Auckland Fire

I opened my eyes to hear crackling. The crackling from a fire.

The scorching fire burned, my eyes darting to the smoke as it clouded the air.

I sweat in the sweltering heat. The families start to feel fear.

They were worried about what would happen. Hopefully nobody else was here.

I see nothing but flames surround me. The firetrucks rolled in, sirens wailing.

Relieved bystanders cheer. The firefighters seem to ignore the cheers,

grabbing a hose and showering the fire with water. Black smoke,

an unusual color for smoke, filled the air. Innocent bystanders cough

and back away from the building, heading back to their vehicles.

My heart raced. Through flames I see water. Suddenly there was hope.

There were crackling flames and yelping citizens.

The smell of the fire was strong and smoking,

similar to burning plastic. I scrunch my nose at the smell.

I see another person standing not too far away.

They were almost completely surrounded by boiling

flames. I was unable to help, hoping a firefighter would

soon arrive and save them. I race to the edge of the rooftop

once there’s enough space to run. I wait for a ladder to reach up.

I look back at the other citizens, hoping they’d get saved too.

I see a ladder extend towards me. I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Thank god,” I muttered. A firefighter is attached to the ladder,

holding on tight. Once he reached the top, he hops onto the rooftop

and commands everyone to climb down. It was so high up but it was

the only way. I go first, placing my feet on the ladder and gripping

the sides tightly. As I am climbing down the ladder, it lowered unexpectedly.

I shrugged and held on until I reached the ground. I hop off the ladder.

Finally, relief. I was asked if I was okay.

I replied telling them that I wasn’t injured at all,

which was very fortunate. I took one last glance at the

rooftop and hoped everyone else would be alright.

I had a few questions that I decided to keep to myself.

Questions like ‘How did I get here? How did the fire start?

Where’s my family? Where am I?’ They were all left unanswered.

For now, at least. I see black smoke emitted from the fire.

I try to get as far away as I need to be, I was warned and told

to stay back. I looked around desperately, searching for my family.

Searching for answers. I had walked too far that I began to get lost.

Where was I even going? My hope suddenly faded and panic replaced it.

My mind was clouded with ‘oh nos’ and ‘what if’s.’ I had to search for

my family, slightly distracted by the black smoke, thinking that I

should’ve asked for help. It was too late now, I was already lost

and I had nobody to run to. All I could do was sit on the concrete

and look around hopelessly.

I frowned. Nowhere to go, no one to go to, and no food.

Was I hopeless? Yes, completely. Was I going to try flip

things around? Absolutely not. I knew that night would soon

arrive so I’d have to get going soon. But where to go? There

was nowhere to go that would be helpful and I didn’t know

where my car was. Did I even arrive in a car? I’m not even sure,

I could’ve used a bike, a skateboard or I could’ve just walked.

Why was I asking myself this? It didn’t matter, what did matter was

home, the one place I am unable to get back to. I had to check in

at a hotel, it’s the city after all, there’s got to be a hotel somewhere.

I find a hotel and enter, quickly digging through my pockets first for

some money. I had enough to pay for tonight, tomorrow would be a

different story. I paid and unlocked my room with a key I was given,

the room number labelled on top. I flopped onto my bed and drift

to sleep. What now?

I opened my eyes. It felt extremely hot. Was the air conditioning on?

I don’t remember turning it on… I sit up and widen my eyes, sniffing

the air. The air smelled like burnt plastic and smoke. A familiar

crackling noise filled my ears. What I saw, though, I didn’t believe.

Hot, burning, fire.

“Well,” I chuckled nervously, “I’m doomed.”

The end

-

I was given an image and I had to write about it. I wrote a narrative, pretending I was in the fire. It was cool getting to write it!

-