As The Smoke Cleared...

As the smoke cleared the devastation became clear. Charred and smouldering the extent of the damage took my breath away.
Expectation dissolved, overwhelming despair gripped me. Bitter tears filled my eyes.
"How could this happen?" My partner gasped. "There is no coming back from this!"
I straightened, ripped off my oven mitts and slammed the oven door..
"No coming back, but we can go out! Leave the windows open by the time we get home the smoke will have cleared!"

As The Smoke Cleared …

As the smoke cleared for the briefest moment I could see a clearing ahead. I pulled the scarf over my mouth keeping Chloe’s head buried into my breast. I had to get her through the clearing, there was no other escape route. If I hesitated, we will both die. This small window is our only hope. With maternal determination and total fear, I flung us through the burning eucalypt and ran and ran. My burnt breath was rasping in my throat; Chloe was chocking. Would we be strong enough to survive this inferno?

My eyes could hardly see. The smoke was rising and cloaking our escape. With a last huge effort I pushed through the charred scrub, my face and arms grazing against the sharpness of the tea-tree bushes. I felt faint. I couldn’t breathe. My chest hurt so badly, my child was silent. As life passed before us, I felt strong arms grab us and haul us through the scrub. We were safe, we had been saved. Oxygen was pushed over our faces; sirens screamed. I could hear Chloe crying; she was alive, we were safe.

by Annette Arthur