The Christmas House (27 page)

     “Mommy!” shouted Nicole as she wrapped herself around Arianna’s legs.

    
“Hi sweetie!
Have you been a good girl for Aunt Wanda?” Arianna asked.

     “Yes mommy. We made cookies!” she replied.

     “And a turkey I hope?” Arianna asked as she looked at Wanda.

    
“Still cooking away.
I put that sucker in my oven at 6 this morning. It’s a big one. Should be done pretty soon,” Wanda replied.

     David grabbed a few bags of groceries.

    
“Where do you want
these Mom
?”

     “Go through the garage and into the kitchen. Turn the light on so we can all see where we are walking,” she told David.

     David started to walk toward the garage as Arianna pushed the remote garage door opener hanging from the visor in the car.

    
“Do I have to be here this Christmas?” he asked as he waited for the door to
raise
completely.

    
“David it’s the only day of the year you can see your grandparents and other relatives. Why would you not want to be there?”

     “Well, a girl at school invited me over to her house Christmas Eve and I would really like to go,” he replied.

     “I don’t think that will be possible David. You have to be here. You can see this girl anytime,” Arianna said.

     “But I can’t bring her over to our house on Christmas Eve because if I do then everyone will disappear and-” he stopped in mid-sentence as he realized Jack was listening to the conversation he was having with his mother.

     Arianna gave him the evil eye.

    
“We will talk about this later! Now take the groceries into the kitchen.”

     David in a fit of frustration stomped through the garage and into the house.

    
“I hate this house! I wish we lived somewhere else! I hate it!”

     Arianna followed behind David and obviously overheard his comments.

    
“That’s enough young man. Don’t you ever say that again!” she said.

     Jack followed behind Arianna, as Wanda grabbed the last bag of groceries out of the trunk. She took Nicole by the hand and walked into the garage.

     Arianna walked into the kitchen and could see her own breath as she exhaled.

    
“Boy,
it’s
cold in here. Michael said he was going to fix that furnace this morning.”

     Jack set several bags of groceries on the kitchen table.

   
“I’ll go down to the basement and check it out.”

     He picked up a flashlight that was sitting on the counter and opened the door to
the basement. Meanwhile, Arianna walked to the front of the house to look at the thermostat in the foyer area. She saw that it was turned on to the “heat” setting.

    
“Hmm, well the thermostat is on,” she said to herself.

     Wanda walked into the house with Nicole.

   
“Are there anymore bags left in the car Aunt Wanda?”
David asked.

    
“No hon. I took the last bag and closed the trunk,” she said.

     David walked over to the service door to the garage and pressed the garage door button mounted on the walk. At that moment, Jack yelled up from the basement.

    
“There’s a gas leak down here. The pilot went out, and the basement is filled with gas. Don’t turn on any lights or light a match.”

     Arianna heard Jack’s warning and walked back into the kitchen. She saw David on the other side of the kitchen shutting the service door to the garage and reaching for the multiple
light-switch
near the door to shut off the garage light.

    
“David
don’t
!” she shouted, but it was too late.

     David’s finger found the first of 6 toggle switches on the light control panel. Michael never got around to rewiring this panel and the first switch that should have been the garage light was still the switch for the light hanging directly over the furnace in the basement.

     David unknowingly flipped the switch.

********************************************

4:55 p.m.

Thanksgiving Day

Lake Forest, IL

     Michael was on his way back home after he stopped at the hardware store just in time, before they closed. Having purchased the parts he needed for the furnace, he
drove home through the picturesque town of Lake Forest. The sun had just set and the streetlights were a glow.

     As he drove listening to the radio, a news bulletin interrupted the song he was singing along with.

     “We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this special news bulletin. An explosion has rocked the North Shore suburb of Lake Forest, IL. We go live to Ron Samuel who is at the scene. Ron?” said the announcer.

     “Yes, I’m standing here in the 100 block of Festive Lane where an explosion has completely leveled one house to the ground and several other surrounding homes have been severely damaged. Fire fighters are on the scene trying to control this 4-alarm blaze. Speculation on behalf of the fire fighters seems to point to a gas leak. We have yet to confirm whether or not there were any people in the house at the time of the explosion, but we will keep you posted as more information becomes available. From Lake Forest Illinois, this is Ron Samuel reporting.”

     Michael’s stomach dropped to his knees. He stepped on the gas pedal of his pick-up truck and raced down the streets of Lake Forest. He was driving like a mad man and ran several stoplights to get home.

     Finally, Michael turned onto Festive Lane. The usual Thanksgiving evening tradition of holiday decorations being lit was overshadowed by a bright orange blaze toward the middle of the block. Thick black smoke was billowing into the sky, blocking out the glow of the moon as if a full eclipse were in effect.

     Michael raced down the street to the middle of the block, but was stopped by a police officer waving a red coned flashlight. Several fire trucks and emergency vehicles blocked the street. Michael stopped his truck and jumped out of the cab. The officer, who knew Michael and worked with Arianna, confronted him.

     “Michael, it’s not good. It was your house,” said the officer.

    
“Oh my God!
Where are Arianna and the kids? What happened?” Michael screamed.

     “Come with me to talk to the fire chief,” said the officer as they both ran toward the house.

     Michael was in a state of shock. The fire fighters were pouring hundreds of gallons of water on Jack’s house, trying to save it as it burned out of control. He continued to run past the Stevens residence to the front of 148 Festive Lane. He
stopped and stared in total disbelief.

     The house was gone. Nothing was left but smoldering rubble and charred pieces of wood. He walked toward the barricades set up by the fire fighters and pushed one aside. As he walked into the burned out ruins of the house, the fire chief stopped him.

     “Excuse me Sir, you can’t go in there!” said the chief.

     “I own...owned this house,” Michael replied solemnly.

     “Mr. Carter? I’m sorry for your loss sir, but this area is still unsafe. Please follow me back to the fire truck,” responded the chief.

     As Michael turned to follow the chief, he tripped over pieces of bent and twisted metal. He bent down and picked up remains of the golf club set Arianna had given to him on their very first Christmas in the house. The metal was still warm and the wooden club heads were charred beyond recognition.

     The fire chief took Michael by the arm and said, “Please Mr. Carter, follow me.”

     Michael dropped the pieces of metal to the ground and walked with the chief to a nearby fire truck.

   
“Would you like a cup of coffee Mr. Carter? It’s pretty cold out here tonight,” The chief asked”

     “No, thank you. Where are my kids and my wife? Were they home when this happened?” asked Michael.

     The chief took a deep breath and replied.

    
“I’m afraid so Mr. Carter. We recovered five bodies from the explosion. They are all badly burned and I’m afraid they are all deceased. We will need your assistance to identify a few of the bodies. We have a positive ID on only one of the bodies, which we believe is a Mr. Jack Stevens. His wallet somehow survived the fire and was still on his person. The other bodies are in the back of the ambulances over there. There is a woman in her mid 40’s, a woman in her thirties and two children.
A small girl and a teenage boy.”

     Michael started to weep and fell to the ground. The chief tried to console Michael the best he could. Several police officers came to the scene to comfort Michael as well. These officers all knew Arianna very well due to having worked with her for several years.

    
“Michael. I’m so sorry. This is a tragic loss. Arianna was a wonderful and kind person. We all loved her very much,” one of the officers said.

     Michael, still weeping on the ground just nodded his head. The officers helped Michael to his feet and escorted him over to the ambulance that held the remains of the three unidentified bodies.

     Michael walked slowly and recalled his thoughts of never wanting to have to succumb to this ordeal. He could barely bring himself to look inside the ambulance at all.

     A paramedic inside the back of the ambulance asked Michael if he was ready to make the identifications. Michael waited a good thirty seconds and then nodded his head.

     The paramedic unzipped a body bag on the first body and as Michael looked at the blackened, disfigured face, he turned away and threw up. The odor of burning flesh was not a pleasant smell. As well, the appearance of the charred remains of a human life was a truly horrible sight.

     Michael regained his composure and looked at the body once again. He could not tell who the person was. The paramedic unzipped the bag further and revealed the hands of the victim. Michael saw the engagement ring he had given Arianna on their first Christmas at the house. He thought this would have been Wanda, but she was obviously in the other ambulance a few feet away.

     Michael said softly, “That is my wife, Arianna Carter”, as he continued to weep.

     The paramedic zipped up the body bag and tagged it with the proper identification for the morgue. He then went to the second bag and opened it. By the size of the body inside the bag, Michael had no doubt that this was Jack. The face was completely removed beyond recognition.

     “This person was the closest to the impact of the explosion. We found his wallet still inside his pants. We will need to get dental records for a positive identification, but was a Mr. Stevens
suppose
to be at your house this afternoon?” asked the paramedic.

     “Yes. He and his wife always spent Thanksgiving with us,” replied Michael. “That is Jack Stevens.”

     The paramedic zipped up the bag and jumped out of the back of the ambulance. He walked over to the next ambulance and opened the back doors.

     The stench from inside was overwhelming and Michael threw up once again. Even the officers accompanying Michael were becoming sick to their stomachs.

     The paramedic hopped inside the back of the ambulance and started to unzip one of the body bags.

    
“These victims were not as severely burned, but their injuries were fatal nonetheless.”

     He unzipped the bag to reveal the largest body in the ambulance. It was Wanda and her face was only slightly burned. Michael confirmed her identity without hesitation.

     The paramedic zipped the bag back up and moved on to the next bag.

     Michael stopped him.

    
“Please. Can I do
these two myself
? These are my children and I need to do this alone.”

    
“Sure thing Mr. Carter.
Take all the time you need.”

     As the paramedic jumped out of the truck and walked away with the officers, Michael overheard their comments.

    
“Poor guy.
What a blow to lose your entire family like this.”

     Michael stood at the back of the ambulance for a few minutes pondering his next move. He didn’t want to open the bags. He was considering just saying that he looked at them and walking away. But he couldn’t.

     Still weeping, he reached over to the larger of the two bodies, and slowly unzipped the bag. He uncovered the young face of his son David. No burns, but several scratches were evident. He caressed David’s face with his hand.

    
“You promised me you would never leave me David.”

    
He wept as he zipped the bag and sealed it shut.