Teachers always tell you to be nice to everyone, that in fact the ‘nerd’ you might be making fun of might one day be your boss. This might be true, but I’ve got another reason for being kind to anyone and everyone; you never know who might risk their life for you.

On June 12 of this summer my house caught fire due to an electrical short in the fuse box. It was about 3 in the afternoon and my mom and I were out running errands. Inside we had the family dogs and no one was home.

This is the time when I would normally arrive home on the bus and so would the neighbors, Scarlett and her sister. As we are all aware this time in mid June is testing week in my school district, meaning some of us stay home, some of us only have half days, and some of us go in late. I had my U.S. Regents exam that morning and was home early, thus the reason I was with my mom, but Scarlett did get off the bus at the normal time and saw the smoke coming from the back end of the house.

She said that her first thought, when she knew it was a fire, was to get the dogs out since we weren’t home. And that is what she did. She ran in and let the dogs out in the fenced in yard we have for them attached to the house. She screamed “help,” and eventually this caught our other neighbor’s attention, Dustin, who ran over and helped Scarlett with the dogs as she ran up to her house to call the fire department and get her mom, Brandy.

Together the three of them moved the dogs from the pen next to the barn, to the run behind the barn. Brandy told us later that the fence (which was chain link) became electrified and Dustin did get shocked at one point.

By the time we got back home there were three fire departments at the scene and loads of people. It was so surreal for me as my mom and I ran to find the dogs. I personally remember the world spinning. It was like one of those viewmasters that you might have had when you were little; it was just images sliding past me. I know that Scarlett and Dustin were in fact taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, I know that we got the dogs, and then the clearest moment was when I first walked into the front room of the house after it was clear.

It was weird to say the least, the sun high up in the sky, it was a beautiful day, and the house was pitch black inside. The fire chief said it took seven minutes to burn down. The back end of the house was completely gone. It was then we learned the cause; the fuse box in the back bedroom. It was weird enough to walk into the front room, but I can’t describe what the rest of the house looked like; for the most part it was gone.

I think it started to get late when our heroes came back from the hospital, or maybe it was the next day, it’s really blurred in my head. I had never met Dustin before until then, and of course Scarlett was ready to tell what had happened. She wasn’t scared, I remember her saying that; only very determined to get the dogs out – it was the only thought in her head. She’s a very sweet human being when you get to know her, she’ll do anything for you, and this proves it. Dustin too. It’s weird how you can live next to someone and never really know them until something brings you together. “Be kind to thy neighbor” really rings true in this case.

The next day it poured, which of course didn’t help in the salvaging. It was then, standing in the darkened front room of the house with flashlights, my mom’s cell phone rang. The display lit up and I answered it. On the other side of the line was the high school librarian, Ms. Brook. It shocked me that she already knew and I told her the whole story. I later heard that it was that very day that she sent a district wide email out to the staff at my school, and I did see her a of couple weeks later with a nice card from everyone.

I appreciate how much everyone has done, this is a huge thank you to everyone who’s been there for me; from Scarlett, Dustin, and Brandy who risked themselves, to my friends both inside and outside of this school, and the teachers and staff. Everyone has been more than wonderful since then and very understanding.

Never ever take anything for granted, from your own bed to your dogs, to your family and your friends, and last your life.

The thing I remember the most out of everything is a couple days after the fire when we were going through the destruction, I was standing on the crossbeam of my room, searching for anything. My bedroom suffered the worst since it was where the fuse box was located. So here I was searching through the ashes of my room, the place as teenagers we find ourselves the most; it’s that particular room that makes home, home to us. It’s this room that we make our own, that we fill with things from the places we’ve been, the things we’ve done, and store the memories we treasure. I remember at first looking at the rubble and thinking, this was my life, my things, it was me… My eyes found the bed. Nothing was left of the mattress, the springs from the box spring stuck out, blackened, the thick wooden oak frame of the bed reduced to charcoal. The words from the fireman rang in my head, “If it had happened at night, the fumes would have gotten to both of you before the flames, and you would have never woken up.” I stared at the bed for a moment thinking this through, then looked around me once again. I realized that it wasn’t the things that made me; the books, the clothing, the records, the stuff is all obsolete without the person it belongs too. I’m the one who made these things come alive, I made it worth something. If I had gone, nothing here in the mess would have made sense without me. Here I stood above it all and I thought, I am here. I don’t need stuff in fact to make me, just me. I can bring new stuff to live, give new stuff meaning. The girl isn’t lost, just the stuff used to express who she was on the inside. That all that stuff was used to represent me, but it would never have been me.

In the end its a funny feeling to have, to not have a home right now. We are rebuilding on the property, right now living in the camper waiting for the construction to start (any day now!). We are getting a modular house. In some weird sense of sick and twisted irony, we are going to be better off.

Before I sign off, I want to say a very sincere thank you to the teachers and staff at my school, you’ve all been so kind during this tough time for me and, as this is my last year here, I will always remember this.

“After the Fire, the fire still burns
The heart grows older, but never ever learns
The memories smolder and the soul always yearns
After the fire, the fire still burns…”
-After the Fire
-Performed by Roger Daltrey
-Written by Pete Townshend