Up in Smoke

Eva patiently waited for her stepbrother, Robert, toLucky also was the fire investigator who canvassed
end his drone about the money he was to get fromthe neighbors, one of whom recorded the license plat
the will - something about opening a business withof a car in the street just before the time of the fire.
other people's money and having the bank forecloseThe police soon identified Robert as the arsonist. But
on some recalcitrant properties. I didn't seem fair thatsince it was his own property, as long as he didn't file a
Robert would inherit everything except the contents ofclaim (He said it was an accident) he got off scot free.
the old house, but after all, she had to remind herselfSad with the loss of Dad's mementos, Eva sat reading
that she qualified only as a stepdaughter. Dad'sthe single piece of his writing left in the world. Halfway
passing did not seem like losing someone she ove, butdown the last page of the will, he sentimentally inclluded
rather gaining a lump in her heart that wouldn't goa poem he wrote for his beloved stepdaughter. It read:
away.2
She daydreamed about the wonderful talks she andYou came like smoke into my life
dad shared. About when Mom was alive, about theTo warm my heart and bless my wife.
hard days of her ilness and about her passing. RobertYour giving nature deserves to find
had been able to go to college, even if she had not. IA precious hearth for a heart that's kind.
wasn't so bad being a veterinarian's assistant, sinceOne month later, as a final gesture, Eva decided to
she always loved animals. If only she could finish hermake one last visit to the old homestead. She
schooling and become a vet herself. But she knew itgathered the bags readied for her trip to her job at the
was an impossible dream with no funds ti finance heranimal hospital. She cried as she eared the street of
education.her youth. One last turn revealed an empty lot already
Rober's smile turned into a smirk as he offered hisover-grown with weeds.
opinion on what she could do with the furniture left inReaching to the sky, a lone chimney stood mute,
the house. Eve couldn't imagin anyone wanting to buyesurrounded by ghostly memories of happier days. As
these old, run-down pieces, but Robert's suggestion ofEva approached the small fireplace at the base of the
a one price sale to a local send hand shop would havechimney mentioned in her will, of a hearth struck a
to do. Then Robert's brow furrowed with annoyancechord in her mind. Frantically she grabbed a stick and
as he ranted on about the missing stock portfoliofrantically pried at the hearthstone. Raising it, the dark
belonging to her dad. There as no specific mention of itspace under the stone at first seemed empty. No,
in the will and Robert wanted to make shur he gotsomething wrapped in a dark, wet bundle occupied the
everything owed to him. Of course, the house andspace. Unwrapping the folds carefully, an envelope
land, even though mortgaged to the hilt, would pay theaddressed to her, a letter enclosed with a large
outstanding bills with money left over.number of stock certificates. Now tears of sadness
After their first conversation about settling Dad'sturned to joy as she pressed the evidence of her
affairs, Robert's frequent phone calls became surlierfather's love to her chest. The sadness of her loss
by the day. Two weeks later a call from the policewas transformed into the promise of a bright future.
cam with the shocking news that her Dad's house hadThis fiction story closely parrallels some events in my
burned down to the ground. The house itself did havelife.
fire insurance to the tune of $100,000.00. Lucky Robert.