheets. She emptied
all the water from the bucket
with one thrust.
The two smiled at each other,
happy that the evening’s
entertainment was over. H
looked at the pile of sheet and
ash. He saw the blouse that he
had given to Janie a few days
earlier. She had been soaking it
in the bucket, so she could hand
wash it as to not let the washing
machine take its toll on her new
favorite piece. H hugged Janie
tightly and thanked her for her
sacrifice.