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"The Blank Book" (Part 6) by Joseph Linhardt, ©2003 (From Part 5 ...) Time seemed to slow down as everyone looked up. The roof and upper floor of the house collapsed entirely! The house caved in on itself, unable to withstand the flames that ate into it. With a deafening rumble and crash, the basement and everything in it was buried beneath a pile of burning rubble and wood fragments. Smoke billowed upward with ashes and sparks. "Noooo!" cried the chief. He leaped forward desperately, but the fireman in the house was gone, buried underneath tons of burning, smoking rubble. Stunned, Jake could do nothing.
His body seemed to go numb; the earth seemed to reel and lurch under him. He
found himself automatically walking around front with his brother in hand. The
firefighters followed, a stunned silence settling over them as they walked
toward the front. By this time, Jake’s father had
arrived and was comforting his wife. The fire had been mostly extinguished when
the house fell, and the firemen were finishing the blaze off. Jake’s parents
looked relieved when they saw their boys walking toward them. Their parents ran
to them and hugged them, trying to make sure they were not hurt. With tears of
relief in his eyes, Jake’s father turned to the fire chief. “Where is the fireman who saved
Sam?” he asked. The chief and his men looked down
at the ground. They said nothing, but their faces gave Jake’s father his
answer. “Is…is he?” stuttered
Jake’s mother. “Yes, ma’am.” said the fire
chief, slowly. She started to cry. Jake’s
father put his arm around her. Jake, the initial shock passed, was struck by a
thought. If this happened to me, what
about…Aaron! Something might have happened to him!
Jake didn’t waste a second; he
turned and raced toward Aaron’s house as fast as he could, dread and fear
building in him. His backpack was still on his back; He dug the book out of it
while he ran and flipped through the pages. As he expected, they had recorded
everything that had happened. He didn’t stop to read more. “Hey, Jake!” a voice yelled to
him. Jake turned around and saw Aaron
running toward him, panic on his face. “What…what happened to you?”
Jake asked, breathing hard. Fear riddled his voice. “My house…was robbed! Mom,
shot!” gasped Aaron, with tears in his eyes. He sat down unsteadily on the
curb. Jake stopped, dropping the book as
he did. It fell into the gutter, its pages flipping open. Jake’s mind was
numb. He couldn’t think. “No…no!” he screamed.
“This can’t be happening!” Aaron noticed the ash and dirt on
Jake. “What happened to you?” he asked, wiping tears from his face. Jake told him what had happened at
his house. When he finished, Aaron looked at the book. It was still lying on the
ground. The wind had blown it open to pages that had fresh writing on them. “Let’s get rid of this!” he
said, his tears of grief mingled now with tears of anger. “How?” “I don’t know!” screamed
Aaron. Jake bent down and picked up the
book. A thought struck him. “Let’s drop it off the
bridge!” he said. He was referring to a bridge that was over a small river, a
short distance from where they lived. “The bridge…” muttered
Aaron. He was still sitting, grief-stricken, on the curb. “Yes, the bridge! Now!
C’mon!” urged Jake. “Maybe…maybe we can find a way to reverse this!” Aaron looked up. “How?” “I don’t know!” said Jake.
“But the book’s responsible, right? I mean, nothing else could have caused
this! So maybe if we destroy it, things will get back to normal!” That faint hope was enough for
Aaron. He stood up, and the two boys dashed off at full speed. They ran down
roads, around turns and curves, and through the busy streets. Both boys felt
anger, terror, and a deep sense of foreboding. A cold, bitter wind had sprung up
and dark, evil-looking clouds had rolled in, making the dark atmosphere
complete. Nothing was safe; anything could happen! Jake found himself frequently
glancing at the book, as if to make sure it didn’t cause any more mischief.
The boys half-expected something to stop them from destroying the book. Jake and Aaron arrived at the
bridge without incident. Relieved, they walked to the exact middle of the bridge
that overlooked the strongest part of the river current. Jake prepared to throw
the book into the river. He took one last look at the hated book. As he did, the strongest wind gust
yet blew the cover open and flipped the pages to a page Jake had not yet seen.
He and Aaron read it quickly. A chill ran down their spines! As Jake and Aaron prepared to
throw the book over the side of the bridge, they heard the sudden blast of a car
horn, blaring as the car went wildly out of control! The boys turned quickly,
saw the car heading for them, but too late… SLAM! Jake slammed the book shut. He was
sweating, despite the cold wind. He glanced at Aaron, whose eyes were wide with
terror. Sweat drops stood out on his nose. They said nothing. They just stared
at each other, wide-eyed with something beyond fear, beyond terror gripping
them. They looked everywhere for any cars that were out of control. They saw
nothing. The only noise they heard was the normal sounds of the busy street and
the sound of the flowing river water. Slowly, a sigh of relief escaped
their lips, briefly breaking the cold silence. Trembling, Jake cleared his
throat. “Ok, let’s throw this thing
over the side!” Aaron was too nervous to say
anything. He gulped and nodded unsteadily. Jake shakily raised the book and
prepared to drop it over the edge. HONK! HONK! Car horns blared
behind them! The boys heard screaming, yelling, the sound of cars colliding!
Aaron and Jake whirled around and saw, to their horror, a car that had
gone out of control. It was heading for them at a tremendous speed! Panicked, Aaron turned, yelling,
to Jake. “Jake, drop the-!” But it was too late! The car drove
into them! The book flew out of Jake’s hands from the impact, landed on the
concrete, and skidded out of sight. Jake and Aaron felt the car hit
them, they felt their bodies propelled forward by the force of the car. They
flipped over the railing of bridge and plummet down to the cold, fast-flowing
water! They closed their eyes, not wanting to see the end. They felt the sensation of
falling, waiting for the impact of the water on their broken bodies. But they
felt nothing, not even pain. They felt like they were falling, moving backwards
and spinning all at once. Noise came from all around them: yelling, talking, the
sound of cars as they drove by. Everything seemed rolled together into one,
unintelligible roar. It filled their ears and seemed to be everywhere at once! Then, finally, after what seemed like an eternity… silence. Want to comment on this article? Please click here for a comments/suggestions form.
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