I left my brother in the hills. His foot was caught in the rubble. A flaming log fell heavily on my brother's leg and pinned him to the forest floor. He twisted and and shook, but the log's weight was too much. I grabbed him by both arms, yet his limp body would not budge. I was confused. The weight was too much and the fire was climbiing the log. The heat and smoke began to blanket the forest and I could see the wall of fire moving closer to where I stood. I placed my back against a tree and watched the fire consume my brother's leg. I could not avail my brother and tears covered my cheeks as I tried again to lift the burning log. My brother released a shrill, yet I was impotent. His fishing pole sank to the forest floor as he clenched his face in pain. My brother screamed in anguish, but he realized he was hopeless. I could not lift the log and a calm set over him. My brother realized his destiny; mired under the burning log. I watched in horror because my brother accepted his own death.
The fire razed the forest and flames licked at the trees in every color of the light spectrum. The lake where my brother and I fished was consumed in flames. The lake reflected the fiery scene and burning branches broke the calm of the water.
I turned to my brother, his body consumed in flames and I placed my tattered black t-shirt over his pallid face. I could not look into his young and tortured eyes. I could feel the heat press up against my bare chest. The smoke crawled closer through the pristine forest air. I took one last look at my brother and touched the masking t-shirt and mumbled "your heart beat is mine." I left my brother in the forest; I clambered beaneath the burning timbers and circled the engulfed lake.
I felt a sense of urgency, yet I had no where to turn. The flames ravaged my city. The lake was once my haven, a place where my brother and I could find serenity , but now it was a grave for my kin. The black shreedded t-shirt still haunts me; I can see the black outline of my brother's eyes, nose and mouth.
The flames consumed the forest. Wood cinders and rain cascaded to the forest floor. The rain puddled on my skin and washed the soot that congregated on my chest. The ash from my brother's fire was washed away. All that was left were the effervescent flames in the forest canopy.