Isolated in the Ashes | Teen Ink

Isolated in the Ashes

October 17, 2015
By anothergreektragedy PLATINUM, Pembroke, Massachusetts
anothergreektragedy PLATINUM, Pembroke, Massachusetts
26 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Just laugh


Time froze.  Tears that were once ripping out of my eyes are now ebbed on the edge of existence.  I see my dogs' faces, dark with the remnants of a place that was once safe and now was just gone.  Their puppy eyes roll up ever so slowly to meet ours.  I can tell that they sense our despair, we all wear the horror of the day on our faces.  My dogs begin to paw at their oxygen containers, wanting to get out. They wanted to comfort us, even though they were the ones who were alone in the house when it happened.  They needed to be with us so much that their damaged eyes seemed to brighten past the darkness of the smoke that had infected them.  But they can’t come out of those tanks.  They are isolated because of the ashes engulfing their lungs, nearly terminating their steady breathing pattern.  In, out.  In, out.  I used to lie with my head against them and just listen to their peaceful inhales and elongated exhales.  But now their breathing is weak and they are stuck surrounded by purely oxygen.  And not by their people.  It’s clearly paining them to be apart from their humans.  Smack!  Both dogs are creating collisions between their bodies and the cages containing them.  A couple of doctors turn to stop their madness, but me and my sister burst across the space.  We open the hatches that allow you to reach your hand through to touch your pets.  My sister goes to Neve, who barely fits in her cube.  My sister sobs harder as her best friend attempts to kiss her through the tiny opening.  I reach out for Gus, his timid nature probably intensified by a tenfold by this traumatic experience.  He is whining so insistently that he begins to hack up ash.  His fur is blackened by the ashes as well.  I pull my hand away to try and dry my drenched face and the liquid streaking over my face is now black.  It’s almost fitting.  They are dark for everything that has been snatched away from me by the flames that consumed my home.  But as I remember to breathe through the tears and Gus licks my hand, I smile for the things I didn’t have to lose.  


The author's comments:

On March 7 2015, my house my burned down.  Inside were my two dogs, who were retrieved from the fire in time to survive.  They had to stay in oxygen tanks so they couyld breathe for over a week.  This is when i first saw them after the fire.  


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 11 comments.


on Oct. 26 2015 at 6:54 pm
beyondthesky PLATINUM, Santa Monica, California
34 articles 3 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one&#039;s heart, like treasures. I don&#039;t like to have them laughed at or wondered over.<br /> -L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

Lol exactly:))

on Oct. 26 2015 at 2:27 pm
anothergreektragedy PLATINUM, Pembroke, Massachusetts
26 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Just laugh

@beyondthesky Haha yea like if i could talk like i can write i would sound much smarter all the time intsead of just uhhhummm ahhh

on Oct. 26 2015 at 3:15 am
beyondthesky PLATINUM, Santa Monica, California
34 articles 3 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one&#039;s heart, like treasures. I don&#039;t like to have them laughed at or wondered over.<br /> -L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

Believe me I feel...I have so many thoughts but my words make absolutely no sense when I talk to people..

on Oct. 25 2015 at 8:26 pm
anothergreektragedy PLATINUM, Pembroke, Massachusetts
26 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Just laugh

@beyondthesky cool is not the right word for me hahaha socially awkward and weird are more accurate

on Oct. 25 2015 at 4:09 pm
beyondthesky PLATINUM, Santa Monica, California
34 articles 3 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one&#039;s heart, like treasures. I don&#039;t like to have them laughed at or wondered over.<br /> -L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

@anothergreektragedy lol you do too

on Oct. 24 2015 at 5:18 pm
anothergreektragedy PLATINUM, Pembroke, Massachusetts
26 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Just laugh

@beyondthesky you seem pretty cool haha

on Oct. 24 2015 at 1:44 pm
beyondthesky PLATINUM, Santa Monica, California
34 articles 3 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one&#039;s heart, like treasures. I don&#039;t like to have them laughed at or wondered over.<br /> -L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

@anothergreektragedy same:)

on Oct. 24 2015 at 9:55 am
anothergreektragedy PLATINUM, Pembroke, Massachusetts
26 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Just laugh

@beyondthesky It truly is. I think writing is my truest way of expressing those emotions.

on Oct. 24 2015 at 2:33 am
beyondthesky PLATINUM, Santa Monica, California
34 articles 3 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one&#039;s heart, like treasures. I don&#039;t like to have them laughed at or wondered over.<br /> -L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

:( it's so crazy how sadness causes such beautiful words to come from a person... @anothergreektragedy

on Oct. 23 2015 at 6:17 pm
anothergreektragedy PLATINUM, Pembroke, Massachusetts
26 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Just laugh

Thank you @beyondthesky we just moved back in today but now my dog is at the vet because another dog bit her right after we arrived so im kinda upset rn. :(

on Oct. 23 2015 at 12:07 am
beyondthesky PLATINUM, Santa Monica, California
34 articles 3 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
It&#039;s nicer to think dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one&#039;s heart, like treasures. I don&#039;t like to have them laughed at or wondered over.<br /> -L.M. Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables)

This is so so touching...you take the purity of the pain your family and your dogs endured and translate it into something ever so slightly hopeful...beautiful