Learning to Love

The walk home from school was lonely and hot. Today was the last of school before Summer, but finally it was here. Most kids walked home from school with their friends or siblings. Some kids got picked up by their parents. But not me. I walked home from school everyday. My dad never bothered to pick me up. When I got to my house, the front door was unlocked as usual. I poked my head through and looked around to see if my dad was home. Luckily he wasn't. I stepped through the door and slumped on the couch. The house was a mess. There were empty beer cans everywhere, half full bags of chips, and random peices of paper scattered around the room. I wanted to clean the place up a bit, but I couldn't be bothered. Besides, the house would be messy in just a day anyways. Since there was nothing to do around here, I thought I might as well take a nap. I must have been asleep for a few hours, when I woke up to the sound of a crash. I sat up and looked around. The sound was coming from outside. Another loud crash, people yelling. I was afraid to go outside but made myself do it anyways. I slipped on my shoes and hoodie and started out the door. When I got outside I realized what had happened. Someone just crashed their car into my neighbors house! There were people crowding around the car that had now gone up in flames. They were trying to get the person driving out of the burning car. I circled around, trying to get a better look. There was a man in the front seat. He seemed to be unconscious. I didn't see anyone else in the car. People were calling the police, ambulance, and fire engines. Lots of people were yelling and screaming. On guy stuck his arm through the window of the car and tried to haul the driver, but he had to jerk his arm back out again because of the heat. I had a strange feeling in my stomach. There was something familiar about this car. But I couldn't see properly because of the flames. Finally I heard sirens, and the police, ambulance, and fire engines came. By then lots of people started crowding the streets. It was getting kind of dark out. It must have been only 7:30 or so. I was being pushed out of the way by some firefighters. The flames on the car started getting higher and higher, but luckily the firefighters put it out. They cranked the car door open and hauled out the man that was driving. The police were pushing people away and telling them to go. The ambulance people rushed to try side of the man. His face was covered with ash and his clothes were stained black, and burned, by I knew who it was. I pushed past the police officer in front of me. "Dad!" I shouted, running up to the man that crashed the car.