A Dramatic Day.

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Today was very dramatic and sureal. It started off like any normal day. A parcel came with a new handbag I'd sent for. Well, actually I sent for the purse, and the handbag came with it as a free gift. My Mum told me that when Frances brought her back from the house group on Wednesday night they sat in the car just chatting for a whole hour! Then Frances walked my Mum to the door. But when she got back to her car, it wouldn't start! She thought the battery was flat! So she came back and told my Mum and said she'd have to leave it where it was for the night and then get someone round tomorrow to jump start it or something. So France's car was in the road infront of our house. My step-dad took my Mum to the hairdressers. They had to be careful going round France's car because it was sticking out a bit infront of our driveway. Another parcel of mine came, this time the Christmas presents I was waiting for, for my little nephews. A few minutes later, and it can only have been a few minutes later, someone else rang the doorbell. There was a guy standing there and he asked me if they could move the car, did I have the key? And I said, Sorry, I don't. At that moment I saw why he needed the car moving. The house across the road was on fire! I thought it was the tree infront of the house that was on fire because all I could see were flames that looked like they were coming out of the tree! I closed the door and went into the kitchen and started filming it through the window. Then I saw that Frances was coming, so I stopped the filming. Frances rang the doorbell and I answered it. She said, Have you seen this? And I said yes and told her about the guy who had rung the doorbell. It was then she said it was the house on fire, not the tree. She was going to get some of the guys to push her car onto our driveway, but when she got in and tried to try the engine, it worked. It didn't have much power, but it was working. So she managed to get the car onto our drive so that the fire brigade would have room when they came. Just as Frances had got her car onto our drive, I saw my step-dad's car arriving. But the fire engines, and a lot of police cars and vans, were arriving at the same time. Someone up the road said my step-dad could park on their drive for a while. Frances went over to help my Mum. They had to come over the next doors drive because the footpath was occupied by firemen getting their hoses ready. All four of us stood on the doorstep for a while watching. I heard our next door neighbour Julie on the phone to someone saying, We're going to be a bit late. One of our neighbours' house is on fire! Then Frances wandered off. She'd seen the telephone line of the house that was on fire had broken and fallen onto the road, so she went and picked it up and coiled it up and placed it at the bottom of the telephone pole. We went in the house. Then Frances came in and I made her a cup of coffee. She said the fire was only in the roof of the house, and she hadn't seen any flames coming out of any windows. My Mum said that when they had arrived they could see the flames in the roof and they could see the rafters. The whole of the roof was completely gutted. Frances said that the guy who's house was on fire had gone to tell his wife what was happening. She was off having her nails done apparently! We all felt sorry for them having this happen to them so close to Christmas. But the firemen got the fire out very quickly, and it hadn't spread to the neighbouring houses or to the trees in front of the house. Frances decided to go out and congratulate the firemen on their speed and good work in getting the fire out so quickly. She went and told every one of them individually! I had to go out and tell her her coffee was going cold and I caught her chinwagging to our next door neighbour Julie. So Frances came back in and finished her coffee. Not long after that my Mum and step-dad went to the luncheon club and they gave Frances a lift for a change, because she still didn't think her car was working to go it's full capacity. They had to walk over the driveways again because the fire engines were still there doing a clean up job. I tried to start my painting but my concentration was shot! I made myself a cup of camomile tea to calm my nerves. A fireman put a leaflet through called "What happens when we leave" or something like that. It was talking about what you should do if you've had a fire. Most of it seemed to be geared to actual victims of fire, but passers by may have suffered smoke inhalation I guess. I went back to try and do more of my painting, but then the doorbell rang again, and there was a little black fireman there and he said You know we've been called out to a fire in your area today, and I said yes, and he went on to explain that they have to go round to all the houses in the vicinity, check that everyone's OK, check that their smoke alarms are working, and if not fix them for free or install some if you haven't got any. He asked me if we had smoke alarms, and I said yes. He asked if I'd mind him coming in to check them and I said, no, come on in. I said we've got one in the kitchen, and he asked me if I minded if he tested it and I said, no, that's fine. So he tested the one in the kitchen, and the one at the bottom of the stairs and the one at the top of the stairs. They were ear splittingly loud! Then he asked me if I used a deep fat fryer, and I said no. He said, I'm not saying don't use one, but I wouldn't advise it. He asked me for my birthdate and my Mum and step-dad's ages. Then he said it must have been a shock and asked me how I came to know about the fire, and I told him the story that I just told you about the guy who knocked on the door and about Frances and her car. He got me to sign a piece of paper to prove that he'd been round and gave me a booklet about fire safety in the home. I went back to my painting then. My Mum, step-dad and Frances came back at around 2:45pm which was later than usual because it had been the luncheon club's Christmas meal, and they had to park further up the street again because there was tape across the road stopping cars from going up. The fire brigade were removing some items that looked like draws from chest of draws and putting them into the back of the home owners car. Then a roofing van turned up to at least make the roof safe and waterproof. I think they put a tarpaulin over to keep the rain out. I thought they got him to come out quick! You usually have to wait ages to get workmen to turn up! Frances managed to start her car and she went home where she will get someone to look at the car later. The roofing man was still there when I went to start my dinner at 4:20pm and he didn't leave until it was dark. So, all in all, a very eventful day! What have you lot been getting up to today? Have you had as eventful a day as I've had? I hope you are all well. Have a great night.