Dave
could hear the sound of a PASS device going off. It was the sound indicating that a fireman
had fallen. He belatedly realized that
it was his own alarm. He was surrounded
by a thick cloud of smoke. He was safe
from the flames for the moment, though the fire was hungry and moved swiftly,
eating anything that got in its way. Dave
knew he shouldn’t have gone off on his own.
Everyone told him that his rash ways would lead to an untimely death
someday. It seemed that day was upon
him. He slowly gained his feet. Nothing appeared to be broken. He switched off his alarm as he heard his
captain’s voice crackle through on his radio.
After assuring the captain that he was alright, informing him of what
happened and his possible location, he was told they would get back to him
about a possible way out. Despite the
heat of the inferno, Dave felt a chill up his spine when he discovered that the
way out was blocked by a wall of fire.
He
had too much to live for. There were so
many things he longed to do; that he hadn’t done in his twenty-eight
years. He was supposed to just sit there
and let the fire take all of that from him . . . from his family? He thought of the woman that he loved. What would she do without him? He thought of the children that they would
never have. Would they have looked like
her or him? Why didn’t he ever visit his
parents more often? How would they cope
with losing him?
He
had watched families lose loved ones. He
tried to prevent that from happening, but he knew that he couldn’t save
everyone. He remembered a call he went
on a few years ago. It was a bad car
wreck and their engine arrived first on the scene. There were several victims; the one he
rescued was a boy who wasn’t breathing nor had a pulse. Rather than waste time getting supplies from
the truck, Dave opted to do CPR on the boy.
He was able to revive him, just as the ambulances arrived.
“David.” A feminine voice whispered his name, pulling
him back to the present. No one called
him by his full name, not even his mother.
Was he losing his mind already? He
still had enough air in his tank and it appeared to be working.
“David.” That was real. He scanned the room, until he caught sight of
a white figure, coming towards him from the flames. Even though dark smoke filled the room, he
could somehow see a petite, dark-haired woman who looked to be about his age. She was so beautiful; not so much in the
physical sense, but more of an otherworldly beauty. It was difficult to explain. What baffled him was her calm demeanor. She smiled kindly at him. An unusual calm descended upon him.
She
beckoned him to follow her as she turned and glided down a corridor that he
swore wasn’t there before. The hem of
her ice blue cloak billowed behind her as though a gentle breeze was blowing
against it. Had she come for him? Was she going to lead him into eternity? No, if a person was dead, it was a deceased
relative that came for them. Right? Oh heck, anything was better than staying there
to burn!
Dave
followed her on wooden legs. The
ethereal gown was easy to see through the dark smoke. It was as though she was a beacon of light,
leading him home. Why hadn’t he seen
this way before? Was he already
dead? He could see a light in front of
them. It grew the closer they got to
it. Suddenly, two dark figures emerged
out of the smoky darkness beyond and flanked him on each side. They escorted him back the way they
came. The light, Dave realized, was
daylight, as his escorts led him out of the burning building. As they rushed
away, the inferno engulfed what remained of the structure.
“Davy
Boy! I can’t believe it, you made
it!” Dave’s friend, Crash exclaimed,
calling him by a nickname Dave used to abhor, but had grown used to it.
“There
was no way to get to you, man.” The
second firefighter, Woods exclaimed.
“The way we directed you to go was blocked. Had you gone that way, you would have been
trapped. The passageway we used had been
closed off. We almost missed it. We had to hack our way in there. How did you find it?”
“Where
is she?” Dave asked as he scanned the smoke-filled
area that was the parking lot outside of the burning building.
“What
are you talking about, Davy?” Crash
questioned.
“The
lady.” Dave explained as he looked
around franticly. “She knew my name. She showed me the way out.”
“We
didn’t see anyone.”
“She
was dressed in white.” Dave said, “She
was beautiful! You couldn’t have missed
her. You would have run right into her!”
“There
was no one in that hallway!” Crash
explained, “You were by yourself.”
How
could that be? Dave mused. Had he
imagined the whole thing? Was she only a
figment of his imagination?
Woods
clapped him on the shoulder, “She must have been your guardian angel.”
“My
what?”
“You
hear about these things all the time with close calls.” Woods explained, “Come, we should get you
checked out. You’re limping.”
Dave
could only think of one feeling later as he waited to get checked over at the
hospital when he thought about his mysterious rescuer. It wasn’t fear or a spine-tingling
feeling. It was hope. Hope had saved him.
For all the firefighters out there, may angels guide and watch over you.
Veronica
