I have two angels on my shoulder.

[theplastron]

The air was warm, the wind was crisp and the skies spackled with clouds lazily sitting in the vast azure canopy. It was a rare day for New Hampshire considering it was February. I pulled out of the busy street into my drive way. I got onto the phone with my father as I walked towards the house. I fumbled for the right key as I made my walk and talk to the door. Click, click, a turn counter clockwise and a push to the door that swung open only to reveal a cloud of smoke rolling out the door. I immediately took the cell phone that was wedged between my ear and shoulder down and franticly hit a mash of buttons hoping one was the call end button. I watched for a second as the smoke came down the stair case like a coal train. I had thoughts racing through the depths of my brain, firing response after response. Once all the signals in my brain came to a common intersection I realized that I had to get my pets out of the house. I pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose, grasped the stairwell railing and hurled myself up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. I ran into the bathroom which lay at the peak of the stairs. I fumbled with the locks back and forth to try and get the window open. My mind was in a flight and I could not get the window open. I then quickly abandoned the window and blindly walked through the smoke to the room that my tortoises where kept in. I placed my hand on the door knob and squeezed the child safety lock and turned. The door opened with haste and smoke poured out with a blast of heat and the crackling of a fire. The smoke was so intense I had to run back outside for air. I gained some bearings and ventured back into the chasm of hell. I could not see anything but black and a red glow. I gathered all of my tortoises from their enclosures and ran them down stairs. I placed them all on the floor and went into the kitchen for a bowl and filled it with water. I then ran back up into the devils lair where I threw water onto the flames. They started to go out with a sizzle. Finally things where allowed to settle and I went back down stairs to see how my animals faired. Some survived and others will be remembered. Rest In Peace to my tortoises and may the others live out their lives to the fullest. Right now some are in recovery and I hope for their safety every day.

 

[dmarcus]

I am sorry to hear what happened, I am glad you were able to save some of your tortoises and rest in peace to those that didn't make it. Glad that you are okay as well!!!!

 

[Laura]

omg.. worst nightmare....
im glad you are ok.. sorry for those that did not make it..
so, do you know what happened? can you share> maybe save others from the same fate?

---

did Mr T share that room? did he make it out?

 

[lynnedit]

Wow, so sorry to hear that. What a nightmare, Laura is right, all of our worst nightmares.
Hope some are going to pull through.

 

[Momof4]

I'm so glad you are ok. That is one of my biggest fears with the CHE! Sorry about your loss but glad your safe! Can you help us understand what happened? I must say your a wonderful writer.

 

[theplastron]

I appreciate the support from everyone and the condolences. Unfortunately some how my Russian torts stacked up and managed to knock a ceramic heat emitter into their enclosure. I do not know how they got it down but they did. Mr. T was in that in room. I did not think he was going to make it through the night because he was foaming at the mouth and blowing bubbles out his nose, but it has been 4 days and he seems to be making a recovery .

 

[Laura]

Be sure the survivors get lots of soaks.. and watch them closely.. they could still end up with respiritory issues..
so scary..

 

[l0velesly]

How devastating. I hope the survivors will make it through fine. I'm so sorry for the lost ones How many were there that didn't make it? I hope it's a very small number.

 

[wellington]

So So So Sorry thankfully you are safe and you were able to save some of them. Sorry for the ones you lost . That must of been so scary.

 

[jkingler]

So sorry to hear that that happened, but glad you were able to save some of your beloved pets. You are surely lucky to have shown up when you did, or it could have been even worse. Best of luck to you and your recovering pets!