Siblings separated

My dad, sister, and I were on our way to Winter Park when we got a call from my mom. She was home with my brother, and wanted to show us the smoke that was surrounding our house. 

I checked any information on the fire, it was right next to Target. It was a little too close to my home for comfort. My dad tells me the fire isn’t close enough to our house to worry. 

The fire had jumped Highway 36, right behind my house. After 30 minutes of sitting in the lodge crying, we headed back to our mountain house. My mom and my brother were evacuating, and only had a couple minutes to scrape together valuables and important documents. They were out of our house and heading to Denver. We watched the news, waiting for any news about our neighborhood. 

I got a video from one of my neighbors. I opened it dreadfully, it was a video of their fence on fire. On the news, I could see my home in the background of a broadcast from Avista Hospital. I watched my house catch on fire and become engulfed in the flames. My dad got a call from a friend who works for the Boulder Police Department, who confirmed what we had just witnessed on the news. My childhood home was gone. 

My dad called my mom to tell her the news, if she hadn’t heard already. I couldn’t comprehend what just happened. I could only sit and watch the news, wondering how this twist of fate happened. I attempted to go to bed, only to lie there for hours until the sun rose. 

My brother went to our house alone, to look at the damage. He turned the camera and showed us the warzone that our neighborhood has become. I was in absolute disbelief that the only home I had known was now gone, with absolutely nothing left behind.