Sol ☼ Thomas "Tan" Moore (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
secretofthefox) wrote2015-03-07 11:11 pm
secretofthefox) wrote2015-03-07 11:11 pm
Entry tags:
- dad,
- memory,
- mom,
- negative,
- significant
Memory 22
Negative Significant: house fire
Won: Day 131
Game: death mastermind
Summary
It's the middle of the night, and Tom, age 5, is woken up to the sound of something going boom.
At first he thinks he dreamed it, but then he hears the tell-tale beep of the fire alarm, first quieter from downstairs, then super loud from the one in his own room. And he knows that when that goes off, that's bad.
Before he can react, his dad slams open the door and, in a panic, tells Tom that they need to get out of the house, now. Don't take anything with you, just go! ...And the fact that there's some smoke coming into the room now that the door is open is probably telling as to why.
So Tom, still a little bleary-eyed from being woken up so suddenly, follows his dad, who goes on ahead to make sure the path is clear, but he stops at the basement door, which is where most of the smoke is coming from. His mom always tells him not to go down in the basement, it's her private room, even more private than his parents' bedroom, so he's not allowed, but he thinks he hears something down there.
And so, not at all perturbed by the fact that he's walking straight into the source of the fire (nor is he particularly affected by the smoke), he goes down into the basement. Of note, the basement walls are made entirely of the kind of bricks you'd find in a fireplace... or, well, were, because it's almost like something exploded down here. And his mom is trapped under the rubble. The older fox from the garden (Ambre) is there too, trying to nudge some rubble off of her with limited success.
The whole basement is also a pit of fire, but again, that's the least of anybody's worries. Somehow.
Tom runs up to his mother worriedly - being buried is bad. She just smiles up at him in tears and apologizes - she thought it would be contained, she thought it would be less, she underestimated it... But then there's a creak from the burning ceiling, and she tells Ambre to take Tom to safety. Ambre hesitates briefly but then grimly nods and drags Tom out of the house (despite his protests - he needs to help his mom!) by the shirt of his pajamas. He hears his mom tell him that she loves him, and then the ceiling collapses just as he and Ambre are upstairs.
Ambre drops him only when they're safely outside the house and far away. He then tries to run back in, but his dad picks him up and, though with pain in his voice, tells him that they can't, they have to leave the rest to the fire fighters.
They wait outside among the fire trucks that have gathered while men in fireproof uniforms go in and fight the fire in the basement. By some stroke of luck, it remains mostly contained to the basement and first floor - the second, though it sustains some damage, remains mostly intact, including most of their clothes and the like. But Tom keeps hoping his mom will come out. She has to, right?
...Eventually she does, after the fire is no longer burning, but she's being carried by a fire fighter, and though her skin is miraculously not charred in the slightest, her bones are shattered from the rubble falling on her, and she's not breathing. His dad whispers his mom's name (Nina) in grief. Tom just stands there dumbly, trying to comprehend and failing.
His mom is dead.
In the distance, there's the mournful cry of a fox.
What He Learns
☼ Well, now he knows his mom's name is Nina.
☼ And how she died.
☼ And why he lived in a different house at age 10 than at age 3.
☼ Other people are free to notice how suspicious the fact that his mom didn't get burned is. Or, you know, certain other things about her. (Sol won't unless it's pointed out.)
☼ Gotta wonder what exploded though :|a
Notes
So this one won't hit him quite as badly as it otherwise might because he's known for a while she's been dead since age 5, this just tells him how it happened.
Might not help the whole 'fire is dangerous' vs 'fire is helpful' balance though...
Won: Day 131
Game: death mastermind
Summary
It's the middle of the night, and Tom, age 5, is woken up to the sound of something going boom.
At first he thinks he dreamed it, but then he hears the tell-tale beep of the fire alarm, first quieter from downstairs, then super loud from the one in his own room. And he knows that when that goes off, that's bad.
Before he can react, his dad slams open the door and, in a panic, tells Tom that they need to get out of the house, now. Don't take anything with you, just go! ...And the fact that there's some smoke coming into the room now that the door is open is probably telling as to why.
So Tom, still a little bleary-eyed from being woken up so suddenly, follows his dad, who goes on ahead to make sure the path is clear, but he stops at the basement door, which is where most of the smoke is coming from. His mom always tells him not to go down in the basement, it's her private room, even more private than his parents' bedroom, so he's not allowed, but he thinks he hears something down there.
And so, not at all perturbed by the fact that he's walking straight into the source of the fire (nor is he particularly affected by the smoke), he goes down into the basement. Of note, the basement walls are made entirely of the kind of bricks you'd find in a fireplace... or, well, were, because it's almost like something exploded down here. And his mom is trapped under the rubble. The older fox from the garden (Ambre) is there too, trying to nudge some rubble off of her with limited success.
The whole basement is also a pit of fire, but again, that's the least of anybody's worries. Somehow.
Tom runs up to his mother worriedly - being buried is bad. She just smiles up at him in tears and apologizes - she thought it would be contained, she thought it would be less, she underestimated it... But then there's a creak from the burning ceiling, and she tells Ambre to take Tom to safety. Ambre hesitates briefly but then grimly nods and drags Tom out of the house (despite his protests - he needs to help his mom!) by the shirt of his pajamas. He hears his mom tell him that she loves him, and then the ceiling collapses just as he and Ambre are upstairs.
Ambre drops him only when they're safely outside the house and far away. He then tries to run back in, but his dad picks him up and, though with pain in his voice, tells him that they can't, they have to leave the rest to the fire fighters.
They wait outside among the fire trucks that have gathered while men in fireproof uniforms go in and fight the fire in the basement. By some stroke of luck, it remains mostly contained to the basement and first floor - the second, though it sustains some damage, remains mostly intact, including most of their clothes and the like. But Tom keeps hoping his mom will come out. She has to, right?
...Eventually she does, after the fire is no longer burning, but she's being carried by a fire fighter, and though her skin is miraculously not charred in the slightest, her bones are shattered from the rubble falling on her, and she's not breathing. His dad whispers his mom's name (Nina) in grief. Tom just stands there dumbly, trying to comprehend and failing.
His mom is dead.
In the distance, there's the mournful cry of a fox.
What He Learns
☼ Well, now he knows his mom's name is Nina.
☼ And how she died.
☼ And why he lived in a different house at age 10 than at age 3.
☼ Other people are free to notice how suspicious the fact that his mom didn't get burned is. Or, you know, certain other things about her. (Sol won't unless it's pointed out.)
☼ Gotta wonder what exploded though :|a
Notes
So this one won't hit him quite as badly as it otherwise might because he's known for a while she's been dead since age 5, this just tells him how it happened.
Might not help the whole 'fire is dangerous' vs 'fire is helpful' balance though...