Wednesday, October 13, 2010

HERO????

I remember waking up to a frightened and distressed cry from outside my bedroom which i shared with my three sisters . I remember being very scared but i got up anyway to investigate what was happening . I went out of our bedroom straight to where my parents bedroom was and i distinctly remember my mum crying in terror and calling out PA , PA ....
I look up to see why my mum was so distressed and it registered.... my parent's bedroom is on fire !!
I saw my dad with a sheet in his hand trying to put out this angry entity that was eating one of the walls of their bedroom. The fire was so uncontrollable that it has made it's way up to the ceiling.
I ran outside to where the backdoor was where we had a drum of water, grabbed a large cooking pot from the kitchen, ran straight back to my parent's room and threw the water on to the fire .
In my terrified state, i also accidentally let go of the cooking pot .
My father later told me that he screamed at me " Grab your sisters , get them out of the house!!!"
He may have . I do not remember it . All i remember was , i was running to our bedroom, woke my three sisters up and led them to the backdoor outside our home.
I watched all three sisters go in front of me through the backdoor. Once all three of them was out i followed and just when i got out ,our gas tank that was connected to our kitchen stove (portable) i believe , burst into flames.
It's funny because i also seem to remember my third youngest sister screaming out all through this "Wait! wait! Hush and Betty (our two little dogs)" She then grabs their leads and took them with her out safely away from the fire .
Outside there seemed to be hundred people watching the fire , I remember my father trying to save his motorbike from the house . It seemed like a long time before mum and dad gave up trying to save the house.
I don't remember seeing any firefighters coming to help us . All i remember was watching our home completely being consumed to the ground by the fire and my mother 's voice crying in the background saying Pa !Pa! our house .... our house .... repeatedly.
Then somehow my grandmother and my grandfather was there . I distinctly remember my grandfather taking one look at the house , then at my mom and him putting his hand into his pocket ,draws money out and gives it to my mother who then completely breaks down and grabs hold of him.
People called me a hero then, they keep recounting how calm i was all then and how together i was. My sisters thanks me every time this memory is dredged up proclaiming that i saved their lives.
But the one thing i never told them or anyone is that to this day, I sometimes wake up in terror, i sometimes wake up screaming Fire! Fire! Fire! Is this how a hero acts???
No, I am no hero. I am a FRAUD for really inside where no one knows , where no one could possibly see is that I AM A QUIVERING MESS.

3 comments:

  1. When we talk about our fire experience amongst ourselves, it seems a laughing matter and something I feel we deny ever happened. Ha! Funny how emotions begin to torment you when you see the experience written by a brother who witnessed the events unfold right in front of their eyes. The walls come crashing down, you hear your heart pounding, your hands get clammy, you become short of breath...and the next thing your know, you can no longer deny what really happened when the tears begin to stream down your face.

    My memory is vague but I do have flashbacks. I see the fire consume our lounge room, my sisters and I hurriedly go through the back door directed by my brother to escape the calamity of the crackling fire and smoke engulfing our home and watching from the outside with the rest of the bystanders witness our house succumb to the inferno. Yes, I do remember mama's wailing cry and it breaks my heart to hear it so vividly, in my head, echoing in our native tongue. The rest of the event I only know from what the family has told me and from the marks it left as evidence. Papa's 50 cent sized third degree burn on his thigh is a clear reminder of how close the family were from life and death.

    Big Brother, my Kuya, perhaps I was too young at 6 to remember too much at the time this very night occurred. I'm just glad you and Papa woke up just in the nick of time to save the family. And here we are! Alive and truly well...I guess every black cloud has a silver lining. Not one in the family can help erase the dreams you endure or the scars it has left on your soul, but I do know one thing, You are NOT a fraud. Albeit being a 'QUIVERING MESS' (as you so eloquently note in your blog), no matter how much you question if you are a hero or not, You were our hero on that frantic night, You will remain our hero and you still are our HERO today.

    One thing still boggles me though...or call it divine intervention if you must! But one of the sole surviving relic that didn't succumb to that fire, the holy bible which Ma and Pa still possess today, signifies to me that it just wasn't our time.

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  2. Wow!!! I have forgotten about the single thing that survived that night. Who by the way has got that bible?

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  3. Oh,And by the way follower,
    lovely piece

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