I.
With blizzard blowing her last breath
she kissed the sky goodnight

The Moon at its highest
The coated ground glowing white
Snowfall softens
Snowflakes twirling in the gelid wind
Every flake unique

Ah, the house of a family
A father
Mother
And two children
Thump
Thump
Thumping up the stairs
Exhausted
Midnight

Comforting beds
Warm hugs
Goodnight kisses
Mother and father slip away

A silent night
Not enough
Small footsteps at the bed
Enough energy to climb in
Last kisses
Nighty night
The silent night fades

Almost.

II.
The last embers die out
Except for an escaping ash
It loops in the snug house
It loops again
It loops again
But more follow
Embers glide in unison
Looping and swooping
They evolve into sparks
Into flares
Dancing on their feet
They have petite hands
Hundreds are in sync
Flashes of light dance in circles
The living room fills
It’s a musical!
Flowing rhythm
Ontop of each other
Oops! A slight stumble
But they continue…
They climb
Climb
Climb
Climb
Climb
A finale arising!
This is it
It’s time
They step left
Then right
Like flares of fireworks
They fly!
They fly!
And fly!
And--
Whoops!
They tumble like building blocks
Down
Down
Down

A single flame
An outcast
Smaller than the rest
It takes a tumble farther
Hopping
Hopped back to the group
A helping hand to stand
One
Two
Three
An angry refusal
Making it feel oh so
Down...
Down...
Down...
Helping
A fourth and fifth
Until the flames are back on their feet
They show no thanks
They gather again
The blazes build another tower
Once again feeling smaller than usual
The flame starts to die out slowly
It’s nearly an ember

III.
It can’t take anymore
Rage bottled up
It grows
Grows
And
It

GROWS

Flames startled
They start to spark
The panic flies
The rage is too strong!
It turns into a frenzy
A flame throwing storm
Flames on the curtains
It spreads
A wildfire
It pulls back and forth
Waves of fire
Into the kitchen
Oh no, the gas stove!

The house goes up in flames

IV.
The family is trapped
Nowhere to go
The father protects from the waves of fire
Walls crumbling
The roof caving in
Scorching fire closing in
Gasps for air
But there’s only smoke
Lungs nearly collapsing
No way out...
They’re nearly memories
Growing dimmer
And dimmer

V.
Lights appear outside
The neighbors
Light after light
A domino effect down the road
A few calls to the police
Some gathering water
The news is still going on
A neighbor tells a child
The child tells the mother
The mother of the child tells another father
And so on
The deafening sirens howl in the wind
Finally flashing red and blue
One
Two
Three
The heroes are here
The crews are light on their feet
Hoses pumped up
They pump like a heartbeat
Pump pump
Pump pump
Ready to battle the beast
It’s blinding
It’s the finale
The fire seems to die
It shrinks
And shrinks
Almost there
But it’s not over
It fights back
The water and fire are like whips
SNAP
SNAP
SNAP
WHOOSH!!
Another hose joins to conquer the inferno

Smoke.

VI.
A few coughs
Dim shadows emerge
The heroes
They saved
Two children
A mother
Dazed
Shaking
Hot now cold
Noses filled with smoke
They huddle together
In the snow
No father
A few sobs
Oh wait
There he is

The father
He huddles too
Legs quivering
They jump into the arms
The comforting warmth
Tears of joy
He’s alive
It's over
No more fire
Plenty of hugs and kisses
And smoke permeated air
The town applauds.

VII.
And the snow starts to fall
A flurry
A few more
The wind begins to howl
No
She’s back

Not again...