New Years Fire

Tessy is forced to face the hardest decison of her life in an instance, but did she make the right one?

The inferno blazed with such intensity that Tessy could barely hold her ground any longer, but it had happened all so quickly that she hadn't yet managed to start thinking again. Where was everyone else going? Had they already figured out that running was a safer choice? Tessy knew it too. Somewhere in the echoy chamber in the back of her mind someone was screaming at her, yet it's voice didn't reach her conscious thought. Nothing did. Until someone called for her, "Tess, we've already called for help. You can't do anything by standing there now." It was Kan. That's right, he was there too. He had also been inside. He had pulled her out, but why hadn't she wanted to leave? "Tess!" He called again, "There's nothing you can do."

"Do what?" Tessy mumbled, "What did I want to do?"

Kan was now right by her side. He was practically biting her ear when he said her name again. "Tess run. They're probably already gone by now."

Tessy went rigid. She felt like she'd just been hit across the face. She remembered. Her parents were still inside and they were with Jessica. "Gone already?" Tessy questioned.

"Yes," Kan whispered hoarsely, "It's been too long, they were at the origin of the fire on the third floor." Kan's sorry tone sparked a rage in Tessy immeasurably hotter than the fire that licked at the sides of the arts center. It seemed only moments ago that everyone had been enjoying the New Year's preparations, but these weren't the fireworks everyone had been hoping for.

"I'm going to save them," Tessy declared.

Kan grabbed at her hand and held fast. "You'll be killed before you have the chance to accomplish anything. We've already called the fire department. Don't be stupid!"

"It's you who's stupid!" Tessy cried. She pivoted on her heels to face Kan for the first time. "It's New Years Eve. Do you honestly think the firemen will make it? The crowds are thick and this isn't the only instance of a misfire in the region for sure. Don't even think of making up some kind of lie. I'm not that gullible." Tessy yanked her hand from Kan's gripped and sprinted into pyre. Before barging though the front door she frantically looked for something to aid in her entry. Surely the collapsing structure of the building would not allow her easy access to the third floor. Perhaps even the front door was already sealed shut from the pressure of the upper floors.

Tessy could only find a small ax. Probably left by the center's yard work committee. It the rush to finish their job before the holidays they had left a pile of tools near the entrance. Tess grabbed the ax and leaped up the three concrete steps before the entrance in one fluid motion.

Tessy barely made it passed the foyer before she met with a blazing wall of fallen rafters. "I can't get through," Tessy snarled. Nothing made her more irritable than an inconvenience.

"Then let's go back." Tessy had been unaware that Kan had followed behind her. She shook her head.

"I don't care what you do. You go. I'm not leaving until I see my sister safe and unharmed."

"I'm not going to leave you here, but be reasonable. You'll die before you get the chance to save anyone."

"If there's even the smallest chance I can save her, I will try. There's no point if I let her die," Tessy was speaking from her subconscious. The rest of her mind was preoccupied.

"I'm not hanging around then," Kan said. His voice was strange, but Tess didn't feel like trying to figure out the intention behind his words. It was his choice and she was too busy contemplating her next move. She didn't even listen for his footsteps as they stumbled in the wrong direction.

There was no easy way around the barrier. She looked up over the rafters and found that she could see the other side though it was distorted by waves of heat. Her eyes widened. There were people on the other side. In only an instant she could count as many as four. The gears in her head started turning. She had nothing more than her ax and Jessica was still far deeper inside. Tessy began whacking at a weakened rafter until it broke in two. She moved it aside and ignored the blisters that welled up on her palms. The four on the other side were kids, young kids. They were helpless. If they were even alive now, it was a near certainty they wouldn't be in a few minutes. Tessy closed her eyes against the smoke and sudden haunting thoughts. She ran for the stairs. Jessica was still much farther away. The kids were probably already dead. They had to be dead.

An almost inaudible sound managed to escape the lips of one of the children as Tessy's foot came dangerously close to his limp hand. Tessy looked down and back towards the front door that was swinging precariously on only one hinge. "Kan?" Tessy asked. Her voice was barely audible over the roar of the flames.

Kan answered Tessy next question. "I wasn't going to leave you. I already told you that."

"Why did you come back?"

"I never left. I've always been right behind you," Kan said. He spoke quickly. Each syllable faster than the next matching Tessy's rising heart rate. She felt regret well up in her chest. Kan too was being burned. Tessy looked at the kids and then again at Kan. He understood the pleading look in her eyes but he looked intently passed the children to the stairs. Jessica was on the third floor. There was no time. It was either these kids or Jessica and Kan couldn't carry all four kids at once. He already looked weak from the smoke and the heat. He was already moving to pick up one of the children, but he staggered under the weight of just one.

Tessy turned back to face the stairs again. They looked endless and Tessy felt shrunk to a negligible size. Frustrated, she watched Kan struggle to his feet. He was trying to carry all four, but there was not a chance he would make it. Tessy had wasted too much time. If Kan staggered at this painfully slow rate all the way he would never make it. Tessy grit her teeth. Hard. "I can't leave them here. I'm no God. I can't decide who lives and who dies."

Tessy had to carry the other two. They were not light, but manageable. She and Kan burst from the building and didn't stop until they were far from the flames. Tessy set the children down gently and turned back again toward the building. "No Tess," Kan said. He attempted to keep his voice steady, but Tessy could hear it shake like vibrato on violin strings.

"But Kan, there's still..." Tessy trailed off. From such a distance Tessy could no longer feel the agonizing heat of the fire, but she could still clearly see it. The top floor where Jessica had been taking her afternoon nap had collapsed upon itself. Stripped of all emotion Tessy fell slowly to her knees and watched the blaze consume what was left. Kan offered her his hand, but she didn't have the strength to take it. He picked her up carried her far away.


****

Winter break was over and Tessy returned to school. News of the New Years fire had spread fast and far. Tessy wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted nothing more than to find Kan.

"Tessy Emer?" The math teacher asked as Tessy walked into her first period class. She nodded in reply. "I have some news for you. It's about a boy named Kan. His parents wanted me to tell you."

Tessy nodded again.

"They informed me that your friend Kan is in the hospital." The teacher said this like he was reading the sentence off a list of things he had to do. "It's my understanding, " he continued as if he wasn't really well informed, "that he was caught in the fire and the smoke he inhaled caused significant damage to his lungs. He's currently unconscious, but at least he's stable. You two were close?" He gave an apologetic look as he spoke, never quite meeting Tessy's blank gaze. Clearly, he did not understand the horror behind the words he spoke.

Tessy barely managed a nod.

"My deepest condolences."

That meant nothing to Tessy. She fled from the classroom as quickly as her feet would carry her. She wanted to see Kan. She had no idea where he was. There were hospitals in all directions and all of them equally too far to run to. Tessy curled up in a locker cave and closed her ears with her hands, buried her face in her knees. Between silent sobs Tessy drifted in and out of an overwhelming darkness.

She didn't know how long she slept and didn't care. What had woken her were voices just around the corner.

"-No he's stable, but it could be weeks before he's awake,"

"But how could that even happen? I was with him when we heard about it from the bottom floor and we all got out before even seeing a flame."

"I heard he went back to save a girl."

"Who Tessy?"

"Yeah, her, but I heard he went to save her knowing full well about his lung condition and that she only got mad at him."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah, and not only that, but she left her family behind. Even her five-year-old sister. They all died in the fire, but she managed to save herself."

"What? That's so cruel. She practically killed her own family."

Tessy couldn't listen anymore. How had the gossip spread so far already? How could they speak of her when they didn't even know the truth? Tessy began to stand up, but a sudden realization stole the strength from her knees. They were right. Everything they said had been true. She was cruel.


****

The phone rang a Tess picked it up. She didn't say anything, just waited for the person on the other end to start talking. Eventually, someone did. "Is this Tessy?"

Tessy said nothing.

"Kan is requesting to speak with you. It was the first thing he said after waking up this morning."

Tessy took the metro bus to the hospital. Kan was on the third floor. Tessy's whole body shook as she began to ascend the stairs and she had to stop to rest before reaching the top. She opened Kan's door after she gathered the strength to finish what she had failed to do that day, though she knew it could not save anyone now. Kan sat up. "Tess!" That was all he said. Tessy had expected him to ask about her condition, but he knew better.

"Kan," Tessy muttered. She hung her head low. "Kan, are you okay?"

"Tess come here." She did. He held out his hand and she took it. It was warm. She had feared it would be deathly cold. "Tess, those kids are here at this hospital. They are all leaving tomorrow in perfect health. Tess, you're a hero." His face was bright and his smile was wide. Tess didn't understand.

"Kan," Tessy said in monotone, "I left my family in the fire to die."

Kan's eye widened as he realized the state of Tessy's mind, constantly replaying the scenes in the burning building. He could see it in her eyes that she was constantly rewinding her thoughts and compelled to repeat the moment she decided to leave her sister behind to save the other children. "Tess," Kan said. Tessy didn't meet his gaze. Tess," he said again, "you can't think like that. Your decision wasn't wrong." He wondered if his words even registered in her head.

"I let them burn when I could have saved them," Tessy said. "I killed my family."

Reviews

[J.A. Marquez]

Awesome! Almost perfect except for a few small typos. You're quite the story teller and writer. Tessy is very believable and likeable.