Smoke FIlled Sky

this is yet another story i had to write for language arts. it would've ended a lot better...but i kinda got sick of writing it...so i just added a really stupid ending just to get it over with. lol but i still got the highest grade possible.

        It was a fine March afternoon in a small town located in the heart of Maine. Cows were grazing on the grass in a nearby field and children were playing freely amongst themselves when a little boy by the name of Briar noticed the smoke billowing from atop a rooftop. Those thick, black, sooty clouds were noticeable from miles away. The young boy, about the age of twelve, quickly pointed out to his friends that a house was quickly being engulfed in flames. He stared nervously at the house and slowly raised his arm and pointed directly at the location of the fire. "Mama! Papa! Mama! Papa!" He screamed as he ran towards the smoldering home. One of the boys followed him, desperately trying to keep him from entering the dangerous house. The other two boys they were with ran to a nearby neighbor's house and called 911 to report the fire. You see, to that young twelve year old boy, this building that was burning to the ground right before his eyes was home.

        The fire department arrived at the scene only moments after the emergency call took place. Without hesitation, two fire fighters ran into the home and carried out Claire and James Glencoe, just seconds before the roof caved in and the walls collapsed. Claire was in severe condition. She had second and third degree burns on both of her arms and one degree burns on the left side of her face. James on the other hand, was a tad bit luckier. He escaped with burns on his left arm and a mere burn on one of his legs, no worse than sunburn. His hair was singed and his face was covered in soot, but both he and his wife were alive and that was all that mattered. He watched as Claire was put into the back of an ambulance on a stretcher. Her burns were so sever that he could barely make out her beautiful, youthful face. Tears streamed down his face liked a waterfall descending from a cliff as he embraced his young son in his arms. "Is mommy going to be okay?" Briar asked in a shaky voice. "We can only hope Briar, we can only hope." James replied to his son with as the paramedics took him aside and placed him in an ambulance.  He was going to have to spend the day in the hospital.

        That night, Briar and James stayed at Claire's parent's home. James was restless. All he could think of was his wife, his poor Claire. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see were flames and Claire's limp, nearly lifeless body. Pictures of her charred face and arms filled his mind. He was clearly devastated. Briar had calmed down a bit since the incident. He was now sitting in a chair coloring a picture for his mom to hang over her bed at the hospital. Claire's mom, Susan McGraw was rocking in her rocking chair deep in thought and sipping on some tea when the ring of the phone startled her. James's shot up and he looked directly at the phone. A look of horror struck his face. "Can you get that Joe?" She asked her husband. "Sure thing Suzie." He replied. He walked over to the phone, but before he could answer it, James already had the phone in his hands. "Hello?" He said. "Hi. May I speak with Mr. James Glencoe please?" The lady on the other end asked. "This is him." Said James. "Hello sir. This is Mary Grove from the hospital." The lady said. James felt his stomach tighten. The lady continued with, "I'm just calling to inform you that your wife is doing great. She's awake now although she is very dehydrated. We have her on some antibiotics that will get the fluids pumped back into her body though." "This is great! Thank you very much ma'am. Thank you!" James said with a jubilant glow. "Sir. There is one more thing you must know though. We think that Claire may have sustained some brain damage due to the lack of oxygen from the thick, smoky air in the house. We still have further tests to run to confirm that, so it's not a for sure thing yet." Mary hated breaking this kind of news to families. "Oh. Okay. Well, thank you. When can we come and see her?" James said in a glummer voice. "First thing tomorrow morning would be great. I'm sure she'd love to see you and Briar." Reassured Mary. "Okay. We'll be there the first thing in the morning. Thank you." James said. "Okay. You have a nice night. Goodbye." Mary replied. "Goodbye" said James as he hung up the receiver.

        Morning came and everybody, including Claire's parents, jumped in the car and started on their way to the hospital. The ride was almost silent except for the sounds of Susan's Johnny Cash CD playing on the stereo. As they neared the hospital, James became more and more impatient, almost as if he were a little kid awaiting the arrival of Santa Clause. He didn't know why he was so nervous! Everything was okay, he was sure of it. The only thing that was wrong was that Claire had severe burns and possible brain damage, but she was still living and breathing. On her own, he wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure of was that she was still alive and that's what was important. Breaking the silence with a question, Briar asked "Daddy? Are we there yet?" "Almost son, almost. We have a couple more miles to go but we'll be there soon." After a couple of minutes, the hospital was in sight. James grew more and more impatient along with Briar. He, Briar that is, became very antsy in his seat as they drew closer and closer to the hospital. "Now when we get in the hospital, you have to be quiet and stick with your dad and I and grandpa okay Briar?" Said Susan.

        They pulled into the parking lot and parked the car. Everybody stepped out onto the pavement and slammed the doors shut. They put their coats on and headed towards the doors. Once inside, a nurse approached them and asked them if they needed any help finding a room. "Uhm yes actually. Can you point us to Claire Glencoe's room please?" Asked Joe. "Yes sir. Room 205. You walk down this hall then take an immediate left once you reach the restroom. Then just keep walking down that hall and it should be the fifth room on the left." Said the nurse as she pointed out the directions. "Thank you ma'am." Said Joe. They headed down the hallway and turned to the left just like the nurse said. Finally, they reached her room. With a faint knock, James opened the room and stepped in with everybody following. "Mommy!" Cried Briar. "Shh! You need to be quiet! She is sleeping!" Requested Susan. "Sorry." Briar said. He walked over to his moms bed and hung the picture he drew earlier for her on the corkboard behind her bed.

        James walked over to the bed and looked down at Claire. She was looking a lot better than when he saw her last. The burns were starting to heal up a little bit and her hair wasn't quite as charred anymore. Just then the doctor walked in. "Hello everyone. My name is Dr. Novell. May I have a word with James alone please?" Everyone nodded their heads and shuffled to the door except for James. Once everybody was outside the room, Dr. Novell began to speak. "We just got the results back from the test. She did not suffer any brain damage but she did however hit her head when she fell causing her to have a slight case of amnesia." James gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you! That relieves me!" Claire shifted in her bed causing both Dr. Novell and James to look in her direction. She opened her eyes. "Claire! You're awake!" Exclaimed James. Claire looked frightened. Dr. Novell walked to the door and called everyone back in then explained to them Claire's case. "Now what I need everybody to do when you guys go home next Wednesday is make sure not to frighten her or anything. Make sure she is comfortable. Now what my best advice to you is is to pull out the old family photo albums and other memorable things in hopes of jogging her memory a bit. Do you understand?" Dr. Novell explained.

        Next Wednesday came and Claire was taken home. Her burns were nearly healed and she was as clueless as never, but that was not her fault. They took the old scenic route back to her parents house, pointing out the old parks they used to play in and such things as that. She didn't seem to recognize any of it, only a couple of things. Oddly enough though, Briar was the only person that she seemed to remember! Once they got home, they pulled the photo albums out like Dr. Novell instructed them to. "I can already tell this is going to take a lot of work!" Joe said to James. "Yes it is going to take a lot of work, but we need to continue on helping her, no matter what." James replied. So that is just what they did. They continued helping her refurnish her memory. By the end of the year she remembered basically everything! Her memory was still a little faded in some areas, but that was due to change with time. Now for the fire, nobody knows how it started. May have been caused by the coffee pot, maybe the laundry room. Who knows for sure? An investigation is still underway.