This story is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
--Into the Flames- Chapter 1--
"Honor guard, firefighters, honor guard, present arms!"
In unison, every firefighter present saluted my brother's body. At the same instant, the seven members of the honor guard raised and began to fold the flag that draped the casket, `Taps' playing in the background. Once the flag was folded, the chief presented it to my mother. I stood as the chief approached me with my brother's helmet. I slowly saluted and accepted the gift. The chief saluted and a single tear ran down his cheek. I returned to my seat. The chief returned to his post, said a few words and dismissed the honor guard and participating firefighters. With that the crowd broke.
"Mom, I'm going to go get out of this uniform and go to bed, I'll see you at home."
"Ok Ryne, I'll be home as soon as I can," she said with me in a hug, and headed off to the funeral dinner that was being held at the fire house.
As Ryne pulled into the driveway of the modest home that his mother provided for him and his brother, he noticed that his brother's car had been returned to its usual spot in the driveway. His stomach sank; his brother would never be behind the wheel of that car again. Ryne then opened the garage door and backed his car in.
He entered through the kitchen, the hardwood floors making a distinct `thud' as his shoes hit (his mother would kill him if she caught him with shoes on in the house). Up the stairs he went, past his brother's room, the door slightly ajar, and onto his own. Ryne removed his uniform, threw it on the chest at the end of his bed and put on a pair of jeans, white ankle socks and a t-shirt. He then sat down at his desk and turned on his laptop, he had to send a few thank you emails to his professors.
At the age of 20, Ryne was starting his third year of college, majoring in mechanical engineering. He went to a private college that was close enough that he could live at home. In addition to being a student, he had been chosen by the mathematics department to teach calculus to a group of local high school students, so he took the time to send an email telling his class that the first day of lecture would be this Friday instead of tomorrow, Thursday. He needed another day to gather himself.
After Ryne had finished sending the required emails, he walked over to his bed and collapsed. It had been an extremely emotional day.
Ryne awoke with a start, tears running down his face and his body covered in sweat. He couldn't remember what he had been dreaming, but he was sure it was about his brother. He looked over at the clock. 3:30 am. He had been asleep for almost twelve hours; he decided that he should take a shower.
He entered the bathroom that was attached to his bedroom, turned on the shower to warm the water removed his shirt and turned to the mirror. At 5'10" and 200lbs he was nothing special. Ryne had dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. Normally he used gel to style his hair, but he hadn't done so for the past few days, especially this morning. He considered himself moderately attractive, but again nothing special. He had never had a girlfriend nothing ever seemed to really click with the women on his life, he wasn't sure why, but didn't really care, he didn't have time to be in a relationship he wasn't sure about anyway.
Ryne then removed the rest of his clothing and entered the shower, the hot water being almost painful at first until his body acclimated to the temperature. He shampooed his hair, and then used his old spice body wash to cleanse the rest of his body. Once he considered himself to be clean, he turned off the water, stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry.
After slipping a pair of shorts and a t-shirt on, he made his way downstairs to the kitchen. He was underage, but he needed a drink, now more than ever. He removed a glass from the cabinet, filled it with ice and poured a couple shots of rum over the ice. The remaining space was filled with Coke, for color as his brother always told him. As he took his first sip, he noticed the folded flag and his brother's helmet sitting on the table, his mother must have brought them in. he picked them both up and returned, dink in hand, to his room. He set his drink down on his desk and sat down for a moment. He had to prepare himself for this. When he decided that he was ready, he turned on his favorite song, `We Didn't Start the Fire' by Billy Joel. He picked up the flag and helmet and slowly opened the door to the adjoining room.
This room had two entrances, one from Ryne's room, and the other from his Brother Adam's room. This was their private space. They could do whatever they wished with this space. When they were young, it had been their play room. Once both Adam and Ryne had matured, they decided to turn it into a music room. Ryne and Adam were both skilled at playing the piano and the guitar. The room really had no decorations, other than the black baby grand piano that took up a majority of the room, until four years ago when Ryne and Adam were 15. Almost exactly four years earlier, Their father David had made the same sacrifice for his fellow man, he was a firefighter killed in the line of duty, little did they know at the time that Adam would meet the same fate.
After their father, David Calloway's, death, they decided that they would dedicate the largest wall to him. They painted the entire room fire engine red with white trim. On a shelf in the center sat the flag that had been draped over the casket at the funeral. Their father's helmet and bunker coat hung on either side of the flag. The remainder of the wall was decorated with various pictures of their father and other fire department memorabilia.
The other walls of the room remained blank except for a shelf on the second largest wall. The brothers could never agree what to place on that wall, so nothing was ever done, until now. He walked up to the shelf and placed the flag that was draped over Adam. He then placed a hook on either side of the shelf. One would hold Adams helmet, the other would hold the coat that was supposed to protect Adam as he ran into that building. On his way out of the room, he passed a photo of himself, Adam and their father. Ryne stared at it for a few moments then returned to his bed sobbing himself back to sleep.
-- Alright y'all, this is where you tell me whether you like to story so far or not. I know it is kind of an odd opening chapter, but I promise, things will get better as I continue. I am open of any sort of criticism whatsoever, so please contact me. I am also looking for an editor. I may know how to write, but two minds are exponentially better than one. If you are interested, please let me know. Email me at elmquja@gmail.com, thanks!--