Fire

'I can see fire.'

'Fire?'

'Yea, fire.'

His voice was monotone and suggested nothing more sinister than an expression of fact that may have said 'I'm breathing' or 'I can see the sky.'

Joe looked out to the direction in which Jasper was looking. His heart began to race as his eyes took in a distant scene of biblical proportions.

'Holy Mother,' the words slipping out as Joe saw the town of his family and friends skewed hideously in an almighty blaze. 'We're done for lad, done for, you hear?!'

'Fire,' repeated Jasper, no more or less than he had spoken earlier, 'fire...'

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