Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Sylvia held Jason’s hand as they walked through the park to the swings. Jason loved the swings. He could go for hours, begging her to “Push! Push!” She would push, even when her arms grew tired and ached. She had prepared some apple slices with peanut butter for a snack when he finally got tired.
Jason tore away and ran toward the swing, then stopped. He looked down at something.
“Mama, it hurt.”
Sylvia caught up with her son and saw a tiny bird, wings flapping wildly, trying to fly. It had been injured.
“Jason, don’t touch it. It could have germs.”
“Mama, it hurt!”
Sylvia tried to pull Jason away, but he freed himself of her grip and went to the little bird. He bent down over it and closed his eyes, moving his little hands over the twitching body, back and forth, back and forth, until there was a strange glow around the bird like an aura.
Then Jason stood up and opened his eyes. He smiled up at his mother.
“I fix it,” he said.
And the tiny bird flapped its wings and took flight.
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Smoke.
Jason woke up coughing. Something dark filled the little boy’s room. Thick shadows moved around his night lamp that cast stars on the ceiling. It smelled bad and stung his eyes. Frightened, he tried to call out for his mama but only sucked in thick air that made him cough harder. His nose and throat burned.
Jason heard something outside his bedroom door.
Screaming.
The six-year-old scrambled out of bed. Running across the room, Jason tried to turn the doorknob, but it was too hot. He cried out in pain and fell back, huge tears rolling down his face.
“Mama! Mama!”
“Jason! Baby!” a voice called out, choking and crying, from the other side of the door.
A scary sound of sirens blared in the distance. His heart ran away with him. He had to get to his mama. She’d make everything okay. She’d made the smoke monster go away.
“Mama!!” he cried out, trembling and trying to touch the doorknob again. “Ouch!” he yelled, tears streaming down his face. “Mama, the door won’t open!”
A strange orange light glowed beneath the door and felt hot on his toes. Jason cried louder and jumped back.
“Baby! Go to the window!”
“Noooo! Let me out! Where are you?” He cried, sucking in gulps of smoky air. “I’m scared!” he coughed.
“Jason, please listen. Everything will be okay. Just listen, all right?” she sobbed, her voice weak. “Do what I tell you. Go to the window. Do it now, baby! Okay? Go now! I love you!” she cried pitifully. “Always remember, mama loves you…”
Her voice faded until Jason couldn’t hear her anymore over the sirens and scary creaking noises the house was making.
The sirens drew closer until they stopped outside, then Jason heard shouting.
A man near the window yelled, “If anyone’s in there, move out of the way!”
As Jason hovered near the door, he watched as his bedroom window was smashed inward. A fireman crawled through the splintered wood and shards of glass.
“It’s going to be okay, son,” he said as Jason cried long wails of terror. The fireman crossed the room quickly and swooped Jason up, carrying him back toward the window.
Jason panicked.
“Noooo! Mamaaa!” Managing to escape the fireman’s grip, he bolted back toward the door. Grabbing the doorknob, Jason howled as the heat burned his palm and rushed in at him when he opened the door. He felt the intense heat sting parts of his skin.
Thick black smoke and flames filled the hallway, but Jason could see his mother just beyond the fire, lying quietly on the floor. She looked asleep.
“Mama!” he wailed.
Before he could take another step, the fireman grabbed Jason, rushed to the window, and handed him out to a second fireman. As Jason was toted away from the burning house toward an ambulance, he looked over the fireman’s shoulder and pointed back at his home.
“Mamaaaa!” he screamed, squirming to get down. Taking in large gulps of air, Jason fought to catch his breath as he squalled.
The fireman sat him down in the back of the ambulance, and a paramedic took over.
Jason’s skin burned and tears streaked through the soot on his face. He looked around and saw two firemen coming out of the house, now engulfed in flames. One of them carried his mother.
Paramedics rushed to them, and Jason watched the fireman lay her limp body onto a stretcher. Hot tears blinded him as he jumped down and ran to her.
“Mama!” Jason grabbed her hand and tried to shake her, but she didn’t move. “Mama! Mama, wake up!” Jason immediately began to sway back and forth, his eyes tightly shut, his hands moving over his mother, faster and faster, saying something unintelligible under his breath.
A female paramedic’s face was a mixture of horror and sympathy, as Jason choked back tears and continued his strange behavior.
“Please, Mama! Why won’t you move?” He kept trying, but still his mother never stirred.
Finally, the female paramedic took Jason’s hands in hers, and tried to guide him away from his mother’s body. But he refused to leave, screaming and waving, frantic and desperate, until a fireman came to the paramedic’s aid and carried Jason back to the ambulance. He carefully placed Jason’s thrashing body on a gurney inside and covered him with a thick blanket before the paramedic administered something that made the darkness get darker . . . until it finally overtook him.Start writing here…
