Post by Isamina on Jun 20, 2010 15:20:23 GMT -5
Smoke in the Wind
The smell of smoke and a women's scream woke Lee from his slumber. He his eyes shot open only to close as harsh sunlight blinded him. He waited a moment for his eyes to adjust before attempting once more. Lee's brow furrowed in confusion, his green eyes observed a web of tree branches hovering above him, small leaves gently moving in the wind. Lee rolled himself off of his back wondering why he was sleeping outside no where near his house.
Lee pushed himself off the ground, for having slept on the dirt and grass seemingly all night his body showed no signs of discomfort or stiffness. He actually felt light on his feet, Lee began to think that even the gentlest wind could knock him over. Instead, a soft breeze caused Lee to cough, the air was tainted with the scent of smoke. Lee swiveled his head looking for any possible source, but he saw none. However he did recognize where he was, a small park a few blocks away from his home that he visited often with his dog, Charlie
“Why am I here?” Lee asked himself. He had no memory of leaving his house, in fact he couldn't recall anything from yesterday.
Running a hand through his curly hair Lee began to make his way out of the park. If his parents found that he wasn't in his room last night he would be in trouble. The sooner he got back home the better. As Lee passed by a bench covered with birds twittering their greetings, Lee heard the unmistakable bark of a dog which caused all the birds to take flight. Running towards him was his border collie Charlie, Lee braced himself expecting Charlie to pounce on him, instead the dog stopped a couple feet in front of him. Charlie barked at Lee and looked as if he wanted Lee to follow him.
“All right mutt, lead the way.” Lee mumbled, Charlie ran back into town leaving Lee to trail after.
Being a Saturday, the streets would normally be littered with people, today there were not as many as Lee expected. He saw none of his classmates, usually they would be enjoying their temporary freedom. However this didn't stop the people who were walking on the sidewalks to stare at Charlie oddly. Lee couldn't blame them, dogs were supposed to be on leashes in town. Lee murmured his apologies while he shouted after Charlie.
Charlie only stopped at the cross walk before they could make a straight shot to Lee's house. The roads were busy with cars, as they approached he heard a few other people step up behind him a few whispering about the dog. While Lee waited for the line of cars to die down he caught sight of Abigail Moss. She was sixteen just like him, they shared almost every class together, and she was one of Lee's closest friends. Of course this far away there was nothing distinctive about her. Up close was another story, her hair was all different colors, like butter, sugar, and caramel all painted by the sun and her eyes were water color blue in her sun gilded face. Sometimes when ever she was near him Lee felt his stomach jump into his throat, then again that happened when ever he thought about her.
Lee on the other hand didn't really think of himself as attractive. To him, his face was something that he needed to grow into, all bony prominences and sharp angles. His hair tumbled into unruly loose curls. His recent growth spurt made him feel awkward and poorly put together.
Abigail must have noticed him because she turned in his direction and waved briefly. Lee quickly returned the gesture resisting the urge to call after her ignoring the movement behind him. Charlie also barked his own greeting, his tail making thuds against the sidewalk while it wagged. But as she lowered her shaking arm something occurred to Lee. Is she scared? he wondered, before he could go after her, Abigail was gone. Another gust of wind brushed his skin the same smell of burning wood made him scrunch his nose. He turned to see if the others behind him smelled it too, but their faces were passive as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Lee looked down, even his dog didn't seem to notice. When the stream died down Lee jogged across the road, Charlie quickly following,
He was only a block away now and he could already see his parent's reactions. His mother, Susan, would scold him, telling him that he was being careless by staying out all night without calling home. Despite any anger she felt, her face would be twisted with worry and if Lee had to guess, her chestnut hair would be unkempt and her blue eyes would be red from crying. That was Susan, she was a natural worrier. His father, Andrew, on the other hand would say he was being irresponsible, that Lee was displaying very little character, and that if he was going to achieve in the real world then he would have to show some maturity. His dad was always like that, very strict. But, Lee mostly took after his father, in appearance at least. No matter how tough his father's exterior was Lee knew there was a soft guy inside, you just had to look really hard.
Lee was so distracted thinking about his parents that he didn't notice the flashes of red lights until they were directly in front of him. There was a row of fire trucks with men in yellow fire retardant uniforms lined up beside them. A stretch of hose lay forgotten on the road where a trickle of water leaked into large puddles. In front of it all were the remains of a house, a small wisp of smoke trailed into the sky. Lee inhaled deeply, he knew where the smell was coming from now. Across the street of the ruined home was a mailbox unmarred by flame. The side of it read, Stephenson. Lee's full name was Leander Stephenson, this disaster was his home.
For a brief second Lee saw his parent's faces jolting Lee out of his momentary paralysis. He weaved through the swarm of yellow clad bodies trying to reach his house. He heard Charlie barking frantically making some of the men demand to know who owned the dog. Lee's thoughts remained on his parents, they parents had to be safe he thought desperately, they just had to be. With a final surge he broke through nearly screaming when he saw the entire scene.
Nothing was left, from a distance Lee thought that perhaps there was something that remained of his home. Maybe something salvageable, but no there was nothing left. Only a heap blackened wood that dripped water. There was no way anybody could survive such a fire. Lee thought of his parents again, his eyes prickled with tears. They were home. Lee ran to the closest fire fighter.
“Excuse me sir, are my parents-” before he could finish the fire fighter walked away, leaving Lee to gawk in disbelief. Desperately Lee went to the next one.
“My parent were in there, are they okay?” he asked. The fire fighter showed no signs of answering Lee or that he even heard Lee. “Did you hear me!? My parents were in there!”
Still nothing. Lee backed away. “Someone please answer me!” he shouted into the yellow crowd. No one said anything. Lee heard the jangle of Charlie's collar as his dog sidled up beside him whimpering pitifully.
“Dead.” someone said behind him.
Lee turned towards the source of the voice, the word 'what' died on his lips when he saw that the person who was talking wasn't saying this to him. Two men stood just to the right of Lee's home, their backs to him and heads hung low looking at something unseen to Lee.
Lee approached them, his legs gave out when he saw what they were looking at.
“They think it was an electrical fire. My men found them after they put the blaze out.” one of them said.
“The whole family?” the other asked.
Lee didn't see the first one nod his head, his eyes were glued to the three charred bodies that were painfully familiar, his mother Susan, his father Andrew, and lastly himself, Leander Stephenson.
This is a creative writing homework I did a few months ago for our twist ending unit, yipee.
