Standing in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to
believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine
trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I
had burned down my house.
Write a 500 word story using this
passage as a starting point. It is due tomorrow at the end of class. It must be free of errors.
Standing in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house. When I realized that I have burned down my house I was shocked as ever. I couldn’t believe it that was the biggest mistake I made. I asked myself why? I have run fast as I can to call for help for my family. I was screaming and calling for help while I heard my family groan from inside the house. I knew at that moment that this wasn’t going to end very well. While I waited for help I tried looking and calling the names of my family inside the burning building, I couldn’t hear them so that’s when I preceded to go inside the house to look for them. When I walked inside the house the first room I heard crying coming from was my little sister’s room her name is Abigail she was only 10 months old. I grabbed her and ran into my parents room and I seen my father and mother gasping for air I realized that all I could do is try and give the CPR , so I started CPR on them as soon as possible. I heard the sirens from outside, I began to go outside and call them in so they can come check on my family and rush them to the hospital. I got so scared that I started crying satirically tears kept rolling down my eyes I could not control it. All I could think about it my family and how they were doing so I asked one of the police officers if I could drive in the back of the ambulance with my family, he said yes. So we rushed to the hospital as fast as we could. My father and mother were in a comma, and my little sister was in one also. I wasn’t as bad as them I only had a couple of scratches and bruises and burn marks all over the doctor took good care of me and wrapped my marks and bruises up in bandages and told me to wait in the waiting room for the doctor to tell me how my family were doing. As I waited I decided to call my grandparents and tell them what have happened they became really worried and told me that they were coming up to the hospital. The doctor came out and told me that my family were perfectly fine and they should be out the hospital in no time after they run a couple of tests. Within the two days that my sister and mother and father were doing better they let them go home. My family were so happy to be together again we started to appreciate each other more and more because taking life for gradate was a choice anymore.
ReplyDeleteStanding in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house. The house that haunted my thoughts, always in the back of mind. Sleepless nights listening to my parents fight through the thin walls, days spent exploring the woods looking for any escape. Thankfully no one had lived there since we moved about 7 years ago, so the only sounds were the crackling of the fire and wood coming down.
ReplyDelete**
That same year of moving, I ran away. I decided to after I found my mom smoking out of a pill bottle in the kitchen. It wasn’t just that she was doing drugs ,I had seen her do it a thousand times, it was that for my birthday I asked her to stop and there she was. All of those years of never asking anything, fending for myself,taking care of my drunk father, and she couldn’t even do this one thing for me. I ran into my room and my emotions came crashing down in a roaring wave. I shouldn’t even have to ask you to stop! ,I kept sobbing. I kept wishing that she would come and hold me, pushing my hair back, but that was like wishing to turn into a shooting star. Instead I spent the night alone in a quiet, despair, crying myself to sleep. The next day I planned my great escape, packing my things, stealing money from my parents pockets while they slept, and most of all trying to build up my courage. I was terrified of leaving but I was more terrified of what would happen if I stayed. I clearly remembered my mom stopping me before I left and asking me where I was going. “I’m leaving,” I said simply. She gave me a warm smile and told me to be back soon. “Oh hun, could you get me some NyQuil?” , she said right before I closed the door. As I walked to the train station, the roaring wave threatened to come down again and this time I wasn’t sure if I could swim above it. Looking through the grimy window, restless thoughts tumbled through my mind. I thought how they didn’t really see me, how they never took the time so caught up in their own petty lives. They were supposed to love me but maybe they would only care when I was dead.
**
The warm glow of the fire had diminished leaving the night dark except for the beam of illumination from the moon. The house of horrors was nothing more than piles of ash and broken metal. I thought maybe something was wrong with me for burning it down but in that moment I felt truly free. There was no one or anything left that knew all the details of my childhood, no one but myself to bring up all the pain. I sat down and leaned against the pine tree just staring at the house. I began to wonder what had happened to my parents;not when I left them but what made them victims of desire. Everyone has their own demons, but the difference is whether you fight them or if you silently watch them control your life. That’s what my parents did. They had sat back passively until they were no longer themselves but a reflection of their inner demons, not even willing to break free for their own child. As I sat there thinking, I decided I would not become another casualty of myself.
Standing in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house.
ReplyDelete“Do you feel accomplished now, MaryAnn?” I quickly turned around searching the darkness.
“Who said that? Who’s there?”
“Well do you?” The ominous voice asked me again. I continued to look around searching for any source of the voice. “This isn’t going to make the memories go away. You know that right?”
“Who are you?” I demanded, walking deeper into the woods.
“All those fights,” I could feel them getting closer, “all those horrendous moments. They’re all going to haunt you still.” I continued to push through the forest, feeling my way through the trees.
“Show yourself!” I screamed, frustration and anger boiling over.
“You know he was still in the house. You’re a murderer MaryAnn,” the same voice yelled out. They’re getting closer. I spun around trying to get any signs of who the stranger is.
“I’m no murderer! You don’t know what you’re talking about! He wasn’t even home!” A force knocked me to the ground and a foot slammed onto my back, holding me to the ground.
“You heard the screams. Don’t pretend that you didn’t,” they flipped me onto my back and kicked me in the ribs. “You’re the worst kind of killer. Arson MaryAnn, really? You could’ve been more original.” They kicked me again in my side and started to laugh.
“I’m not a killer,” I choked out as tears started to run down my face.
“Are you crying? Oh this is rich!” They yanked me up by my hair and threw me into the nearest tree. “You kill someone. Wait, let me correct myself. You kill two people. Don’t cry during or after the deaths, but now! Oh now, you break a tear because you’re suffering the consequences. You never cease to amaze me MaryAnn.”
“Who are you?” I asked again, trying to hold in the tears.
“Who am I? Who am I? I’m offended you don’t know my voice sweety. You don’t remember all the good times we’ve had together. The laughs, the cries.” They paused and let out a chuckle. “We had a lot of those you know. Well you did most of the crying, I did the crocodile tears to make you stay.”
“No, it can’t be you,” I whispered in complete fear.
“You killed my son MaryAnn, you killed our son,” he growled, coming down to my level.
“Thomas? I thought-I thought you were-”
“No, I wasn’t in the house. Frankly, I’m not too sure who you killed,” He laughed again and leaned in. “As i said before MaryAnn, you’re a murderer. A sad, sad, pathetic murderer. Was killing our son not enough for you? You needed to kill me too? And you needed to kill an innocent man?”
“Thomas, it was a miscarriage.” I choked out, the blows from before finally wearing off. “It wasn’t my fault!”
“Don’t you dare lie to me! You killed our son!” He barked, standing up again. “You killed our son and then you tried to kill me!”
“I only tried to kill you because you’ve put me through hell and back, Thomas. On multiple occasions you’ve tried to kill me. It’s because of you I lost the baby.”
“You shut your mouth! I’m going to do what I should’ve done along time ago.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, fear growing inside of me.
“Finish you off.”
Standing in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it I had burned down my house. The one thing I was anxious to hear was my wife's reaction to my actions. She is the reason I did what I did, but I must never tell her why I did it. She chose to be on the wrong side. Lying is my only option, she must never know the truth.
ReplyDeleteI saw her drive to the driveway, she slammed the the car door and ran in front of the house and sat down. I immediately started to sense an overwhelming feeling of anger and depression hit her. I felt bad, but I knew it was for the better.My wife couldn't stop I couldn't wait to show her the new home we will move to.
"I don't know how this happened, whoever did this will pay. We will find a new home and start over. It would be a shame if you had any valuable work information in there."
She sensed my sarcastic response and started to feel suspicious. I didn’t care at all, the company she worked for was corrupt. If only I found out about her job before we got married. Corperations like the one she works for need to be eliminated. I did my company good by destroying her companies’ secrets. She hid all of her information and burning down the house was my only option.The deal was; “Destroy the house and all remains of the information, in return, we will give you a bigger and better house just down the road.” I did have a lot of memories inside of this house and to be honest, I was a little attached to that house. But not having kids made it a little easier to bear.I told my wife about the house down the road.
Later that day, we bought a really fancy house just down the road. Right as I entered the house, I was surprised at how fancy and precise the house was set up. My company did a really good job of preparing this house to show my wife.
We spent a couple of days inside of the new house and things were going swimmingly. Systems in the corperation I worked for were going really well and my wife didn’t know a thing. I got back from work and saw my wife sitting there with…… packed suitcases…..
I couldn’t believe my eyes, the stare she was giving me sent chills down my spine. She…….
KNEW ABOUT THE PLAN!
“Why do you have suitcases?”
These suitcases have all of my personal belongings, I packed these in anticipation of an accident. I think you know what I mean.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I eavesdropped on your conversation with one of your workmates. You think you I didn’t know where you worked? Do you think I’m stupid? Look at the look on your face, you look ridiculous. All of your money, is mine.
I heard a knock on the door, it was the people from my company. After knocking a couple times, they knocked down the door. They had guns and my wife smirked. It was true, my company….. USED ME.
Sir, your services are no longer needed. You hacked into our network to gain money. You betrayed us. We made you set your house on fire so you we can find you. It is hard to locate your house using a GPS with all of the tall trees by your house. Your wife is more valuable than you. We can have her work for us and she will do better than you. All of the actions we made you commit led to your demise. We realized how bad of a person you are and realized you should be eliminated.”
They pointed a gun to my head,”You are now, useless.”
ReplyDelete“Wait! Why didn’t you just go to my house and shoot me, why did I have to burn down my house?”
“We wanted you to learn what it was like to lose something. You have been taking from us for so long. We were never able to find you. You haven’t been working at the office normal times because you knew you would get caught.We knew that you knew you would get a new house, but I know you felt attached to your house.
I heard a gunshot, then I woke up. I woke up and heard a call from a corperation. The voice, didn’t give me a good feeling. At that moment, I thought of the dream that I had.
Standing in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house. The sirens sent shivers down my spine. The tears streamed down my face. With all the combustion and smoke, the tears were cooling, but still didn’t feel right. I shouldn’t be upset over what I did. It happened. It’s done. The bright orange flames that seem to be mocking me as they burn all of my family’s possessions. I can no longer look, I turn my face into the rough, lopsided, strong pine tree that has been in this exact spot for more than 20 years, but then again my house used to be standing strong. Guarding my family from all the pain and sadness from the outside world. Just like that it has fallen. The guilt washes over my face, but I know it was inevitable. As I watch all of my memories burn: the christmas mornings that we had in our brightly light living room with the gigantic tree covered in several “baby’s first christmas” ornaments or the friday game nights as we competitively cheat at UNO and Monopoly because everyone wants to win. The laughs and smiles are burning as the flames reach the third floor.
ReplyDeleteI can see my sister’s 5 Seconds of Summer poster get eaten by the fire. Riley! Where did she go? I got so wrapped up in igniting the place, I didn't even think. My hands got sweaty and my heart ran a thousand miles. I only meant to harm her, not my beloved sister, who wasn’t aware of everything that she had done. The last time I heard Riley she was fooling around in the basement. The one place in the house where there is only one way out. The crooked, steep, and unsturdy staircase that haunts you as you make the ascending journey. I had to protect her. As an older sister it was my obligation. At least that is what I have been told for years.
“Jane, make sure Riley stays out of trouble!”
“Don’t let her cross the street without you!”
“Set an example as the older sister.” I was always in charge of Riley and the one time she needed me most, I wasn’t there. That is the story of my life. People who are suppose to be there for you, but aren’t.
However, she was my mother. She was suppose to take me to dance class and paint my nails. She wasn’t suppose to leave me on my fifth birthday party because “she couldn’t handle it anymore.” Was I going to leave, everytime Riley messed with me or my dad disciplined me? No, I wasn’t, we were family so I stuck through. This woman who showed up at my door step out of the blue two hours ago, wasn’t my mother. She was someone who had to be extinguished from my life. I was driven with years of rage, depression, and emptiness. She walked in and gave me a hug. It felt awkward, uneasy. All the feelings that I have kept inside took over. I shoved her down and watched her slam her head on the wooden floor. She was out cold. I began to panic. She looked dead, but it didn’t mean anything to me. She was a stranger, someone who didn’t belong in my life. So I grabbed the matches out of the kitchen cabinet and the rest is history. I hurt her like she hurt me, my dad, and my sister. She shouldn’t have come back and now she won’t.
I see the strong firefighter carrying my sister’s body. Riley looks bruised and limped. Her light skin is now charcoal. I see her slightly breathing. I feel relief, Riley wasn’t harmed by my fire. I knew everything was going to be fine, well at least eventually.
Standing in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house.
ReplyDeleteIt had to be done. That spider was out for my life. I have never seen such a beast. This is the life I chose when I moved to Chernobyl. Day in and day out I have to fight and survive against these radioactively mutated creatures. All the Nicholas Cage self help tapes in the world could not prepare me for the horrors faced in this ghost city. Too bad thats a total lie, I don’t live in Chernobyl and I don’t fight for survival on a daily basis. I live in Springfield, Texas, and I just made a terrible mistake that a shoe could’ve fixed. Not fifteen gallons of gasoline and lit match. Man moms going to be pissed when she comes home, or what was once home. I have an ungodly fear of spiders and this time it got me completely screwed over. I just single handedly ruined my families life. Maybe I should run away, that way I won’t have to face my devastated mother and brother when they return from dinner. Then it’s settled, I’m Audi 5,000. I don’t even want to think about the wrath my mother would lay upon me. There is no way I could ever get away with this, no way in hell. I don’t even know where I’m going to go from here. I wasted my time. Crap mom is home I have to get out of here. I lied low in the bushes as I watched in horror. My mom dropped to her knees and began cry uncontrollably. I couldn’t stand it, I left my makeshift hiding spot and ran over to my heart broken mother. I had to lie to her. She can not find out the truth. I comforted her as best I could. There was nothing we could save. the fire burned the house down to the ground. Me, my mom, and my brother had nothing left. We piled into My mothers car and drove off in tears. We had driven 18 hours to my grandmothers vacation house where we would restart our lives. I now have to live with this dark secret, I can’t believe I burnt my house down over a stupid little spider. Man oh man I’m gonna need all sorts of therapy after this mess is over with. I’ll make it up to my mom though! I’ll work three jobs and gain money to refund my family. And maybe once we are back on our feet I’ll let the cat out of the bag and tell the truth. Oh wait, I totally forgot about homeowners insurance. That’ll cover the damages and we will be able to live normally again. After mom got off the phone with the insurance company she smiled jumped up and screamed. It turns out the insurance company is going to write us a check for 800,000 grand. Thats so wonderful, I’m so relieved. But the truth will remain a secret for a long time. Lesson learned, I will never overreact over a spider again.
Charles Schimpf
ReplyDeleteStanding in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house. What was I thinking when I decided on making methamphetamine inside my room. My mother will be furious when she finds out what I have done to our newly built mansion. What should I do? Tell her the truth or just blame the whole thing on something that was inevitable? I have to call the fire department before the situation gets out of control. They answered quickly and told me to look out for the big red fire truck in five minutes. Just as the man on the phone said, a humongous truck came barrelling down the street at nearly the speed of light. A man with a yellow jumpsuit almost resembling a banana ordered me to call my parents to inform them of the current situation. My bones started to ache with a feeling of guilt when i clicked on the contact labeled “mom”. She answered, and I could already hear the rage coming from the complete silence. My mother strongly dislikes the feeling of being bothered when she is at work.
“What do you want Joseph?” she yelled into the phone.
“ Mom, I burnt down the house by accident. I was cooking some lunch and left the stove on too long,” I muttered.
The phone beeped, signalling the phone call ended, and at that point I knew things weren’t getting better past this.
Time has not passed more than five minutes before a beaming light coming from my mom’s newly polished Ferrari she bought last week. The door flew open and the tip of her heel stood out like a tomato in a potato pile. She was giving me the look of death with both eyes opened wide. Before words left her mouth, her face turned red like a stop sign. Her voice penetrated my ears like bullets hitting animals during hunting season. It was so loud that only part of what she is saying is received by my ears. She started to walk towards me and laid her hand on my collar and yanked me up almost to where i could touch all the clouds. Words couldn't even start to come out my mouth to tell my side of the story. My plan is to close my eyes and think everything was just a bad dream and when I reopened them everything would turn back to normal. I turnt my head to see how the situation with the fire was going and things were not looking good. The only thought in my head was the idea of her never knowing the real truth behind what happned on this day, but we all know moms will find out what happned one way or another. I’m starting to think things over and the truth is sounding like the better option.
Charles Schimpf
ReplyDeleteStanding in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house. What was I thinking when I decided on making methamphetamine inside my room. My mother will be furious when she finds out what I have done to our newly built mansion. What should I do? Tell her the truth or just blame the whole thing on something that was inevitable? I have to call the fire department before the situation gets out of control. They answered quickly and told me to look out for the big red fire truck in five minutes. Just as the man on the phone said, a humongous truck came barrelling down the street at nearly the speed of light. A man with a yellow jumpsuit almost resembling a banana ordered me to call my parents to inform them of the current situation. My bones started to ache with a feeling of guilt when i clicked on the contact labeled “mom”. She answered, and I could already hear the rage coming from the complete silence. My mother strongly dislikes the feeling of being bothered when she is at work.
“What do you want Joseph?” she yelled into the phone.
“ Mom, I burnt down the house by accident. I was cooking some lunch and left the stove on too long,” I muttered.
The phone beeped, signalling the phone call ended, and at that point I knew things weren’t getting better past this.
Time has not passed more than five minutes before a beaming light coming from my mom’s newly polished Ferrari she bought last week. The door flew open and the tip of her heel stood out like a tomato in a potato pile. She was giving me the look of death with both eyes opened wide. Before words left her mouth, her face turned red like a stop sign. Her voice penetrated my ears like bullets hitting animals during hunting season. It was so loud that only part of what she is saying is received by my ears. She started to walk towards me and laid her hand on my collar and yanked me up almost to where i could touch all the clouds. Words couldn't even start to come out my mouth to tell my side of the story. My plan is to close my eyes and think everything was just a bad dream and when I reopened them everything would turn back to normal. I turn my head to see how the situation with the fire was going and things were not looking good. The only thought in my head was the idea of her never knowing the real truth behind what happened on this day, but we all know moms will find out what happened one way or another. I’m starting to think things over and the truth is sounding like the better option.
Why the Fire
ReplyDeleteStanding in the dark at the foot of the property, I watched. It was hard to believe. I shielded myself from view, leaning against one of the many pine trees in the woods that ran up to my backyard. I had gone through with it. I had burned down my house. I had finally gained up enough courage to do it. And now the deed was done. As I stood in the billowing smokey trees, I waited for the firefighters to start to searching the forests around my house, but they never did for some reason. I quietly walked towards the fire engines and police cars to try and hear if they had figured out that I did it. They were mumbling into their radios and not talking to each other; I snapped a twig and one of them turned around towards me and I froze. I couldn’t see much of his face because of his mask and the black ash covering him; but I could see the piercing green of his eyes. They were the glimmering color of emerald, sparkling in the light of the morning sunlight, through the ash, like a fresh sheen of morning dew. I was about to back away and make a run for it, until he held up his finger to signal me to wait. I nodded my head and stayed put. I don’t know why but I felt like I was supposed to listen to him; almost a father-figure vibe.
I was waiting for him to come out of the ashes, and he finally appeared. I swallowed and I blinked nervously. I thought I was in trouble when he looked at me; he had the look of anger and authority in his gorgeous green eyes.
“Why are you way out here? Do you need help? I can help you, if you want…” his smooth voice broke through the silence in the thick air.
“I-I- I did something wrong, you can’t help me.” I murmured and I took a step back. He shook his head and his helmet shook with his head. I smiled a little when it shook and I walked forward towards him. He looked down at my because he was about 6 feet tall and his smile was small but noticeable. I suddenly felt calm and I walked up to him and reached up to take his helmet off; he ran his fingers through his messy hair, and I noticed it was a bright shade of red. I giggled and he smirked at me. He knew what I was laughing at, and he soon joined in until we were both as red as his hair in the face.
“What’s your name?” He questioned me sweetly. I blushed and told him.
“Beautiful, just like you…” I blushed again and playfully pushed his chest. He didn’t budge, and I left my hand there, too distracted to realize that he was leaning towards me slowly. I swallowed thickly and I stepped on my tip toes and connected my lips to his.