I sat comfortably on my leather seat, reading a novel. The fireplace blazed, the warm air flowing on me, making the area cozy. My 4 year old son was sitting on my lap, playing with his toy firetruck. “Look papa, birdies!” as he pointed towards the window. Looking outside the window, I noticed a flock of pigeons fly off into the distance. “Hm..So nice…Maybe something good is going to happen today,” I whispered, placing the book on a table. We then looked at each other, and he playfully grabbed my nose. “Got ya! Ha! Papa! I got your nose!” I chuckled. Slowly, my eyes started to get heavy, and soon, my eyes closed. rumble “Eh?” I said, surprised. “What was that?” rumble. It happened again, but more violently.

“Papa!” my son smiled, dropping his firetruck to the floor. “This is fun!” The ground shook hard as I fell out of my leather chair, along with my son. The cars outside screeched as they came to a sudden stop. Roof tiles were cascading down the collapsing roof, and toppled to the ground. I stood up, but then fell back down again, as the ground shook nonstop. The walls started cracking, and plaster bits rained down. A large chunk of plaster crushed the red fire engine. My son started to cry, and crawl towards where it been buried. I crawled on all fours, snatched my son, and hid under a creaky wooden table. I bit my bottom lip as a sharp plaster fell and sliced my hand. “No, the table isn’t good enough,” I thought to myself in a panic. “Daddy! It hurts!” he wailed, as I noticed a giant gash on his cheek. “It’s going to be alright, son.” I said in an shaky voice, gently kissing him on the wound. The wooden floor panels started to overlap each other, making the ground tilted and uneven. I stumbled to get up, but right when I did, the roof collapsed. I shrieked, as I felt my body getting cut everywhere. I slammed face first right onto the ground as I felt multiple teeth getting pushed up into my gum. It felt like I was stomped by an elephant.

Everything was pitch black. “Daddy...something...ow...it hurts…” my son whispered, his voice getting softer and softer. “No…”I cried as his breathing became quieter “Sonny….”Don’t worry. Daddy will protect you,” I cried louder, thinking that he passed out. Everything just happened so quickly. “Hel..” I tried to yell, not before I coughed up some blood. “My teeth...and my nose,” I thought. “It hurts so much,” My jeans were soaked with some kind of liquid. Blood. As I tried moving it, pain inflicted into my soul, causing me to yell loudly. “Gah!” I whined, as I coughed up more blood. Something sharp had impaled me on my leg, and I was losing blood fast. “Maybe it was the rusty old water pipe,” I thought to myself. “Rust….!” my eyes suddenly bulging. “I need..to get it..out!” But, how could I? My whole body couldn’t move from a giant piece of plaster above me. Several of my ribs were broken, and my arm was crushed under a heavy piece of plaster. I tried moving it, but somehow, didn’t feel my left arm anymore. “Please no…” I cried quietly, as tears started filling my eyes. The tears dropped onto the gash on my face, causing stinging. Blood slowly dripped down onto my face, as I Cried to myself. “Something must have hit me hard on my head...it’s aching,” My head felt like a metal hammer had just whacked on it, as blood poured out of the crack. The broken window pieces had sliced through my wool slippers and were cutting my nails and foot. My body had several gashes and splinters from the wooden table I hid under earlier.

Suddenly, I smelled smoke. The fire in the fireplace must have spreaded, and it was burning closer to me. “Help…” I whispered, barely even audibly. The fire spread quickly, and it burned through the giant plaster above me. My shredded blood-soaked jeans caught on fire. “GAH!” I yelled, the pain unbearable. The fire deteriorated the gashes and cuts, burning into my skin deeper and deeper. I winced at the stench of burnt flesh. My ripped T-shirt slowly burned. The splinters in my body were burnt. It was just then, when the burnt plaster above me was raised, and someone dumped a bucket of water on my body. “We found someone!” someone yelled, picking my body up. “Sir! Sir!” the person yelled, brushing away the ash on my face and body. “I…I...I’m...f...fi...fi...fine” I stammered, spewing up more blood. My lungs ached when I talked, and it was hard to breath. “My...s...son…” I finally said. The man shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said. My head tilted slightly as I saw my dead son, blood everywhere, getting carried away. A gash in his shoulder was unmissable. “His dead eyes stared up into the cloudy sky. No!” I yelled, trying to stand up. “I thought he passed o-”I yelled, coughing up blood. “I’m so sorry, sir. Please, stay sti-” The man’s voice was drowned by the fast, loud beating of my heart. Happy memories of me and my son flooded in. Like that time how we lied on a grassy hill, looking up into the sky. Remembering how he always tried to act tough whenever he fell and scraped his knee. But now, my son is gone.

I slowly raised my hand, as if trying to touch my son’s hand for the last time. My head slowly tipped backward. The man’s expression changed quickly. “Get the doctors! GET THE DOCTORS!” the man yelled. “He might not make it!” People with white coats came running toward me. “Hurry! He’s n…” My heart beated louder, and I didn’t hear anything. The man’s mouth moved, but I heard nothing, his voice drowned out my heartbeat. My vision blurred up, and the man transformed into a peachy blob. I smiled a weak smile, and let out a tiny laugh. Blood flooded my mouth and dripped down to my chin. Tears fell down my face. I felt my body being placed back onto the ash covered floor. “See you in heaven, son.”I whispered. And then, everything slowly went black.
Five days later, a search and rescue team was out in the rubble. A dog strayed from the group and started to sniff around. He stopped abruptly and started howling. A man in a neon vest and a hard hat came over. “What is it, boy?” he asked, scratching his belly. The dog looked down and started to whimper. The man yelled, “Guys! I think we got something!” People in the same get-up as the man raced over, with pickaxes and shovels. They started to clear rubble. After a few minutes of vigorous digging, one of the people exclaimed, “I think I have something!” His gloved hand reached into the debris and pulled out a banged-up toy firetruck.