Here we go

Hmmm?

Josh POV

  My parents, my house, every thing was ablaze. I silently prayed to God that maybe my parents would walk out of the house unhurt and cracking a silly joke about how that was almost a close one. Sadly, they didn't come out. I stood in the car crying while my body did the unthinkable and begin walking to the house. "Please be OK and come back to me. Just walk out the house and hug me. That's all I want" I thought to my self as I slowly crept to the house. I could feel the heat from the flames brushing against my face. That's how strong the fire has grown. My house or what's soon to be left of my house was engulfed in a sea of flames. 

  I crept sloser and closer, with my hand out ready to twist the knob. If you're wondering, my ears are still ringing so if you're wondering if I could hear any outside noise, there's you answer. I got so close as to turn the knob before someone grabbed me. "Get off of me! I have to save them. Please! Let me go!" I said fighting the mysterious person. I have to be strong and save them. I know they would do the same for me instantly. I finally got free and ran back to the house. Only to be tackled by someone else. "Get off-"

*Boom*

  The front door blew off of the hinges as the flames followed behind it. There was no way that they were alive after that. I laid on the ground covered by the mysterious person (The guy you're seeing up there isn't him). I watched and cried as the fire continued to swallow my house and parents alive. I can't even formulate a complete sentence right now. It's like my life was a mirror and someone just came an shattered the glass. The two people that I cared about more then life itself are now gone. What is left for me?  I was so entranced by the flames that I didn't even noticed that I was being put on to a stretcher. I looked around at the people trying to communicate with me but I couldn't focus nor care about what they were talking about. 

  "My...House..." was all I could mutter at this point. Could you blame me? I just had a life changing event happen to me. When they closed the doors, I really freaked out. I just wanted to be there. Just to see the joyous part of my life quickly burn away. I guess they got tired of my non cooperative ass because shortly after that, I was knocked out. Who knew that at the age of 14, my parents would die right before me? The funny thing is, I didn't even dream the whole time I was sleep. It just felt like I was in a black void. Like a VHS tape was finished and you had to rewind it back for the full movie. 

   When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. The bland colors here made no efforts to cheer me up. It only was making things worse. I looked to my left and saw colorful balloons as well as cards. They must've came from my friends, it's nice to know that they care about me. "Good morning Mr. Richards. How are you feeling?" a nurse who I didn't even notice was in the room asked me. Wait did she say morning? You mean to tell me I slept the whole day away yesterday? What kind of drugs did they give me? "I......A little tired. I just want to rest up a bit." I weakly said to her. She nodded her head in agreement. "OK I'll let the doctor know that you want a little bit more rest before he comes to talk to you." she said as she left out the room. I didn't say anything back, I just looked at my book bag in the corner of the room. 

  I wonder who brought that here. No time to dwell on that now. What am I gonna do now? If I had an answer to that myself, I wouldn't even ask the rhetorical question to myself. I can think about that later, right now I just want to rest. 

I remember this dream very vividly.            

  I was on an grass plain throwing a football back and forth to my father while my mom laid on a blanket and watched us with a huge smile on my face. There was a nice nreeze blowing in the wind and the weather conditions couldn't be anymore perfect. WhenI got tired, I ran toward my mom and laid on her lap while she rubbed my head. "I'm so proud of you son. Your future is very bright. I know you're gonna make me and you father proud." she said looking down on me with a smile plastered on her face. I smiled back at her. "Who wants something to eat?" my dad said sitting down with a basket of food. "I'm starving." I said as I watched him open the basket. Chicken, french fries, two hoagies and three slices of cake. I guess they knew I wasn't eating that. To my surprise, my food was still a little warm.

Cliche food? Check. Bite me. 

  Then the wind gust started picking up. The clouds turned dark and lightning began to come crashing down. I stood up and saw my parents standing up as well. "Josh let's go!" my mom yelled as the wind intensified. I ran to her but was pulled back by some unknown force. "Josh!" she yelled as I tried to break free. Next thing I know the wind really picked up its intesity and force on me as I was now being pulled away from them. "Mom, dad! Wait I'm coming don'y leave me!" I yelled as it didn't seem like they heard me. Wait please don't go. Please don'-

 "Good evening Mr. Richards." a doctor said shaking me awake. My reflex was to punch the hell out of him because of two things, one being that he disturbed my dream and the other being the obvious, he snuck up on me and broke my sleep. Number one rule of African Americans, you never disturb their sleep. "Um....." I groaned trying to get used to the now blinding light. "Uh what...time is it?" I said squinting my eyes. "It's now 3:30. Let's talk about your condition. You could've have severely injured you organs due to the smoke inhalation your body received. Luckily for you a good stomach pump was all you need. You're probably feeling hungry right now." he said. Right on cue, my stomach rumbled, confirming what he just said.

  "Thank you doctor. Um by any chance, do you have any word on my parents?" I asked. There goes that undying hope. "Um I'm sorry  but you were the only patient I had from your area. I wasn't informed on anyone else." he said. "It's ok. Thank you doc." I said as he nodded his head. "Um, Joshua, there's also someone else that wants to see you. I'm gonna leave you two alone. If you need anything, don't hesitate to press the call bell." he said before stepping out the room. When he left a woman walked in. "Hi Joshua, I'm Marlene and I'm with the department of child services." she said as I looked at her confused. Why are you here lady? "I'm sorry to hear about your parent's unfortunate passing but it looks like you don't have anywhere to go now. We have no choice but to take you to an orphanage.

OK Let's stop for a moment. I know some of you are probably thinking hey, what about your parents relatives and allat, let it clear that up. Well, when I was younger, my mo told me that my grandma moved to another country and my family up and went with her. It wasn't until now that I finally realized what that meant. Why were we shut out? From the little whispers I heard from my parents, the family felt like we thought we were better then them. How? We live in a normal ass house in a fairly OK neighborhood. You don't see us on the news, TV or local magazine. People aren't happy unless you're miserable. Whatever. 

  "Could I at least go pass my house, well what's left of it anyway. Please?" I asked her. I need the closure right now. "Sure but right after that, we have to go." she said. "Wait. What about my parent's car? They can't take that away from me. It's the only thing I have left to remember them by." I said to her. "I can arrange something where they can probably hold on to the car until you get your permit or something." she said as she wrote something down on a piece of paper. "When will I be released from here?" I asked her. I was really to tired to even argue. I just want to get out of here and lay down or something. "The doctor said you can go tomorrow so I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to come get you. Have a good day and again, I'm really really sorry for your loss." she said as she walked out. 

  Yeah everyone is sorry, it still happened though. I spent the rest of the day just falling in and ot of sleep. I ate some of the food here but I just really wasn't in the mood to eat. Surprisingly, the food here didn't taste like paste and cardboard. It was moderately edible. 

The Next Day

  I woke up the next day with a mix of emotions. I was happy to get out of here, sad that I wouldn't be returning to my original house, depressed because I don't have my light and this tunnel seems to be getting darker. All in all, I just felt out of my mind, body and spirit. Marlene had brought me some clothe as well as personal so I could look somewhat nice today. I got up out of the bed and proceeded to get dressed. For the rest of the day, I stared out the window while I waited for her to come. It was nice out today, the opposite of my current mood but I guess. Soon there was a knock at my door. 

  "Joshua, are you ready to go?" Marlene said walking in my room. "Yeah..." I muttered. I grabbed my cards and balloons as well as my backpack before double taking to make sure I had everything. Once I was satisfied, I followed Marlene out of the hospital. she took my balloons and placed them in the trunk of her car. I didn't ask why, I just got in the car. As promised, she stopped by my house first. Words couldn't even describe how I feel right now:       

  This is my reality. It really happened.  "I can only imagine the memories this is bringing back to you." she said rubbing my back. I didn't say anything, I couldn't. I just broke down and cried. My parents are somewhere in this rubble and it's killing me. We stood there for a few minutes with mostly me crying. "We have to get going Joshua. I promised them you would be there soon." she said snapping me back to reality. "Yeah..We can go now." I said wiping my face. I wasn't paying to where we was going, my mind just wasn't there. 

When we pulled up, I read the sign of my new home: A Gift From Above

I'm gonna stop here. I just need to a moment right now. 

Thoughts?

Joshua?

Marlene?

This is free hand writing at it's finest. Watch me write.