How my family was lost (revised)

There were 6 of us kids. Gabby, the youngest at 3, then came the triplets, Jake, Fred, and Mark. They were 5. Then me and my twin, Criss. We were 8. We lived with our parents, Arthur and Peggy. We lead a simple but happy life. Until Christmas Eve 1999. That's the night everything changed.

~That morning~

Gabby, Jake and Criss were all hyper that day and just couldn't settle down. My mother was trying to fix the Christmas Eve dinner and keep my siblings in trouble. I had tried to help but they just wouldn't listen. Father was at work and couldn't help. Mom was at her wits end before she thought of something we could all do. It was the day before Christmas and we still hadn't decorated the tree. So she had us drag out the boxes of decorations and decorate it. By the time we were done dinner was ready and father was almost home. All of us kids waited until he was in the house then we all attacked him. He was a strong man, he was a construction worker. He picked all of us up and we had a great big bear hug. Then we all went to wash up before dinner. My siblings and I had a small water fight and had to clean it up before we were allowed to eat. When we were all sitting at the table we all had to say something that we couldn't live without. Most of it was material things but my twin and I both knew what we couldn't live without: family. After dinner was done and we had washed all the dishes (breaking only two) we all gathered in the living room. Mom had put on some Christmas carols, and was currently lighting the candles on the shelves while father was lighting up the tree. All of us kids gathered on the rug in front of the couch. Our father read us A Christmas Carol then we were each allowed to open one present. Gabby got a new doll. Jake, Fred and Mark each got a toy truck. Criss got a packet of new soldiers and I had gotten a blanket. My mom had made it and it had each of us kids pictures on it with our birthdays. We thanked our parents then it was time for bed. Our parents tucked us all in and leaned up the house before going to bed.

~That night~


Mom and father had gone to bed but they had forgotten to blow out the candle. My little brothers, Fred and Mark, had snuck out of bed and were playing with their new football when they threw it to hard and knocked over the candle which immediately set fire to the curtains. My brothers ran screaming to my parents room and woke them up. my father ran down to see what he could do to stop the fire while my mom got my other siblings and me up. I ran down to help my father as my mom got the little ones out of bed. The flames had spread to quickly and the entire bottom part of the house was in flames. My dad tried to get Gabby, Mark and Fred out of the house through the front door but they got lost in the flames and burned. The front and back stairs were useless because the fire had completely consumed the lower levels. My mother, my two younger brothers and I were the only ones left. My two brothers tried to run into the flames and my mother caught Criss but she lost Jake. The three of us ran up to my room and we tried to climb out of the window and get to the tree that grew close to my window. My brother fell and when my mother tried to catch him she lost her balance and fell as well. I was the only one left. I was scared so I ran and hid under my bed. Later, after I'm not sure how long, I heard someone coming up to my room. When the fireman came into my room he went straight to my bad. I guess he heard me whimpering and crying for my father. He got me out of the house just before it collapsed. Later on I learned what had happened to my family. That my father and siblings had been burned to death and tat when my mother and brother fell they had broken their necks. I was in the hospital for a long time with burns over most of my body. Most of the Dr.s were surprised that I even survived. The only thing left of our home was the blanket my mother gave me. I still have it and to this day I can't forget what happened to my family and how I lost them that night. Some times even at age 17 I still wake up from nightmares of that night. For every siblings birthday I visit their grave and leave them something. I miss my family.