Tag Archives: inferno

Burn

j-r-practix-with-border-2

Burn: (v) to flame while consuming

Snakes and fire.

I believe these two are natural enemies of all humankind.

I’ve always been afraid of snakes, without shame. But I realized my apprehension about fire when I found myself staying at a cheap motel called “The California.”(Yes, welcome to the Motel California…)

I was there with my family and we were occupying a room in the front corner near the office. One afternoon, we were half asleep, watching television, when there was a knock at the door. The manager was informing everyone that there was a fire.

I stepped outside, couldn’t see anything, but decided it was a good idea to get my family and some of our belongings out of the room, load them into the van and move the vehicle away from the property, just in case.

We gathered with the other patrons of the motel in the parking lot, when all at once the second floor, as if on cue, burst into flames. It was so sudden that everyone gasped. In unison, we moved back about twenty paces.

The heat was intense, the smell stung our nostrils. and our natural fear kept pushing us all further and further from the inferno.

It wasn’t a large motel, so by the time the fire trucks arrived, the entire establishment was engulfed in flames–except for the lower level near the office.

The firemen told us it would be many hours before we would be able to get back in to retrieve any belongings that might remain, so we went out to visit some friends and took advantage of a free motel room offered by a kind establishment down the road.

Over breakfast the next morning, I couldn’t keep my hands from shaking. I didn’t know what was wrong. But now I realize that I was completely terrified by the experience, and horrified by what might have happened.

An hour or two later, when we returned to the burned-out shell of the motel, we found that our room was intact, and that our belongings were a little damp, but able to be retrieved.

I don’t ever want to burn.

I guess the worst scenario for me would be to die in a fire while being bitten by snakes.

 

Donate ButtonThank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix 

 

 

Bonfire

Bonfire: (n) a large open-air fire

As the president of my Junior Class in high school, I was constantly being challenged by the adult advisors to be “more active” or come up with creative ideas.Dictionary B

I was perplexed.

After all, I thought I had done quite a bit in succeeding to get the majority of the votes from a bunch of fickle sixteen-year-old classmates.

But the grownup dictators didn’t see it that way. They expected results. One of their favorite words was “initiative.” (To this day, I refuse to use it.)

So during football season I brainstormed and decided that before our homecoming game, we would have a bonfire out near the football field, and cheer, celebrate and do whatever one does in front of such a blaze.

My thought was, “You just burn stuff.”

Well, it became problematic. What were we gonna burn? I had a chemistry book I was willing to donate, but others thought it would be better to take some of the leaves which were freshly fallen, pine needles prevalent in the area, and branches, and pile them up together to ignite the inferno.

But it was difficult to get started.

So since I was the leader of the Junior Class, I suggested gasoline. Before it could be approved by an adult, we doused all of our flammables in the fluid and lit it.

It was three hours before the bonfire was supposed to take place, and basically we burned up all of our stuff in about twenty minutes. What we had left might be referred to as a bon-ash.

Realizing this would not have much appeal, we scurried around town to find more stuff to put on the second fire and finally accumulated enough trash that when the student body arrived, we lit it once again (this time without gasoline) and everybody gathered around.

Well, considering this was Ohio in September, it was a little chilly. People were already in coats. So when a hundred folks gathered around a blazing fire in their coats, the sweat began to flow, and what was intended to be a pleasurable or intriguing experience turned into a journey to the sauna of hell.

Everybody started to complain, backing away from the fire. Some girls were crying, and all the adults turned to me, seeking my leadership on what to do next.

I shall always remember the experience as a perfect example of over-reaching.

I can truthfully tell you, it was nothing more than the bonfire of my vanity.

Donate ButtonThank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix 

Jonathan’s Latest Book Release!

PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant

Click here to get your copy now!

PoHymn cover jon

 

 

Arson

Arson: (n) the criminal act of deliberately setting fire to property.dictionary with letter A

When the original writers of the Good Book sat down and tried to describe hell in a way that would be frightening to their readers, they chose fire.

It was an extremely effective marketing tool, because in that day and age, most people handled fire, saw fire, warmed by it, and probably knew somebody who had died in one.

Nowadays, we don’t necessarily deal with fire. We might catch a glimpse of one on television, but the true impact, heat and destruction of this force never registers in our consciousness unless we are up-close and personal.

Many years ago I was staying in a motel–a rather dilapidated institution which might have had former days of glory, although no immediate evidence of that luxury was prevalent in any of the rooms.

To make a long story short, one of my afternoon naps was interrupted by a frantic knock on the door, informing me that we had to exit immediately because the place was on fire.

I stepped out of the room and walked into the parking lot. Sure enough, just above us, on the second floor, whipping flames were escaping out of a door.

I gathered the family together quickly, grabbing the few things we could not live without. We climbed into our vehicle and had the foresight to pull out of the parking lot and move several buildings away, so that when the fire trucks arrived, we could escape with our car intact, free of damage.

There are three things I remember about that day.

My sons wanted to go take a look at the fire, so we headed back towards the burning motel. We soon realized that we could not get within fifty yards of it without being overcome by the heart and woozy from the smoke. Watching the firemen go in and out, trying to contain the blaze, was baffling and inspiring.

The second thing I remember was how shocked I was to discover that the fire was set by the owner to get rid of the property. It was an arson. Unfortunately, he did not realize that the room next to the place where he ignited his crime was occupied by an old man who was unable to get out, and died.

The whole time I was thinking about the phrase, “Don’t play with fire.”

That day I realized why: fire has neither respect nor honors boundaries.

In no time at all, the entire second floor of this motel was engulfed in flames, and we were very fortunate that evening, when everything had calmed down, to return to our room and retrieve our belongings.

The third and final thing I remember about that arson happened the next morning.

Sitting over breakfast and far away from those flames, the horror of the inferno returned to my mind, and I started to shake uncontrollably.

It was terrifying.

It was like I was possessed by a spasm which refused to relent. It took most of the morning for me to calm down.

I do not know if there’s a hell, but I will tell you…if it contains any fire, it should give us the shakes.

 

Donate Button

Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) —  J.R. Practix