F I R E
Everyone in our house were alerted and awaken by a voice
from our neighbor yelling ‘Fire!’. This was before 6 in the morning on Easter
Sunday, and the first thing I did was to call out my mom who’s in the other
bedroom with my younger, and go outside to confirm and see how far the fire is from our house. It wasn’t long before we
knew that the fire was starting from our neighbor’s house, the one near mom’s
bedroom and not from afar as we all have initially perceived. I started to
panic. While mom and E-jay were outside to help put out the fire with the rest
of neighbors, I was deciding what to do first: a.) call up the fire station b.)
contact my ‘kuya’ for help c.) begin saving items before the fire becomes
uncontrollable which leads me to yet another decision making—what to save
first? Thank God the fire was discovered early and was able to be extinguished
before it could cause further damage or loss. About 15minutes only, without the
need of firemen and only the ‘bayanihan’ of neighbors, the fire was put off and
it became an instant talk of the ‘barangay’.
How the fire really started is somewhat a mystery. The dwellers of
the house couldn’t figure it out themselves—it wasn’t due to short circuit,
candle left unlit, or gas stove explosion. On the other hand, how the fire has
been controlled and eventually put out fast was the luck story of the day. Indeed,
God was good to us.
I remember the last time there was a fire in our
place, some two years ago. It was
farther from house, in New York compound almost near the elementary
school I went to but the fire was bigger that we can see the flames and smoke
from our terrace. Yet, we were already getting prepared for the worst
scenario—that is loosing our house so we started packing things. It was much
easier then because Dad was home for vacation and I realized that it was completely
different then when we had a strong man in the house who would keep us safe
despite the panic scenario. How I wish dad was here when the fire happened
earlier this morning.
I can’t imagine loosing our house from fire. The
house I lived in for all of my life. The house I go home to every night after
work. The house mom and dad have invested for our family. It would be really
hard for me to let go of it especially if beyond our will but if then the
situation calls for the inevitable… like many things in life we have to let go
of it.
Let’s appreciate what we have now because you can
have many things today and by tomorrow loose everything you have.
