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.I kept hearing them call my name over and over, but I was too afraid to answer. His eyes pleaded for understanding. I didn t want them to find me up there-they d already told me a hundred times that once I wasin bed, I was supposed to stay there all night.If they found me, I figured I d get in big trouble.Ihad a baseball game that weekend, and I knew they d ground me for sure, so instead of comingout when they called, I came up with a plan to wait until they were downstairs.Then I was goingto sneak into the bathroom and pretend that I d been in there the whole time.It sounds dumb, Iknow, but at the time, it made sense to me.I turned out the light and hid behind some boxes towait it out.I heard my father open the attic door, shouting for me, but I kept quiet until he finallyleft.Eventually, the sounds of them tearing through the house died down, and that was when I went for the door.I still had no idea of what was going on, and when I opened it, I was stunnedby a blast of heat and smoke.The walls and ceiling were on fire, but it seemed so completelyunreal; at first I didn t really understand how serious it was.Had I rushed through it then, Iprobably could have made it out, but I didn t.I just stared at the fire, thinking how strange it was.I wasn t even afraid. Taylor tensed, hunching over the table in an almost protective position, his voice rasping on. But that changed almost immediately.Before I knew it, everything seemed to catch on fire atonce and the way out was blocked.That was when I first realized that something awful washappening.It had been so dry that the house was burning like kindling.I remember thinking thatthe fire seemed so.alive.The flames seemed to know exactly where I was, and a burst of fireshot toward me, knocking me down.I began to scream for my father.But he was already gone,and I knew it.In a panic, I scrambled to the window.When I opened it, I saw my parents on thefront lawn.My mom was wearing a long shirt and my dad was in his boxers, and they wererunning around in a panic, looking and calling for me.For a moment I couldn t say a thing, butmy mom seemed to sense where I was, and she looked up at me.I can still see her eyes when sherealized I was still in the house.They got real wide, and she brought her hand to her mouth andthen she just started screaming.My dad stopped what he was doing-he was over by the fence-andhe saw me, too.That was when I started to cry. On the couch, a tear spilled out of the corner of his unblinking eye, though he didn t seem torealize it.Denise felt sick to her stomach. My dad.my big strong dad came rushing across the lawn in a flash.By then, most of thehouse was on fire, and I could hear things crashing and exploding downstairs.It was coming upthrough the attic, and the smoke started getting really thick.My mom was screaming for my dadto do something, and he ran to the spot right beneath the window.I remember him screaming, Jump, Taylor! I ll catch you! I ll catch you, I promise! But instead of jumping, I just started tocry all the harder.The window was at least twenty feet up, and it just seemed so high that I wassure I d die if I tried. Jump, Taylor! I ll catch you! He just kept shouting it over and over: Jump! Come on! My mom was screaming even louder, and I was crying until I finally shoutedout that I was afraid. Taylor swallowed hard. The more my dad called for me to jump, the more paralyzed I became.I could hear the terrorin his voice and my mom was losing it and I just kept screaming back that I couldn t, that I wasafraid.And I was, even though I m sure now he would have caught me. A muscle in his jaw twitched rhythmically, his eyes were hooded, opaque.He slammed his fistinto his leg. I can still see my father s face when he realized I wasn t going to jump-we both came to therealization at exactly the same time.There was fear there, but not for himself.He just stoppedshouting and he lowered his arms, and I remember that his eyes never left mine.It was like timestopped right then-it was just the two of us.I couldn t hear my mom anymore, I couldn t feel theheat, I couldn t smell the smoke.All I could think about was my father.Then, he nodded ever soslightly and we both knew what he was going to do.He finally turned away and started runningfor the front door. He moved so fast that my mom didn t have time to stop him.By then, the house wascompletely in flames.The fire was closing in around me, and I just stood in the window, tooshocked to scream anymore. Taylor pressed the heels of his palms against his closed eyes, applying pressure.When hedropped his hands into his lap, he leaned back into the far corner of the couch, as if unwilling tofinish the story.With great effort he went on. It must have been less than a minute before he got to me, but it seemed like forever.Even withmy head out the window, I could barely breathe.Smoke was everywhere.The fire wasdeafening.People think they re quiet, but they re not.It sounds like devils screaming in agony when things are consumed by flames.Despite that, I could hear my father s voice in the house,calling that he was coming. Here Taylor s voice broke, and he turned away to hide the tears that began to spill down hisface. I remember turning around and seeing him rushing toward me.He was on fire.His skin, hisarms, his face, his hair-everything.Just this human fireball rushing at me, being eaten away,bursting through the flames.But he wasn t screaming.He just barreled into me, pushing metoward the window, saying, Go, son. He forced me out the window, holding on to my wrist.When the entire weight of my body was dangling, he finally let go.I landed hard enough tocrack a bone in my ankle-I heard the snap as I fell onto my back, looking upward.It was likeGod wanted me to see what I d done.I watched my father pull his flaming arm back inside. Taylor stopped there, unable to go on.Denise sat frozen in her chair, tears in her own eyes, alump in her throat.When he spoke again, his voice was barely audible and he was shivering as ifthe effort of choking back sobs were tearing his body apart. He never came back out.I remember my mom pulling me away from the house, stillscreaming, and by then I was screaming, too. His eyes closed tightly, he lifted his chin to the ceiling. Daddy
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