Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 09:51:38 -0500
From: Jason Elmquist <elmquja@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Into the Flames-- Ch.1

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!--