Six Steps: A Three Part Short Story ~ Part 1

~~ In a Universe so immense — love transcends time and sacrifice transcends all earthly logic. Two souls connected through unquanitfiable love and immeasurable time find themselves embarking on separate journeys of sacrifice and reflection that will force both to alter their understanding of the universe around them. ~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Part One ~

“So what’s four plus four?”

“ummmmm,” he quickly replied.

“Come on, I thought you knew this stuff?”

Michelle gazed at Caleb through the rearview mirror as he held his index finger to his mouth, peering out of his window pondering on the question at hand.

The evening sun rays radiated off his little face and his mother could see every wrinkle embedded into his forehead as he struggled to come up with the correct answer.

“Hold up four fingers,” Michelle responded behind a smile.

The hesitation was brief as Caleb finally and proudly stretch his four little right handed fingers outward as he smiled.

“Good, now with your other hand, hold up four more fingers.”

This time there wasn’t much hesitating as he quickly raced to hold up four fingers with his left hand. Both arms stretched forward holding up the requested amount of fingers.

“You remember when we went over your right hand and left hand? Remember we talked about that?”

“Yes…” Caleb quickly replied still holding on to his smile.

“Great, so look at your right hand and tell me how many fingers you’re holding up.”

The hesitation returned as he took a brief moment to carefully and slowly count the fingers on his right hand.

“Four!!!” he excitedly shouted.

“Great,” Michelle replied, glancing back and forth between Caleb and the road directly ahead of her.

“Now look at your left hand and tell me how many fingers you have there.”

He took a moment to focus and count the fingers on his left hand, this time moving slightly quicker than he did with his right hand.

“Four!”

“So count all of the fingers you have on your right and left hand and tell me how many fingers you have in all.”

Caleb relaxed his arms on the arm rest of his car seat as he continued to hold the four fingers in position on each hand respectively. Quietly he peered over all of them, softly counting to himself as he did so.

Slowly he began to gaze up at his mother as he continued to hold onto a soft grin.

“Eight?”

“That sounded like a question son. Are you asking me or telling me?”

His smile widen as he slowly began to nod his head.

“I’m telling you.”

“Ok,” Michelle replied, “So four plus four equals………?”

“Eight!” Caleb yelled confidently, “Four plus four equals eight.”

“That’s correct,” She nodded behind a wide smile as she gazed at her son’s excited reaction. “Four plus four is eight — a fast leaner you are son. You’re very smart.”

His smile — the least brightest part of his face as his blush subtly overwhelmed it. He nodded in agreement with his mother as he gazed out of his window.

“We’re almost home so we can finish cooking dinner for daddy.”

Michelle glance over at the small bag of herbs and seasonings she had to abruptly halt her dinner preparation to hastily make her way to the market to retrieve in order to finish.

Seasonings she told Malcolm to retrieve during his grocery shopping last week, but he’d forgotten. This was the first time in a few years she was trying her hand at Pasta Bolognese and knew it would take a few hours to get it as close to perfection as possible. The previous time, she started late in the evening and didn’t get finished until ten o clock at night — lesson learned.

She was on a week’s vacation from work after having gone a full year and a half of not using her vacation time. She figured she’d stop fighting whatever it was within her that was desperately crying out

for a much needed break and accept the early fall break away from the stress at work.

She needed to spend more time not only with her two favorite guys, but with herself and she would find time to do so this week. She glanced at Caleb in the rearview mirror once more, smiling — she noticed him still counting on his fingers. The day care was doing an excellent job in preparing him for school. He was maturing and growing with each day.

The truck abruptly made its way down the road and slowly turned into her subdivision. Making her way into the subdivision, she immediately noticed the smoke — emanating from the same direction as her street. Michelle applied pressure on the gas pedal as she impetuously rushed to get a look up close as to where the smoke was coming from exactly.

Her chest began to get heavy as slight panic begin to gradually set in. Her heart began to race as she found herself subconsciously fearing the worst. Which each small turn, she tried her best to prematurely wrap her head around each corner before the truck itself could even managed to completely maneuver around them.

“What’s this?”

She whispered the question to herself as if she was truly expecting a legitimate answer from somewhere. Letting her foot up off the gas somewhat slightly, the truck began to slow down. It didn’t take long for her to see where the smoke was emanating from — Mrs. Green’s house — a house positioned five houses down from her own.

At first glance, she noticed that the fire appeared to be located on the first floor of Mrs. Green’s two story house and as Michelle made her way closer towards Mrs. Green’s house, she could see Mrs. Green out on the lawn screaming and panicking as she pointed towards her house. The truck came to a complete stop about two house down from Mrs. Green’s. The smoke was thick and quickly escaping the house.

“Caleb stay in your seat until mommy gets back you understand?”

Her voice slightly panicked as she uttered the instructions from behind a slightly nervous tone and rapidly increasing breathing.

Caleb quickly nodded at his mother’s instructions as he himself gazed upon the flames that were originating from Mrs. Green’s house, trying to wrap his young mind around all that was currently happening.

Michelle reached for her cell phone to dial 911 as she quickly sprinted over towards Mrs. Green who was hysterical. She knew Mrs. Green, who was now widowed, lived alone for the most part but there were times in which she would have her two young grandkids over for extended periods of times.

“Mrs. Green!? It’s ok, have you called the Fire Department?”

“No!!” she quickly responded, “My babies are in there, they are upstairs. The fire — it blocked the stairs — I couldn’t get up the stairs.”

“911 emergency, how can I help you?”

“My neighbor’s house is engulfed in flames and her grandkids are still upstairs — 451, John Vernon Terrace Way, in the Vernon Terrace Subdivision.”

Michelle didn’t hear the next words out of the operator’s mouth as Mrs. Green’s screams were too much to overcome. She glanced up at the house as more neighbors started to gradually exit their houses and quickly make their way over. Not many were home as it was the middle of the day and most were at work.

“Oh God no!” Mrs. Green yelled hysterically.

Michelle quickly gazed around as she focused back on her car, Caleb still in the back seat, wide-eyed and intensely staring at her.

“Stay there Caleb, you hear me? Stay there!”

He quickly nodded once more at his mother’s stern and panicked orders.

Glancing down at her phone, she could still hear the operator’s voice on the other end as she raised the phone towards her mouth.

“There isn’t much time mam, please hurry.”

Mrs. Green was still panicking and extremely emotional.

Michelle grabbed Mrs. Green’s right arm hand forcefully and jammed her phone into her hand.

“LOOK AT ME!!!”

Mrs. Green jumped at the sound of Michelle’s loud voice. Michelle could see the tears in her eyes as Mrs. Green struggled to contain her emotions.

“Where are the kids?”

“They were in the room across from my bed room, the room facing the back yard. Oh God please!”

“Mrs. Green, the operator is still on the phone, put it to your ear and give her any information she needs do you hear me?”

Mrs. Green quickly nodded as she quickly placed the phone to her ear as her hand trembled.

“I’m going to go get them.” Michelle uttered.

She took a moment to gaze around as she noticed a few other neighbors making their way over towards their location, consoling and gathering around Mrs. Green.

Michelle noticed Mr. Garrison — a retired school teacher quickly making his way over towards her shaking his head.

“Please tell me that……” he began but was quickly interrupted.

“Yes — they’re up there,” Michelle quickly responded as she nodded her head. “Fire Department is on the way.”

“They won’t make it in time.”

Mr. Garrison replied as he found himself quickly panicking and near tears as well.

Michelle nodded in agreement as she took a moment to quickly access all that was happening. She didn’t have much time but it was as if time stood still. Everything seem to move in slow motion and at one point, everything around her stop. She took a moment to gaze at Mrs. Green’s distraught face and the faces of the neighbors huddle around her.

She took a moment to gaze back towards her car. Caleb’s face was fixated directly on her as he tried desperately to make sense of all that was happening in front of him at the moment.

She swung her head around and gazed at Mrs. Green’s house. The fire was gradually swallowing the first floor as smoke and flames quickly escaped from the first floor windows.

Looking up towards the second floor, there didn’t seem to be any fire or smoke but it was only a matter of time.

“You’re right,” Michelle finally replied, “They won’t make it in time — I’m going to go get them.”

“What?” Mr. Garrison quickly replied as he peered into Michelle’s eyes, “No way, you’ll die — don’t.”

“I won’t stand here without trying Mr. Garrison,” she immediately replied. “And neither will you. Neither one of us are going to stand here and allow those babies to die without trying something — trying anything. There isn’t a further discussion that needs to be had on this, you understand me?”

Mr. Garrison stared into her eyes and knew that there was no more discussion needed other than discussing her plan of execution — he quickly nodded in agreement.

“Ok.”

Quickly she accessed the structure of the house — the second floor had a roof adjacent to it that was essentially the roof of the first floor’s front porch.

“Can you give me a lift onto the second floor roof?”

“Let’s go.” He replied as he ushered Michelle over closer towards the house. They could hear the confused and frightened voices of the neighbors behind them as the two made their way closer towards the house. The flames were hot as they both raised their hands to shield from the heat.

As they made it to the corner of the porch, Michelle noticed a side structure of the porch had a slightly secure placement for her hand to apply temporary leverage for the climb up.

“I’m going to boost you up with my hand, I want you to hold on to the side of the porch as I bend down so you can stand on my shoulders and I’ll lift you higher.”

Quickly she nodded in response to Mr. Garrison’s instructions as they hurried to begin executing the plan.

Didn’t take long for her to find herself on the roof of the front porch. She immediately sprinted over towards the first window and peered inside.

“Go in the next window!”

She heard Mrs. Green yell up at her.

She sprinted over towards the next window and peered inside — Mrs. Green’s bedroom. The lights from the fire could be see reflecting off of the walls in the hall way, but no signs of the kids, no movement at all.

Michelle took a few steps back and kicked the window as hard as she possibly could, causing the window to immediately break into pieces. Quickly, she removed her shirt and wrapped it around her hand to protect it as she finished clearing the rest of the remaining glass that hung around the window edges.

She stuffed her shirt into her back pocket and dived into the room. The smell of the house burning immediately hit her nose. The smoke wasn’t as thick up there as it likely was on the first floor but it was slowly and gradually starting to make its way up.

She quickly yet carefully made her way to the door of the master bedroom and glanced out into the second floor hallway. Smoke was rapidly making its way up the stairs but hadn’t reached the hallway just yet.

The room doors that aligned the hallway were all closed. Sprinting out into the hallway, Michelle began to cough as some of the smoke deriving from downstairs were catching her lungs. She knew it would only get worse.

She stopped at the first room door on the opposite side of the hallway and quickly opened and peered in — nothing. Not a sound or any movement whatsoever.

She quickly sprinted into the room looking under the bed — nothing. She made her way over towards the closet and immediately opened the doors, tossing the clothes out to see if anyone was hiding deep inside — it was empty.

She made her way back out of the room and glanced once more back towards the top of the stairs as the smoke began to thicken. The sounds of furniture breaking and crashing could be heard coming from the first floor beneath her.

The heat was getting hotter and the smoke, thicker. She quickly made her way to the next room which was next to the room she’d just exited. Immediately opening the door, she instantly spotted the two kids sleeping on the bed.

Her heart stopped for a moment as she feared the worst. She quickly shuffled over towards them to wake them. They woke almost immediately — startled to see an unfamiliar face standing above them.

She didn’t really know their ages for certain but she knew they were both younger than Caleb. She’d seen them only a few times in passing as she didn’t know them as well as she knew Mrs. Green.

“I’m going to take you to your Grandma ok?”

There was no response from the two kids — two girls who appeared to age around three and four. They slowly sat up in the bed looking at one another unsure of what was happening.

Michelle quickly raced to the bed room windows facing the back yard. She unlocked the first window and raised it, immediately sticking her head out — a straight shot down with nothing underneath to break any type of fall — entirely too risky. She knew the best idea was to get both of them back out of the same window she entered in — it was the safest option.

She turned back towards the bed and noticed one of the kids had vanished. She spotted the tail end of her body exiting the room door and headed down the hallway. Undoubtedly looking for her Grandmother or looking to venture to other familiar parts of the house — oblivious to the extreme dangers that currently surrounded all of them.

Michelle sped over towards the bed and grabbed the hand of the remaining child who began crying from all of the sudden excitement. She picked her up and carried her out of the room.

“Hey!!” she yelled, “Where are you?”

The other girl suddenly burst out of her Grandmother’s room, crying as well as she quickly made her way towards the top of the steps. The smoke was even thicker at this point and it was starting to impair Michelle’s vision and breathing.

The girl started running full speed towards the top of the steps, completely unaware of the dangers that awaited in close proximity. Michelle placed the sibling she was carrying on her feet and pushed her into her grandmother’s room as she then quickly sprinted towards the other girl who stood at the top of the stairs screaming — the increasingly thickening smoked started to cause the young girl to cough uncontrollably.

She grabbed the girl and yanked her back as the fire was inches away from her. She carried the child back into the master bedroom and immediately shut the door. As she began to make her way over towards the window, the house began to shake somewhat as the sound of something loudly crashing could be heard.

She ran over towards the windows that faced the front yard and noticed that the roof had collapsed. The sirens from the fire truck could be heard in the distance but as she glanced back towards the door, thick black smoked began to escape into the room from underneath the doors.

She quickly positioned the girls safely over by the window as she raced to snatch the sheets off the bed and began to stuff them into the crack under the door. Didn’t help much as the smoke was getting increasingly thicker and was escaping into the rooms from other vents and cracks that she had no time to locate.

All three started to cough as the smoke slowly began to overwhelm the room. She raced back over towards the window and peered out. More neighbors had arrived. She glanced down and noticed that the porch roof had collapsed and the jump down was steeper than she imagined. She didn’t want to have to jump with both in her arms but she would if left with no choice.

“Help!” she yelled out of the window.

A few neighbors, including Mr. Garrison stood as close to the house as possible, but not close enough as the heat and the collapsed roof was clearly impeding their advancements and ability to move in as close as she needed them to.

The smoke had now completely overwhelmed the room so much so that she was starting be left with one choice — jump.

“Throw them down now! Please hurry!”

She heard Mr. Garrison’s voice yell up to her. She no longer hesitated as she made sure the glass was clear and grabbed the first girl who was still crying and close to screaming at this point from all of what was happening to her.

“It’s going to be ok.”

Michelle yelled in a last minute attempt to comfort the young girl. She kissed the child on the forehead, positioned her in her arms like the child was a sack of potatoes and quickly and with all her might, tossed the child out of the window like she was loading the sack of potatoes on back of a truck.

She didn’t have time to stop and see if the girl was caught or not as she immediately grabbed the girl’s sibling. She reached for the child, missing her a few times as it was difficult to see her at this point considering the smoke was black and completely engulfed them. Finally, she got her hands on the girl, placed her in her arms.

“You’re going to be ok.”

She yelled to her as she tossed the girl out of the window with all of her strength. This time she was able to see the girl being caught by one of the neighbors as they began to usher them away from the house and towards the street.

She wouldn’t waste any more time as she began to climb out of the window. She turned to exit the window feet first. As she placed her left leg out of the window the sounds of something exploding could be heard coming from downstairs — likely the stove or something else at this point.

Slowly, she began to guide her right leg out of the window as she held onto the window pane but didn’t get her entire leg out of the window before the next explosion leveled the second floor and sent Michelle flying head first into the street. It all happened so fast as Michelle’s seemingly lifeless body quickly landed in the street as darkness swiftly fell over her.

“: /��E�Ғ