PHEBE KEELAN

‘EVACUATE! THIS IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY! EVACUATE NOW!’ The announcement blared through the loudspeaker.

            Startled awake, the teenage girl fell out of her bed as her bedroom door slammed open. Her mother, Sarah, hurried across the room to help her up.

            ‘We have to go, Dani. The fire changed direction and is heading this way, they’re ordering everyone in the area to get out now while we still can before it’s too late,’ Mum informed her as she tried to remain calm, ‘Grab what you can, I want to leave within the next ten minutes.’

            Dani dashed around her room, throwing her most important possessions into her backpack, along with whatever else she saw that would fit. As she heaved her heavy backpack onto her shoulders, the copper haired girl took one last look around and grabbed her old teddy bear before she hurried out to the car. Her eyes widened in shock as she walked outside to find that the blue sky had become a burning orange that bathed everything in an apocalyptic light. She watched silently as ashes fell from the sky like snow.

            ‘C’mon, we’ve gotta go, we don’t have time to dawdle,’ Renee, her big sister, nudged her shoulder, snapping her out of her daze. With a renewed sense of urgency, the two dumped what they managed to grab into the car. Sarah soon joined her daughters as they all climbed in and began the journey towards safety. They drove slowly as the sky darkened, and visibility decreased as the smoke thickened.

            ‘Damn it!’ Mum exclaimed as she squinted through the red haze. ‘Renee, I need you to help me navigate. Dani, keep checking for any updates.’

            The girls agreed and the family continued, car crawling along at a snail’s pace. Tension steadily rose as embers began falling across the windshield. Renee caught sight of something moving along the edge of the road, it stepped into view of the headlights and Renee gasped as she realised it was a limping dog.

            ‘Stop the car!’ Renee called out, causing Mum to hit the brakes. ‘There’s a dog, I think it’s hurt.’

            ‘We can’t leave him behind, especially if he’s hurt,’ Dani piped up from the backseat.

            ‘Stay in the car, I don’t want either of you breathing in more smoke or ash than you have to,’ Mum responded with a serious expression before she wrapped her shirt over the lower half of her face, ‘I’ll be quick as I can.’ She took a deep breath, and leapt from the car, door slamming behind her as she approached the injured dog. She squinted through the red haze, vision blurring as smoke stung her eyes. Hands held out in front of her, she murmured words of comfort to the dog. The dog, covered in ash, soon let Sarah come close enough to see that his paws were burnt. Quickly gaining the dog’s trust, Sarah carefully picked him up and carried him back to the car. Dani reached over and opened the door, allowing her mum to gently place the dog on the backseat beside her. Sarah rapidly jumped into the driver’s seat, coughing from the smoke burning through her lungs as she yanked the shirt from her face.

            Passing her a bottle of water, Renee asked, ‘Do you need me to drive?’

            ‘No, I’ll be fine.’ Mum answered, breath wheezing. ‘He’s got a few burns; the fire must be really close.’

            ‘I’ve lost service, but the last update said the road out of town was still clear,’ Dani spoke up, pouring water into an old container for the likely dehydrated dog.

            ‘Here’s hoping it stays that way,’ Mum replied, voice hoarse, as she put the car into drive and continued down the road, sticks crunching beneath the tires.

            ‘Is he wearing a collar?’ Asked Renee.

            ‘Yeah,’ Dani reached out to take a closer look at the dog’s collar, swiping away ash, ‘His name’s Milo, I think he’s the Millers’ dog.’

            ‘Oh my god!’ Three voices sung out in unison as they went around the bend and saw orange light.

            ‘Is that…?’ Questioned Dani.

            ‘Yeah, that’s the fire,’ Mum answered.

            ‘Shit!’ Exclaimed Renee.

            ‘Language,’ Mum half-heartedly admonished.

            ‘If there was ever a time to swear, it’s definitely now.’ Dani muttered, she stared wide eyed at the bright flames as they licked the side of the road. She raised her voice, ‘Should we turn back?’

            Turning around in her seat, Mum looked through the back windshield behind them as an explosive crack sounded through the air as a tree crashed down on the road they had just come down, ‘Well that answers that.’

            ‘If memory serves, the road curves away from where the fire seem to be right now,’ Renee said, ‘And I don’t think it’s actually on the road yet.’

            Mum nodded in agreement and continued driving. The closer they got to the fire the louder it became, crackling through the trees. The intense heat of the flames increased. With one arm, Dani held her old teddy bear tightly to her chest, while she ran her other hand down Milo’s back in soothing, repetitive motions. Renee found herself holding her breath in fear. Unable to clear the smoke from her lungs, Sarah’s cough got progressively worse. Eventually, the coughing got too bad to continue driving safely.

            ‘Are you okay, mum?’ Renee asked.

            ‘Sorry Ren, but I need you to take over driving,’ Sarah reluctantly admitted to her daughter between coughs as she put the car in park and the two swiftly switched places before Renee continued driving down the road, heart in her throat.

            Dani checked her phone, desperately hoping to have reception. She cheered silently when she saw she had a signal even if it was only barely there. She searched for any updates on the fire, relieved to find that the information had been update within the last couple minutes. ‘If the latest update is accurate, we just need to make it through the next few kilometres then we’ll be home free.’ She revealed to her sister and their mum.

            With a renewed sense of hope, Renee increased her speed, driving as fast as she dared through the haze of thick, black smoke and ash.

            What felt like an eternity later, the trio and their newfound dog finally escaped the danger zone and released the breath they’d been holding in a collective sigh. Tensions gave way to relief as the orange light from the flames faded from view. The smoke eventually began to lessen as they continued down the road, further and further away from the fire, leaving the horrific fiery danger behind them.

*

Soon the exhausted family reached the nearest evacuation centre. They joined the dozens of other people and their families as they all sought shelter and safety from the fire.

            After providing their information registering their family as safe, Renee and Dani searched around for first aid. They spoke to several people before locating a spare first aid kit. The sisters quickly returned to their mother and Milo. Having worked part time at an animal shelter all year, Renee retrieved everything she needed from the first aid kit and set about tending to Milo’s burns, she cleaned and bandaged the wounds while Sarah and Dani comforted him before checking the dog over for any other injuries. Having found none, Renee returned the first aid kit in case someone else needed it, then asked around for a medical professional to check on her mum as her coughing had yet to subside before being pointed towards an older couple.

            ‘Excuse me, you’re a doctor, right?’ Renee interrupted their conversation, ‘Can you help me?’

            ‘Yes, I’m Dr Maxfield. Are you hurt?’ The man on the left responded.

            ‘Not me, my mum. She’s been coughing badly for a while now and I’m getting worried,’ Renee answered.

            ‘Of course, lead the way.’ Dr Maxfield responded, and Renee swiftly lead the doctor back towards her family.

            ‘Who’s this?’ Questioned Dani as the two approached.

            ‘Dr Maxfield,’ Renee introduced the man then elaborated, ‘He’s gonna check on mum.’

            ‘I’m fine, I’m sure there are others that need a doctor more.’ Sarah croaked out between coughing fits.

            ‘Yeah, you really seem perfectly fine,’ Renee sarcastically replied.

            ‘Please, for our peace of mind just let him check you over,’ Dani pleaded.

            Pausing for a moment, Sarah looked back and forth between her daughters and the doctor before she reluctantly agreed. Dr Maxfield checked Sarah over and listened to her lungs with his stethoscope.

            ‘Your lungs are likely damaged from inhaling too much smoke and ash. Only time will tell if the damage is lasting,’ The doctor informed the small family, seeing the looks on their faces he hurried to reassure them, ‘Most people recover relatively quickly with minimal issues so I wouldn’t worry too much just yet.’ The trio thanked Dr Maxfield before he left to assist other people with injuries.

            The two sisters, their mother and Milo settled down to wait out the fire as they hoped with all they had that when it was safe they would return to their home still standing.

*

Several days passed before the fire was extinguished and it was safe for the family to return home to see if it survived the blazing inferno.

            Gravel crunched beneath feet as the trio slowly walked up their driveway, stepping around fallen branches. As their house came into view, the three women halted in shock. The beloved home that had been in their family for generations was nothing more than an almost unrecognisable charred hunk with the roof caved in. Despite being aware of the possibility, the small family was not prepared for the reality of their home being destroyed so completely.

            With tears in her eyes, Sarah instructed her children to be careful and the three split up as they looked through the remnants for anything worth salvaging.

Stumbling through the charred remains of her childhood, Dani searched for anything salvageable as each footstep disturbed the ash that had settled over everything. She sifted through the rubble that used to be the library, weary of the fractured glass scattered around. Books crumbled to dust at the slightest touch. Reaching out, she gently picked up an old picture frame. She blew away some of the ash before removing the broken glass from the frame. With great care, she retrieved the mostly intact photo.

            ‘Find anything?’ Her sister’s hoarse voice croaked from the doorway. Glass crunched beneath her feet as she crossed the room. ‘Is that us?’

            ‘Yeah, with mum. From that day down by the river,’ Dani answered softly, holding out the photo, the edges singed. ‘Mum packed a picnic and took us there to cheer us up’.

            ‘I remember that day. She told us all those stories of her adventures with Uncle Henry from when they were kids,’ Renee responded, gaze focussed on the photo depicting the two sisters and their mother by a river bathed in warm sunlight, smiles spread across their faces. ‘She always knew exactly what to do’.

‘Ren, do you think we’re gonna be okay?’ Dani asked, voice cracking.

‘It’ll be hard, but we’ve still got each other and that’s all that really matters in the end,’ answered Renee as she wrapped her arm around her younger sister’s trembling shoulders.

Dani and Renee continued to search through the debris, soon joined by their mum, they found almost nothing salvageable as the fire had scorched through everything in its path. Looking over their meagre possessions, Dani, Renee and Sarah walked away from the crumbling, ash-covered remains of their family’s home, determined to rebuild all they had lost.