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One year. One year since the fire occurred. The day Dion’s world crumbled beneath his feet. A world he was never able to get back. He remembered that horrible day as if it were yesterday.
It had started as many other days started for him, his wife Odelle and his little Camilla; eating a well made breakfast. So what went wrong? What caused it to all crumble? Camilla had gotten better from a disease, one that she had been struggling with, one that hung her life on the balance. She had started to return to the over-energized, optimistic person she was before the disease. Odelle, his sweet swan, was next to him during all of this. She was there when the doctor told them that there wasn’t much chance their daughter would survive. She was there the nights Dion would stay up late into the night crying.
That day was going to be a joyous occasion. It was Camilla's birthday. That day he had planned a special surprise for Camilla. He went out earlier than usual to the fields to work overtime and get some extra money. For a while he had been saving up to buy her a paint set and a few brushes. Camilla had always been interested in painting but was never able to buy it for herself. This is the day she gets her wish, he remembers thinking as he worked the fields. He worked hard and at the end of the day he asked his boss for an early payment to have enough money to buy Camilla her gift. As the sun began to dip into the horizon, he happily started making his way back to the village which was an hour's distance.
When he got there, the joyful smile morphed into horror. He stood there, unable to take it all in. Before him, a raging fire consumed part of the village. He can vividly remember the screams of all the people around him. The panic in their tones, and the desperateness to get as far away as possible.
He snapped back to reality when he heard his name being called. He looked around him and found Luis, one of the elders, signaling Dion to run with him.
“Where’s Odelle and Camilla?” he asked Luis.
“I don't know, I haven't seen them-” Dion ran into the burning village to find his wife and daughter. He ran to their house where he found the door blocked by fallen debris. After much struggle he was able to remove enough debris to get through.
He called for Odelle and Camilla, looking into all the rooms. Flames engulfed the house and made it hard to breathe. Tears started falling from his eyes and he couldn’t tell if it was from the panic in his stomach or from the smoke. Sprinting up the stairs, he found Odelle holding a passed out Camilla near the bathroom. He instantly picked up Camilla in his arms and held Odelle’s hand as they ran downstairs and towards the door. Dion couldn’t help but feel that Camilla’s body was heavier than it had been this morning.
A bit before they reached the exit, Odelle let go of his hand and fell to the floor. He turned around and quickly tried to lift her up and carry her alongside Camilla. He tried to listen to their breathing but between the yells of the flames and the various items falling apart as the flames consumed them, it was difficult. While he struggled to get to the exit, he knew the lives of his wife and daughter were on the line and he certainly was not going to stop fighting now.
He made it out of the house and away from the village. He let both of the girls down on a grass patch and struggled to catch his breath. He felt like he couldn’t carry them any longer, but they needed immediate medical attention, and all the doctors were with the other villagers. Gearing up all his remaining strength, he picked them up and walked towards where the other villagers were congregating.
As he continued to walk he came up to where Luis and the other villagers were. “Luis! Luis!” he coughed, “Luis! They need- Camilla and Odelle! They- help!”. At this point, Dion could feel the earth sway beneath his feet.
Luis and a few other villagers ran up to him upon hearing his voice. They took Camilla and Odelle and headed towards the multiple doctor tending to the wounded. Luis grabbed Dion, “Hey man, it’s going to be okay, okay? You shou-” He didn’t get to finish the sentence as Dion fell to the ground, unconscious and exhausted.
Dion felt something wet and cold on his forehead as he started to regain consciousness. “What. . . who?” The memory of Camilla and Odelle made him shoot up from the floor and start bombarding the doctor tending to him with questions. The doctor told him to lie back down and get more rest and they would tell him once they found out.
When Dion woke up once again, he could tell the atmosphere had changed from one of shock and panic to one of grief. The doctor that was originally there when he first woke up was no longer there so Dion took it as an opportunity to go look for his family.
Walking around he heard and saw many people sob uncontrollably. He finally found Luis and asked him where Camilla and Odelle were. Luis only looked at him with eyes full of sorrow, tears ready to spill.
“What's wrong?”
“Dion, I'm terribly sorry.” Luis Answered.
“What do you mean?” Doin questioned once more, this time panic began to settle into the pits of his stomach.
“Dion, Camilla got very serious and deep burns. And Odelle inhaled too much smoke.”
“W-What?” Dion couldn’t process what Luis was trying to say, “What does. . what does that mean?”
“They- they aren’t with us anymore. Dion, they are gone. Camilla seems to have died when you were carrying her out and Odelle’s heart stopped beating a few minutes ago.” Luis finally said, his voice full of sorrow and the fat tears finally rolling down his eyes.
“N-no, no, nonono. You're lying! They are fine! They have to be fine, they-” Dion collapsed onto the floor sobbing. No he thought, not my wife, not Odelle. Not Camilla. Not them, please! He kept on crying for the rest of the day and no matter how much Luis and his other friends tried to console him, Dion only pushed them away.
After that, Dion completely broke. He was barely ever seen in the village. He mostly stayed at home or worked in the fields. He refused to go to any events and he only went to the execution to see the faces of the people who caused his family’s death. He did not cheer as he saw their body’s dangle, being somewhat angry that he could not cause their death himself.
The happy, cheerful man the village had grown to love was now someone entirely different. When someone stopped and tried to talk to him he would be polite, but he would seem distracted or try to end the conversation as soon as possible. The man whose eyes could light up almost any event, now always looked dull, emotionless or sometimes even dead. And who could blame him? He lost his beloved wife and his daughter. It came as no surprise that he would be grief-stricken and would seem to be dead. The wheezing laugh that the village's people could identify from a mile away, disappeared and was no longer heard. The world almost seemed empty without it.
For Dion each day was a struggle. He would wake up feeling around for his wife only to remember that he could no longer hug her. As he got up and changed he would go to Camilla’s room. Only to remember that he could no longer wake her up. He would stare sadly into the now abandoned room. He then went down into the kitchen and made himself breakfast. He couldn't even eat at the table as he remembered all the laughs he and his family would have. He left the house turning to say goodbye only to remember that no one would wish him a good day. After he got home from work he would enter saying hello expecting a young child to come up and hug him in one of the tightest hugs he ever had. He expected a loving woman to come and kiss him and ask him how his day was. Only to remember that no one was there. He would cook himself dinner and then go to bed sobbing. The only thing he could think of is what if he had gotten there sooner? What if I hadn't gone to work that day? Would they have survived? Would they still be with him? What if- ? He would fall asleep crying and imagining the what if’s . The days and nights blended together. He couldn’t remember what day it was or how many days it had been. It was all a blur.
A tall cliff beside the ocean. That's where he was one year after Camille and Odelle had been ripped from this world. Dion looked down at the water. He was standing on the cliff where the three of them would have picnics, laugh and play. It was a gloomy day, it seemed as if the weather was trying to match his emotions.
He sat on the ledge and started to think. What if I had gotten there sooner? What if I had gotten them out sooner? Are they in a happier place now? Would they be sad for me or be ashamed of me? Why them? WHY?? These questions continued to repeat in his head. And soon enough, the self-doubt and self-hate started to seep in through these thoughts. The memory of the day came back to him again and again. Finally he stood up. He looked back at the village and back again to the water. He turned around making his back face the water, and mumbled his last words.
“I'm sorry” and with that he let himself fall. The cliff was not high enough for the water to crush his bone as if it were concrete but Dion knew it would be enough. After he fell in the water, there was a cold sensation against his back that slowly moved through his entire body. His eyes were closed, and hasn't moved a muscle, letting gravity pull him to the bottom. His lungs filled with water, expanding and contracting, asking for air like normal, but Dion didn't try to do anything. His limbs started to spasm, and he started coughing underwater and the cold burned his face, marking his skin with sickly purple. And with one last breath, the dark was the only thing that welcomed him in the cold.