Brownie Lodge
by Linda Robinson
I woke up early in the morning to be greeted by the warm rays of the sun shining through my open window. Refreshed, I jumped out of my bed and glanced over to the next bedroom where my father and mother were sound asleep. I didn't want to wake them at this hour of the morning. I quietly dressed and tip-toed down the stairs without making a sound.
As usual the first thing I enjoyed in the morning was sitting on our brightly-painted red dock. I love sitting there watching the boats that were passing by. It was great to have a few minutes to myself to look out across the river. Today, the river seemed even more beautiful with the sun shining on the water. It looked like small, glittering diamonds as far up and down the river as the human eye could see.
After awhile I noticed a majestic looking hawk with wide-stretched wings circling over the river waiting for just the right moment to target his prey for victory.
Today promised to be another scorcher. Seven a.m. and the temperature was already 80 degrees. The familiar smells of my mother cooking breakfast distracted me. The smell of eggs, and bacon filled the warm, crisp air. The smell of sap from the trees was noticeably strong because of the direction that the wind was blowing.
Being so close to the water there was always a slightly cool, gentle breeze blowing through the trees. As it blew across my face it dried the small beads of perspiration. The flag just outside the screen door was swaying slowly.
I started to climb the twenty cement stairs that lead to the lodge. I turned around to take a last look out over the river and noticed the traffic on the river was becoming heavier. A man with rather long dirty blond hair, beard and dressed in a striped shirt and shorts seemed to be waving from his small cruiser trying desperately to get my attention. I could tell that he was immensely upset about something from the way that he was flapping his arms and yelling. But because of the excessively loud roar of his motor and several other crafts passing the dock it was impossible to hear his words. He began pointing to the woods. Finally he cut the boat's motor and drifted to the front of the dock.
"Fire! Fire!" the man yelled.
"Where?"
"In the woods a couple of dwellings down from yours. Please hurry." The man replied.
"Dad!" I screamed frantically. "Where are you? There's a fire in the woods." "We have to hurry!"
My eyes filled with tears worried about what we would find once we arrived at the burning dwelling.
"Come on !" yelled Dad as he darted out of the lodge. "There's no time to waste!" Orders and instructions were being given to each person. As he jumped into the truck and preceded up the dirt road he rolled down his window. "Call the fire department!" shouted Dad. "Okay!" I replied and ran inside quickly to make the call.
Another problem that complicated the situation was the woods being so dry. There had been several record breaking weeks of hot, dry temperatures with little or no rain. The grass and leaves were turning brown. Earlier as I had walked through the woods the leaves crumbled beneath my feet. Even the smallest of creatures were heard as they rustled from place to place.
Within a short period of time the shrill sounds of the fire trucks were heard coming down the mile long, winding road. As the men jumped off the trucks the sound of the huge hose was loudly heard as it pounded against the side of the glossy fire trucks. The men fought their way to the fire. The firemen had a difficult time fighting the roaring blaze because of the lack of firefighters on the line and limited space for their equipment. The heavily wooded areas surrounding the burning dwelling added to the firemen's dismal situation. Billows of smoke were everywhere. The heat from the fire was so intense. The clouds of thick black suffocating smoke was blowing into the firemen's eyes making it nearly impossible to see more than a few inches in front of them. The sweat was rolling down their faces as the men struggled with the huge, heavy hoses. The branches and bushes that tore at their arms as they rushed forward to the dwelling. Things looked grave.
There was only one main road leading out of the woods so I feared the worse.
"Dad?" I began. "What if the fire spreads onto the road and we can't escape out of the woods?"
From the horrified look on my father's dirty, sweaty face the same thoughts were going through his mind.
"It's under control" yelled one fireman. I looked over again at my father as he wiped the sweat from his brow and a look of relief came over his face. The lodge was a total loss. The grief was hard to bear.
As Dad reached out to touch my shoulder he said "It could have been disastrous. At least there were no lives lost. The fire was kept from spreading through the woods and to the other lodges."
"I know." I replied just about a whisper because of my throat being parched from the smoke. And knowing everyone had survived made things a little easier to bear.
As the firemen were preparing to leave we noticed the billows of smoke still hovering above the smoldering remains of the lodge and the tops of the hundred feet trees that were badly scorched. They had been severely damaged by the hellish fire which took only a matter of minutes to totally destroy a home and to leave nothing behind but memories. There was nothing else that could be done now.
Dad and I slowly turned and walked away. As we walked neither of us said a word. As we approached the door and walked through we noticed the uneaten breakfast and the clock on the wall reminding us of the time that had passed since the beginning of a day that had started out perfect. Exhausted, we sat down for a moment to talk and reassure everyone that the danger was over and to fill them in on everything that had happened since they had left the area.
A few minutes later we heard the soothing sounds of rain drops lightly falling on the metal roof. The sound of dishes gently clanging together as they put onto the shelves. No one said much. I knew how happy I was just to have this day over.
Night fall came quickly and the sounds of crickets and the rain were the only sounds being heard now. Mother's voice called from the screen enclosed porch.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes," I replied "I'll get ready for bed in just a few minutes." I slowly climbed the stairs to my room and fell fast onto my bed. I closed by eyes and thoughts and faces kept reappearing over and over again in my mind until I finally fell asleep hours later.
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Last updated: March 9, 1997