Burnt... A Fireman's Tale by seesladen

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twentyfourhourshortstory · @seesladen · Aug 22 '18 (edited)

$1.82

Burnt... A Fireman's Tale

![Wadi-House.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNoRf6Q4zaXV9TJAckN6CDmW6i6N15E8uw8SdiVaQcqsY/Wadi-House.jpg)

[Source](https://www.holidify.com/blog/haunted-places-in-nagpur/)

**PART ONE** (The Beginning)

*"I have a dragon,
I also had it yesterday,
I wish, I wish, all their doubts would go away..."*

Those words...
They begin my tale. One that for all the world, I would rather not tell.

It was at Loctar...
That was where it began. That burning out of town warehouse, where Sheila was found.

I found her, oh yes it was me.
A sad but pretty sight, she had crawled out on her knees.

My heart had melted,
For this child in need. And she had spoken in a soft voice, just like in the books which I read...

Only her words were...

*"I have a dragon,
I also had it yesterday,
I wish, I wish, all their doubts would go away..."*

Again, so did my tale begin,
Only now I must tell it in prose. For it does seem necessary for me to win.

**PART TWO** (The Story)

She had a tiny bracelet on her wrist when I found her. The bracelet told me her name was Sheila. She didn't speak, she just crawled out of the rubbles like a forgotten jewel.

It seemed impossible that she had survived, that anyone had survived. It was a miracle, if there ever was one. And the whole crew had stared unbelieving at me when I had emerged with Sheila in my arms.

We had needed to stop work then, at least for a little while. We didn't know how long Sheila had been in that burnt warehouse, and it was way out of town. So we all got into the truck, Sheila and I at the front and the rest of the crew in back, and we had headed back into the town to find the nearest child services officers.

At the time I had paid no mind to the only words the little girl had uttered up till then. One which she had also repeated multiple times on our way into town. And soon after we had dropped her off, I had probably thought I would never remember them.

Only now I can't forget those words, or little Sheila either...

For she has just crawled out again, from the now burning child services building. And in that soft tender voice of hers which I now know would forever haunt my dreams, she keeps saying...

*"I have a dragon,
I also had it yesterday,
I wish, I wish, all your doubts would go away..."*

THE END

#SladenSpeaks

_________________
Written for @mctiller's [Twenty Four Hour Short Story Contest](https://busy.org/@mctiller/writers-win-5-steem-august-21-twenty-four-hour-short-story-a-little-boy-or-girl-constantly-insists-that-they-really-have-a-pet)

Sheila's words are inspired by the poem [Antigonish/I met a man who wasn't there](https://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/antigonish-i-met-man-who-wasnt-there) by Hughes Mearns

It is probably past the deadline and this entry probably isn't even a short story, but hey, why not?

__________________
![‪+234 809 513 7750‬ 20180109_072857.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQYcyG4sNeXzYS7cWK5t6raxrmEyf2pBeD3wgwf384uYs/%E2%80%AA+234%20809%20513%207750%E2%80%AC%2020180109_072857.jpg)

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@tygertyger · Aug 22 '18 (edited)

love this!- best one you have written so far in my opinion!

👍 seesladen

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@seesladen · Aug 23 '18

Awww thank you 😊

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@sidequest · Aug 23 '18

$0.03

It's amazing how evocative this is in such a short space. Great job!

👍 dustsweeper, seesladen

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@seesladen · Aug 27 '18

Thank you.😊

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@calluna · Aug 25 '18

$0.03

This is such a good creepy poem, totally works as a story <3 The way the words Shelia speaks thread through the verses builds to a perfect ending! It has the feel of a urban legend, a modern verse of the old epics, telling their haunting tales! I really hope you didn't miss the deadline, or wait, do I... this is so very good.. ;)

👍 dustsweeper, seesladen

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@seesladen · Aug 27 '18

I just found out we went almost the same way again. A poem and a short prose this time. Only yours was more g-rated than mine. Lol


> This is such a good creepy poem, totally works as a story

I managed to get a look at my replies, and I saw this earlier. I only didn't know it was not all of it. Reading from the story page, It now feels like I am reading your comment for the first time and I sure am pleased it turned out this way.

Sometime ago I watched a movie where a man had a case of multiple personalities. But for whatever reason I can't remember the name of bthe movie. He kept repeating the first line of the Antigonish poem in that movie.

> Yesterday on the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish, that he'd go away...

So it just stuck with me, and I think it has been the primary influence on my last two 24hour stories. Lol...

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@calluna · Aug 27 '18

$0.04

Oh that old collective subconscious, up to its usual tricks ;) I am super glad these sort of story poems are ok, I used to love writing them! Woo, go collective minds, got a good bit of balance between us lol

It has such a creepy hook, the more you hear it, the more it catches, I can see how it would easily get up the skin, and of course, what better to use to inspire horror than that! If you remember the movie, let me know!

👍 dustsweeper, seesladen

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1 reply

@msp3k · Aug 27 '18

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This post has been voted on from MSP3K courtesy of @isaria from the Minnow Support Project ( @minnowsupport ).

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