The Nightmare
The nightmare for Mark was finally over.
Mark watched the news with joy, and suddenly, he forgot all the other troubles in his life. The reason for his happiness was that the TV anchor reported the fire had finally been put out, and a helicopter flying by his house was broadcast on TV. After all, it was the only one out of many that did not burn down during the fire. Instead of humbly acknowledging his luck, he screamed out, “YES!”
Immediately, people who were also watching the TV in sadness from the emergency shelter looked at him. Still proud, he said, “My house did not burn down.”
However, people around him were not so happy. Instead of shouting out in joy like Mark did, they responded by simply saying, “My house is not safe.”
Others said the same and gave him a disapproving look. The other’s disapproval did not subdue him. “Haha, I won’t have to clean up my house when the evacuation order is lifted.”
Their looks looked angrier at Mark. One asked, “So you will not be helping us when we get back?”
“No,” Mark responded.
“I should not have looked out for your house when you were away,” said one of his neighbors.
“That was so long ago, and I already gave you a souvenir,” responded Mark.
“You called a cheap bag anyone can get at the dollar store a souvenir?” asked the neighbor.
After that, Mark remained quiet, still happy with his house’s survival. Soon, the evacuation order was lifted, and people began to file out of the emergency shelter. Instead of saying “bye” the same way people said “hi” to Mark when he arrived, many ignored him.
When Mark went home around 8 P.M., he immediately turned on a natural gas generator as the power was still out and refused to let anyone borrow power from the generator. He then took a shower and went to bed. While he was in bed, many others were cleaning up from the wreckage and offering each other help. Even those whose houses miraculously survived stood side by side with those who were victimized by the fire in the cleanup. Some even let people whose houses burn sleep in their house.
It was about midnight when the generator that Mark forgot to turn off began to make strange fume noises. Others who were close to the generator ignored it as they were too busy. Soon, the noise became louder, and a fire broke out. Instead of helping, the neighbors simply called 911 but did not help put it out. Inside, a fire alarm rang, waking up Mark. As soon as he smelled the smoke, Mark ran to the hallway where part of his house was burning. After running outside, Mark yelled, “Can anyone help me?”
No one responded, and everyone continued to work. Mark realized he was on his own. Although fire trucks sounds intensified as time went on, Mark decided that waiting would lead to most of his house burning down. Mark tried to get the hose, hook it to his pipe, and turn it on, but those took a lot of time without help. By the time Mark was ready, most of his house was burned, and the firefighters had already begun to do their work.
After the fire was put out, Mark realized he was just another victim, no longer superior due to his house’s survival. Unlike others, Mark did not receive help from others, who simply ignored him. As time went on, Mark found it difficult to clean up on his own and sleep outside, unlike other victims who were let into standing houses by their owners. Mark knew he needed the help of his neighbors, but he could not find a way to regain their trust.
About a week had passed since Mark’s house burned down. One night, he was woken up to the smell of smoke and noticed a fire that started from a portable generator in one of his neighbors’ lots. He knew that if he did not act quickly, the fire would spread to the remaining houses that still stood. Instead of simply calling 911 and running from the fire, Mark ran to the closest house still standing, knocked on the door, and sent some people to fight the fire and some to alert others. Before long, the entire neighborhood was fighting the fire. Thanks to Mark’s simple actions, the fire was stopped from making any progress before any firefighter arrived. Once the firefighters arrived, they completely put out the fire.
After the fire, Mark became a hero and regained the trust of everyone in his neighborhood. He received the help he needed to clean up his burned house. Once his house was done getting cleaned up, he helped others until every house in the neighborhood was cleaned and ready to be rebuilt. Mark was allowed to sleep in his neighbor’s house until the Red Cross found a place to shelter all the victims.
The nightmare for Mark was finally over.
Good work