Troubles in the Barn

Erin could hear her father’s panicked voice rise about the sounds of the scared animals.

“Hurry! Erin and Brian! We have to get the animals to safety.” Erin could already see the streams of black smoke pouring out of the barn, billowing out in sickening puffs that seemed to wipe out the blue sky like a big eraser.

Erin and her brother Brian ran as fast as they could back to the barn to help their father release animals trapped in their pens. They followed their dad inside and day suddenly turned into night.

“Stay low to avoid the smoke,” their father said. “Put your shirts over your mouths to keep from breathing the smoke in.” Erin’s dad pointed to a stall full of goats. “Brian, you go let the goats out. Erin, you help the horse,” he said, pointing father into the burning barn. The smoke was getting thicker and Erin could see the flames racing
across the ceiling of the barn and could feel the heat getting uncomfortably close. She knew it was only going to get worse.

Erin raced to the horse’s stall, but the smoke was getting thick. She tried to lift the metal pin keeping the stall door closed, but it was so hot she could barely touch it. Each time she did, she could feel her hand burning.

“How could I have let this happen? I knew better than to do what we did!” she thought. She fought furiously to knock the pin off and get the horse to safety.

Erin and her brother Brian were inseparable. Because the nearest neighbors were more than seven miles away, the two spent most of their days together doing chores on their farm or going off on adventures through the woods on their land. Erin was 9; Brian was 8. Brian tended to be the mischievous one, but Erin had been drawn into his wacky schemes more than once; none was as dangerous as this one; none was ever so reckless.

Brian had found an old pack of matches lying in a drawer in the house. Curiosity getting the better of him, he told Erin to meet him out in the barn; he was going to show her something fun.

A few minutes later, Brian had lit a match and lit the fuse on a firecracker. A few seconds after that, things quickly became out of control.

The horse’s scream brought Erin back quickly. The smoke was almost surrounding her and she tried with futility to get the stall open.

“Open up,” she screamed, pounding the lock. “Please just come off.”

Erin took a look at the flames just a few feet away from here and made a heart-wrenching decision. She gave the horse one last sympathetic stare and turned to run out of the barn, which was now completely filled with smoke.

At the moment she turned around, a big hand reached up and knocked the pin loose. The horse leaped through the open stall and instinctively ran out the door.

Erin’s father grabbed the back of her shirt and pushed her toward what she hoped was the exit to the barn. The smoke was so thick, all she could do was put her shirt sleeve over her mouth and try to best to keep from coughing.

Stumbling out the door she saw her brother a small distance away. She ran right to him.

“Are you ok, Brian?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Dad and I got the rest of the animals out. We’ll have to go find some of them later. They seemed pretty spooked.”

“You look pretty spooked yourself,” she said to her brother, noticing that he was covered, head to toe, with black soot.

“You look pretty scared too,” he murmured softly.

They both new what Brian was talking about. They were far enough away from the barn to keep from being hurt, but they could feel the blazing heat as the flames consumed their barn. In the distance, they could hear the siren of a fire truck.

Their father’s panicked gaze fell over them as he ran to where they sat.


“Are you two ok?” Erin’s dad physically checked them over for any signs of being hurt.

“We’re fine, dad. Just glad we got the animals out.”

“I went out to the barn to check on some hay,” their father said. “When I noticed that there was a fire in a corner of the barn. I called the fire department and then ran to call you two to help get the animals out.”

Their father’s chest pumped up and down, quickly, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. He looked sad and on the verge of breaking up. He sat down on the ground next to Erin and Brian.

“How on earth did a fire get started in that barn? It’ll be a year before we can afford to build another one. What will we do with the animals?”

Erin and Brian looked at each other briefly before dropping their eyes to the ground. Tears welled up in Erin’s eyes and made tracks where the soot had colored her face. She knew they were in trouble. She knew they were in big trouble.