Hi, my name is Buck. This is my story. Today started off as every day starts for me. The misses and I got the children up. They ate their breakfast and we sent them on their way. They loved to run around and play in the forest.
I helped the misses clean up after the children left. They were alway messy eaters. Afterwards, I kissed her goodbye and went for my daily stroll through the community.
I had smelled and noticed a little smoke in the air but didn't think much of it because the smoke wasn't heavy.
I would always go for a walk through our community. It was exercise plus it gave me a chance to keep up with what was going on. There was always those others hanging around our community. They would come and go as they pleased. Leaving their trash everywhere.
This morning was no different. Near the end of my walk, I met up with, Jack. Jack was my neighbor. He was also the neighborhood gossip. If something was going or went on, he would normally be the first to know about it.
I guess there was no news for him to tell me. Normally, he would tell about something that went on the day before.
Not today. He said he hadn't heard about anything interesting happening.
Near the end of our walk, we came across those others I mentioned earlier. It wasn't many. Maybe three. Jack and I still hid behind some trees. Just to be safe.
At first, we didn't know what they were doing. But then, it struck us. There was a small fire around them and they were trying to put it out. Jack and I looked on in total fear. This is why I smelled smoked earlier. Everytime they those others come into our community, they cause some kind of problem for us.
It looked as if they had the fire under control. Until a gust of wind came out of nowhere, that is. The fire quickly spread beyond their control. Jack and I looked in total horror as they got into their fast moving object and left.
The fire was now spreading quickly in every direction. Jack and I ran as fast we could. All I could think about was getting to my family. Jack didn't have family but he had friends he wanted to make sure were safe. So we split up.
The fire was roaring behind me. It was on the left and right of me, too. I had to go forward. But this was not the way I needed to go. This way was going to take me around the huge water hole. This was going to take me minutes out of the way. But I had no other choice. I ran and I ran and I ran.
Once I got to the water hole, I was completely surrounded with fire. The fire had beat me there. I was surrounded.
The fire was feet away from me. I didn't have a way out.
So I jumped into the water and wated for the fire to die down before I got out.
It seemed like I was in that water forever. All I could think about was my family. Were they alright? Did they make it to safety?
As soon as the fire died down, I headed for home. Everything was now burned to ground or was burning. My heart was pounding. I didn't see anyone or anything. The birds were quiet. I came across Jack's home. It was gone. There was nothing left. I called out his name. Nothing. I called out again. Still nothing. I walked on.
My heart hadn't stopped pounding. Felt like it was going to jump out of me. It finally stopped when I made it home.
My heart sank at the sight of what I saw. There was nothing left. Everything was gone.......
My home was gone. My yard was burned. It was all .....gone. I cried out for my wife and children. Hoping against hope that they had survived. I ran around for hours looking for them. I didn't find a trace.
I was about to give up when I heard Jack running up to me.
He was burned a little but otherwise ok. He wasn't able to save his friends. Just like I wasn't able to save my family.
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Contributor's Note
This intel is dedicated to "Lil Smokey". Lil Smokey is the 6 month old bear cub who was burned in a California wildfire.
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