Four - Into the Flames
1685 Words
A few days after the birthday celebration, I found myself packing sleeping bags and snacks for the school’s father-and-kids 3-day bootcamp.
Being a single mom, I had to beg the principal and make a donation before he let me attend in place of a father figure.
The twins had been so excited for the camp that I didn’t have the heart to tell them that they couldn’t go simply because they had no father.
So I did what needed to be done. I also refused to bother Josh with it. I was still mad at him for overriding my decision on the cooking contest.
My eyes scanned the bags one last time, making sure everything was accounted for.
We were set. But moments like these tugged at me and formed stupid thoughts.
Like what if I’d told Raymond about the pregnancy? What if we got married? Would life be better or worse?
With a sigh, I shoved away the thoughts and focused. He made his choice and I made mine.
The camp started wonderfully. Turned I wasn’t the only Mom there and it wasn’t as awkward as I was expecting. The kids ran around with painted faces, roasted marshmallows and learned survival skills they wouldn’t ever need.
Nova and Aurora stuck close to me on the first day but by the second, they’d made friends and went off. I watched from the sidelines with other parents, my heart full of pride.
By the third day, the camp was over. I’d packed up our things and was waiting by the car. The twins had gone to say goodbyes to their friends, promising to come back in two minutes.
I checked my watch. Five minutes had gone by.
“How long does it take?” I muttered, seeing as other parents were already pulling out of the parking lot.
I dug out my phone to call Aurora. And jolted at the horrified scream that pierced the forest air.
A short distance away, smoke curled into the afternoon sky like an ominous cloud.
“Fire! The supply cabin’s on fire!”
More screams erupted and the sound of parents and children scattering in panic echoed through the trees.
My mind immediately went into protector mode. Where people ran from the fire, I ran toward it.
“Nova! Aurora!” I screamed, blood pounding in my ears as I pushed through the crowd.
My only thought: where are my children?
The flames had covered the wooden walls, engulfing the cabin hot and fast. Camp counselors ran past me, shouting for fire extinguishers, some kids were crying and my babies were nowhere to be found.
“Nova! Aurora!”
I desperately grabbed one of the Dads carrying his daughter to safety.
“Have you seen my kids?”
He shook his head, then gave me a grim look and pointed. “There are kids in there!”
He was pointing to the cabin in flames.
I could feel the moment my heart stopped, the chill that descended in my bones. My kids were in the fire.
I put on a burst of speed. “Aurora! Nova!”
“Don’t go in there!” The man shouted, but his voice faded as all I heard was the crackling of the fire.
I was almost at the cabin when a black shape darted out of the fire like a missile. A missile on tiny legs covered in a heavy, wet blanket.
The shape ran past in quick movements toward a bench far from the cabin, throwing off the steaming blanket as it went.
I halted in horror and amazement as I watched my kids appear from underneath. A little boy was lodged safely in their middle, his face dark with soot and tears.
They set him on the bench just as the roof of the cabin caved in and let out a burst of explosion.
Everyone who stood by stared in frozen shock. It felt like a scene out of a bad movie.
My legs changed course quickly and I was on them in a second.
There was a loud thudding in my ears and no thought in my head as I searched for burns and injuries. The very thought of anything happening to them made my stomach tighten.
“We’re fine, Mommy,” Nova said quietly.
The way his face sounded so calm managed to bring my mind back to rationality.
“You’re not hurt?”
He shook his head. Asides the splash of soot on their cheeks, he was right. Not a scratch on them. And not a single shred of fear in their eyes.
Aurora, for her part, said nothing. Her arm was wrapped protectively across the little boy’s shoulder and she stared at me defiantly as if daring me to be mad at what they’d done.
I didn’t know if I should cry or scream.
I checked on the frightened boy, wiping his face with my sleeve.
“Are you alright?” My voice trembled slightly with fear? Rage? I couldn’t tell.
He sniffled and nodded, clutching a stuffed dinosaur toy to his chest.
Good. Okay.
I took a deep breath to center myself, then I whirled on my children. “What were you two thinking?!”
“I’m sorry, Miss,” the boy spoke up before they could respond. “It’s all my fault. I forgot my toy inside and went back to get it. Th-They heard me shout and came to help. Please don’t be mad at them.”
He bowed his head, bottom lip quivering.
The cold realization that my babies had run into a burning building without any care for their safety twisted my gut with dread.
What if they hadn’t come out on time before the roof caved?
What if they’d gotten trapped?
I shuddered at the thoughts, my anger solidifying.
“Do you two understand the gravity of what you did?”
“Jeremy’s our friend,” Aurora said stubbornly.
“And you said we should always help our friends,” Nova added.
I stared at them incredulously. That was their defense?
“Helping your friends doesn’t mean running into a burning building! What if something had happened to the three of you?!”
“We’re not hurt, Mommy,” Nova insisted.
“That’s not an excuse!”
I sighed, taking a beat to get a grip on myself. To not let the anger born out of fear win.
Suddenly, the sound of an ambulance broke through the noise. A second later, firefighters rushed to the fire, still blazing despite the counselors blasting extinguishers.
Medics were not far behind, rushing for the children, taking them to the parking lot. I followed paces behind, stepping aside to let them work, swallowing the lump in my throat and blinking away tears.
After what felt like forever, they’d cleared the kids and given them lollipops.
“These are your kids?” One of the medics asked.
I nodded grimly.
“Your kids just became heroes, Miss. It takes a special kind of bravery for kids to be heroes,” he said kindly.
His next words, however, was laced with acid. “You know what it also takes? A very bad mother.”
I drew a sharp breath as his words slapped me in the face.
He leaned in close, sour breath fanning my face. “What the f**k were you doing leaving your kids unsupervised that they ran into a burning building?”
I swallowed dryly. Every excuse sounded pitiful in my head.
“You’re lucky nothing happened to them. Else, this will be a different story. Bad mothers like you don’t deserve kids.” He spat on the ground, then walked off, leaving me in stunned silence.
I leaned on my car, his words echoing like bells in my head as I fought back tears.
Was I really a bad mother…?
In the distance, the fire had gotten contained, the cabin reduced to a black mess of ashes. But it felt like nobody was paying it any mind. They were all looking at me, their eyes casting silent judgment on me.
I could almost hear their thoughts. What kind of mother left her children alone? A bad mother, of course.
“We’re sorry.”
I looked down at Aurora. She was holding her brother. The little Jeremy they’d risked their lives for was gone.
A part of me wanted to rage and scream. I wanted them to understand just how bad their actions could have consequences, but I stared into their tear-filled eyes and my words dissolved in my chest.
“Please don’t be mad at us.” Nova’s quiet voice pulled at my heartstrings. “We thought we were doing the right thing. You told us always to do the right thing.”
Deep down, I knew I was to blame for their actions. I’d taught them that, encouraged them to be fearless. I should’ve known. It was the parents’ job always to know these things and avoid them.
I dropped to one knee to meet their gaze, keeping my voice light. “Don’t ever do such a thing again. If there’s trouble, you call me and I’ll come running. You don’t ever run into fires that’s my job. Do you understand?”
They nodded, lips trembling.
“Promise me.”
“We promise,” they said in unison.
“Miss Blaze?”
I stood and turned at the unfamiliar voice, wondering if it was another adult coming to scold me and call me another version of a bad mother.
But a pair of emerald green eyes stared down at me. And there was nothing judgmental in them.
I craned my neck slightly at the tall, strikingly handsome man I didn’t remember seeing at camp. There was no way I would’ve forgotten a face like that. He was dressed in a crisp suit with long dark hair falling like silk past his shoulders and a subtle limp that made him lean on a sleek black cane.
“Luca De Niro,” he said in a calm, authoritative voice, “I’m Jeremy’s father.”
- Writer
