Billy’s dream faded away. In its place was a blurry vision of his dad trying to lift him up with both arms. Billy could barely make out what his dad was saying over that loud noise. His mom also seemed to be in the room pulling on his arms and desperately calling out his name. The bedroom lights had been turned on.
His dad sounded anxious through all the confusion. “Billy! Billy! We need to get up now!”
Billy’s body was feeling incredibly weak. He had no energy. He struggled to speak, but even that required a huge amount of labor. He tried to concentrate, but it was no use. “Can’t. Too tired.” He sincerely wanted to be left alone; whatever this crisis was, it could wait until later. He felt himself heavily slipping out of his dad’s arms and collapsing back onto his bed. His own exhaustion was fighting against his parents. The sight of his dad’s face retreated back again into a thick cloud of blurriness. And then all was dark again.
Voices. He heard the frantic voices of his parents. They were both yelling his name and telling him to get up. Someone said something about a fire. Was the house on fire? Could that loud noise be the smoke detector? Wait! It all makes sense now. The house is on fire. I have to get up. UP!
With all the power he had, he fought to sit up in the bed. His dad was there to help him. His mom was on his other side and helping to push him up out of the bed. There it was. There was that boost of power that he needed. His adrenaline gland must have kicked in. He was wide awake now; but it was a scary, frantic kind of awake. Everything seemed to be moving faster than usual. He could not focus on anything due to the frenzy around him. His heart was racing. Hands shaking.
He ran to the bedroom door, but was scared to touch the doorknob. Plus, that side of the room was decidedly hotter than where the bed was.
“We can’t go that way, Billy,” his mom said. “There is too much smoke in the hallway. I’m afraid that your window is going to be our best option.”
“- - like our ONLY option,” William added.
William was already at the window, unlocking it and struggling to open it. For some reason, the window was refusing to cooperate. “What is wrong with this thing? The window is being stubborn.” He turned to look at Billy. “When is the last time this window was opened?”
Billy thought, but thought quickly. “Uh, it was since before we painted the house.”
William’s eyes narrowed. “When you painted the wall outside your room, didn’t you bother to … Never mind that. There’s no time.”
Smoke was now billowing into the room just above the door. The three of them all knew that standing straight and breathing that stuff in would be dangerous and fatal. They all bent over closer to the floor to inhale breathable air.
A rush of sudden panic swept over Billy. “Now what are we going to do?”
William grabbed a baseball bat and headed for the window. “I’ll tell you exactly what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna get out of here.”
“Quick! Billy! Let’s get over here behind the bed!” Diane was pulling on Billy’s shirt. He followed her to the farthest corner from the window. They both got low to protect themselves from flying glass and so they could breathe easier.
“Atta-girl. Good thinking.” William grabbed a fistful of the Venetian blinds and yanked them away from Billy’s window, ripping them from the wall. In a smooth continuous motion, he also managed to get low and inhale more smoke-free air. He then stood straight and got into position.
Billy was watching him in complete awe. The geeky English teacher was gone. Instead, he saw the same strong father he had known when he was little. It then occurred to him in a flashing moment of clarity that his dad was not the one that had changed; he had always been who he was. Maybe it was Billy’s own perception that had altered over the years.
“We’re ready.” Diane hollered back to her husband.
Well, whether you’re ready or not, here it goes, William thought to himself. “Alright. Play ball.” William began smashing the window pane. Whatever resistance the window offered, it was no contest against William’s determination. He did not holding anything back as he attacked that window with full force. That bat was flying. The majority of the glass was gone in a second and the screen merely popped out. The central framework was the challenge. Billy’s dad gave it a fierce pounding. One blow after another after another. As soon as the bat made contact, here came another hit. And another. Billy had no idea that his dad was capable of delivering such blows. When that was cleared, he used the bat to knock out all glass that may be lurking along the edges.
Diane was way ahead of him on that end. She had already grabbed the thickest blanket in the room. When she could tell that her husband had finished his part, she rushed over and tossed the blanket over the windowsill. “Here! I’m putting this here so we don’t cut ourselves on the way out.” This idea was met with tremendous approval by the others. “Go, go, go!!” she yelled at Billy. “Go on! Get out! And don’t cut yourself on any of that glass on the ground.”
Billy certainly did not argue. He knew that going first could make him look cowardly, but he also realized that his mother was not going anywhere until her son was safe on the other side of that window. By that reasoning, the fastest way to get his mom to budge was to go and be quick about it. So he pretty much flew out of the house with no trouble at all. Diane came next. She was a little slower than Billy; but hey, she made it. Lastly, William squeezed out of Billy’s bedroom window.
In a physical sense, they were now safe. The three of them ran around the darkened side of the house to the front yard. The dewy grass felt wet on their bare feet. Diane was dressed in a nightgown and William was still in his pair of pajama pants and a Red Wolves shirt. Poor Billy was only in a pair of boxer shorts and a white tee-shirt. He was quickly getting cold now that they were out of that burning house and scrambling around in the night air.
As they were rushing through the yard, Diane asked, “Did you manage to hit the fire button on the alarm system?”
“Yes, I got it,” William answered. “I guess we are about to see if it works. We never tested it before,” he mused. “I also managed to grab my phone since it was by the bed.”
All that adrenalin in Billy’s blood stream was beginning to fade already. This meant that Billy was quickly descending into a weird, yucky feeling. “OH! I swear! This is the longest night of my life!” he said.
Diane gave a small smirk. “Well, we did gain an extra hour.”
Billy scoffed and added, “Well, next year, tell the Daylight Saving Time people that they can just keep that extra hour. This night is way way too long.”
William chimed in with a quick laugh. “Well, maybe we should just move to a place that doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time.”
“Oh yeah. Where is that?”
William was quick with an answer. “Uh, I think Arizona and Hawaii as well as a couple of towns in Indiana.”
“Hawaii?” Billy got excited. “Now you’re talking.”
Diane added, “But I seriously doubt that we could blame Daylight Savings Time for our house catching fire.” By this point, the three had made it to the front of their yard by the road. Diane had other things on her mind than Daylight Savings Time. “Is everyone okay? I’ve got to make sure.”
“I’m okay, mom.”
“Are you sure about that?” Diane began to check her son out and made sure that he was not bleeding anywhere.
“Mom, I’m fine.”
“Just humor me. This is what moms do.” She turned to look at William. With a look, she asked the same question and he also replied without spoken words. Everyone was okay physically.
Billy was fine, but now he had some time to do a quick inventory. Horrified, he looked back at the house and his eyes widened. “WHAT?! Oh no! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Billy began to shout down towards the burning house for some unknown reason.
Filled with motherly concern, Diane suddenly ran over to him to find out what was wrong. “What’s the matter?”
In a half-angry voice, Billy answered, “I left my copy of Pride and Prejudice on the kitchen table!”
All three of them stopped and silently looked at the house. The side of the house from the car port to the living room was completely ablaze. Naturally, the kitchen and dining room were between the two. The fire provided warmth and a brilliant, dancing, orange light in contrast to the cold moonlight. If the book were on the table, it was doubtlessly gone now.
William gave a thoughtful frown. “I don’t know. It might come out of this. Let’s be optimistic.”
Diane and Billy both chuckled at this comment.
Fire trucks could be heard on the approach. “Good. Here they come now,” William had said. He left the two of them momentarily to greet the firemen when they arrived. But while this was going on, Billy began to feel an irrational sense of anxiety.
“Uh, mom? What are we going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean what are we going to do about our stuff? Wha- What about the house?” Billy was beginning to get excited to the point of shouting.
“The house?”
“And our stuff? The house? What about our money?”
Diane gave counterpoint to Billy’s loud and frightened tone by answering him in a calm voice. “Baby, our money is in a bank. We don’t keep our money in the house. But even if it were in the house, what’s the big deal?” She stood directly in front of Billy and gently placed both of her hands on his shoulders.
“But what about all our things?”
“What things?”
“The other things?”
Enough of this. A few of their neighbors had seen the fire and were approaching the Harris’, so mommies have to do what mommies have to do. She gently placed her hands on either side of Billy’s face and spoke to him in a tender, loving voice. “Let it burn, baby. Just let it burn. We don’t care about those things.”
“But mom …!”
“Look, baby. Your father and I came out of the house with our most valuable possession: you. Everything else can be replaced. When we have you, we are the richest people in the world. And as long as the three of us are together and God is with us, we can get through anything.”
All this drama in one day was too much for him to take. Feeling completely overwhelmed by recent events, Billy collapsed to his knees and began to openly weep.
Diane put her arms around her son. “Now what’s the matter?”
Still crying, Billy choked out his sentence. “Mom, people are coming over here and I’m outside in my underwear.”
She brought his face under her chin in a firm hug. “I know, baby. It’s okay. I promise.” She ran her fingers through his soft hair.
While Diane was consoling her son, two fire trucks had arrived and the firemen had gone straight into action. Shortly after, one of the firemen approached the family. He was a man in his late twenties and had a low voice. “Mr. Harris?”
William’s eyes lit up. “Rodrigo!”
“Is everyone out of the house?”
“Yes. This is all of us.”
The fireman continued his questioning. “Is everyone okay? Do we need to call an ambulance?”
“We’re just fine, Rodrigo. Thanks.”
Most of the dozen or so firemen present were working hard to put out the flames. While that was happening, another fireman walked over. But this time, it was William who recognized him first. “Eddie!”
This man was a little younger and had a higher pitched voice and a thick country accent. “Hey, Mr. Harris.” He finished walking over. “Is this everyone?”
Rodrigo answered. “Yeah. This is it.” He looked over and saw Diane and Billy sitting there. “Hey! Wait a minute. Is this little Billy?”
Eddie had the same reaction. “Little Billy? Wow! He’s not so little anymore.” He walked over to talk to him. “You might not remember me. You were really little when I went through your daddy’s class.”
“You had to be this tall the last time I’d seen you.” Rodrigo leveled his hand down below his waist to indicate how tall Billy was.
William spoke up. “He’s actually in my class this year. He’s a tenth grader.”
Rodrigo looked up at his former teacher. “Which class is that? To Kill a Mockingbird?”
“No. That’s eleventh grade. This one is Pride and Prejudice.”
Both firemen gave a sound of recognition and made positive comments on having to read that book in his class. This caused Billy to reflect on what he was hearing. From the sound of things, it seemed a foregone conclusion that all of Pecan Falls had risen from the ranks of his dad’s classroom. What a remarkable legacy. Perhaps his dad was more important in this town than he had estimated. He must have had an influence on many people. But maybe it was not just this small town. Some of them may have found their way out of Pecan Falls and moved elsewhere. Maybe some have even become teachers in other towns. Is it possible that his dad had a large network of former students who are helping to mold the minds of another generation? And what about people who were not even born yet? How far could his power and leadership go? He wondered what it would take to find someone who had not been guided by his father’s teaching. This was an astounding prospect.
A third fireman walked over from the blaze to the Harris’ to see if they were okay. It was soon clear that they were. This fireman was as big and as buff as the others. He had dark smudges on his face already and he sported a reddish handlebar moustache. Billy summoned up the courage to speak to this man. “So when did you go through my dad’s class?”
The fireman looked down at Billy and smiled. “Son, I’m forty-nine years old. I’m probably older than your daddy. But thanks for the compliment, kid.”
Open mouth, insert foot. Billy was embarrassed enough standing outside in his underwear. Now this. It was all just icing on the cake after his public shaming at Chloe’s and the apparent posting of that video on the internet. Maybe he was testing the limits of his own humiliation. They say that whatever does not kill you makes you stronger. If that were true, he should be juggling cannonballs right about now.
The older fireman looked over at Billy again. “Hey kid. You in the boxers. I was just going to ask you if you were cold. But it looks like someone is already taking care of that.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Billy was indeed cold; but now, he noticed a pair of strong hands placing a thick blanket on his shoulders. He turned and found himself looking into the kind face of Curtis’ dad. “Oh?! Thank you so much, Mr. Baker.” He wrapped himself up. It was nice to get the nighttime chill off of his legs and arms.
That same fireman looked around. “Well, it looks like you’ve got lots of company coming so we’ll just back off now and let you talk to them. If you need anything else, just let me know. We’ll be here for a while.” He walked back toward the house rejoining the others.
A greater number of their neighbors had come out of their houses and were slowly walking toward them. Between the moonlight and the light from their blazing house, the neighbors could be seen fairly well – minus their faces.
Billy looked very nervous. “Uh, mom? Dad? This looks kinda creepy.”
Diane added, “Yeah. Night of the Living Neighbors.”
Over the next few seconds, they found themselves surrounded with people who they had grown to know and a few that they did not yet know. Someone gave Diane a warm cup of coffee. Another person gave Billy a plastic bottle of water. Cookies and peanut butter crackers somehow arrived. People were talking to them and asking questions. The Harris’ found themselves telling the story more than once about how they got out of the house.
Before long, Billy noticed that one of the neighbors had made herself busy, rushing around from person to person. She was passing around an old coffee tin and people were putting money in it as she went by. Considering their unique financial status, Billy was mortified. So now people were collecting money for them? This did not seem right at all. He leaned over to his mom and whispered his concerns in her ear. “Look mom. These folks are taking up a collection. We can’t take their money. These people need it far worse than we do. How do we refuse their help without giving away our secret?”
Diane whispered back to him. “Oh no. We have to take it. We don’t want to insult them. We will use it exactly the way that they want us to - - and likewise we will be there for them when they have a need. What we tend to forget is that God sees it all. Their act of giving allows them to receive their own blessing from God.”
Another thought struck Billy. What a minute! How is it that all these people in their pajamas have money with them? Our neighbors are not just weird – they’re a weird kind of weird. He resigned himself to the idea that there were a great many things in his life that did not make any sense. Billy decided that he was not going to lose any sleep over it. (That’s not right; that’s exactly what was happening.)
A number of concerned neighbors had already crowded around the scene, but one tore her way through the crowd. Kathy Baker arrived and went into full charge mode. Curtis was trailing slightly behind. “Diane! Diane! Are you alright?”
Diane smiled up at her friend and gave her a huge hug. “Yes. We’re fine. Thank you.”
Curtis rolled his eyes while his mom began to talk. “That’s good. You and the guys are coming over to our house when you are done here. You got me?”
Diane’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh? Kathy, I really don’t want …”
“Nonsense. You need a warm comfortable place to go before the sun comes up. Curtis and I will pull the bed out of the couch and Billy can crash in Curtis’ room as he usually does. It’ll be no trouble at all. Besides, I think we have some extra pizza from earlier tonight. You’re sure everyone is alright?”
“Oh, yes. We’re fine. Wait till you hear what happened.” Diane repeated the story for Kathy which followed with some friendly chit-chat.
At some point, Kathy broke away from the conversation. She turned to Curtis, “You’re with me. We’ve got work to do.” With that, she began to make her way back home.
Slightly away from the crowd, William was standing off to the side in amazement. It was one of those thought-provoking moments that consumed his brain. He could scarcely believe what he was witnessing. He saw the support of his neighbors in action. He noticed the snacks and drinks that were brought. His poor son who was shivering in his underwear now was wrapped in a warm blanket. With each passing moment, he became more emotional. In a voice so soft that he could barely be heard, the words from Matthew 25: 34-40 came naturally from his lips. “‘Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was a hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer … ‘” Tears had already begun to weigh heavily on his eyes. Now it was clear that his voice was trembling. “‘Then shall the righteous answer … ‘” His voice failed him. He just stopped. His throat was not going to let him finish. It did not really matter anyway. No one could hear him.
… almost no one. “‘Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,’” The familiar sound of Mr. Baker picked up the quotation where William had left off. He had been quietly standing behind William and had been listening to what he was saying. Strangely, he was able to quote the same passage. “‘Lord, when saw we thee a hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’”
Silence. William slowly turned around. His eyes worked their way up from the ground to look at Curtis’ dad in the face. They looked at each other for only a moment until William stepped forward. Their arms wrapped around each other in brotherly love.
For years, Diane and William had gotten comfortable in demonstrating their love for God by giving that love to others. Theirs was a unique ministry. They were furthering the Kingdom of Heaven by using the financial gifts that God had given to them. But this was different. Now they were the recipients of other people’s love and affection. One may think that it was uncomfortable for them - - and it was; but they also felt love and a true sense of community.
Diane had been talking to some of the ladies and Billy was never far from her. But during a break in conversation, one of their neighbors, Stacey, approached her. “Diane? Can we see you for just a minute? You too, Billy.”
They both looked confused but went along with her. They followed Stacey to the center of the small crowd. Stacey’s husband was also standing in the center waiting for them.
In a loud voice, Stacey’s husband addressed the group. “Ladies and gentlemen. Most of you know me, my name is Scott and this is my wife, Stacey. We were thinking that it would be a great idea to pray for the Harris’ right now. We would invite everyone who wishes to pray along with us.”
No one in the crowd objected. Billy, Diane, and William were all directed to the middle of the crowded circle. Several of them put their hands on the Harris’ shoulders. Those who could not reach them placed their hands on those who could. Even a couple of the firemen joined in. Billy did not really like the attention, but even he could sense the serge of power by having people praying for them. His final verdict was that it was cool. Diane and William’s attitude was one of obedience and thankfulness. They gladly welcomed the blessing.
Scott began to pray. “Almighty God and Heavenly Father, we gather here in the wee-hours of the morning to thank You for delivering the Harris’ from their burning house. You have given them safety in what could’ve been a horrible tragedy. For that, we offer our gratitude. We also lift them up in prayer as they face the challenge of salvaging what they can and as they begin the process of finding a new home. We pray that You already have the solution to their financial troubles on the way. In addition, God, we pray for some reassurance for this family. May they soon feel Your awesome presence and your inexhaustible love. All this we pray in Your Wonderful Son’s name, Amen.”
A chorus of croaking Amens rose from the crowd and spontaneous hugging began.
Billy slid down into a sleeping bag in Curtis’ room. At last, he thought as he once again prepared to get some shuteye – like a whole two-and-a-half hours or so. They were careful not to wake Curtis’ younger brother – which was practically impossible anyway. “We better get to sleep quickly,” Billy said. “Extra hour or no extra hour, that sun will be coming up soon.”
Curtis’ mind had been at work all night. He had to spill the beans or he might explode. And since it was essentially just the two of them now, this was the perfect moment. “By the way, I need to apologize to you.”
“Huh? For what?” Billy sat up slightly confused. After all, it was Billy who had been a jerk that night.
“For not believing you. I did a little digging around the internet tonight. And guess what I found …” Curtis was obviously excited.
His friend leaned toward him from across the room. “What?” He had no idea what to expect.
With a great deal of satisfaction, Curtis continued. “I discovered that your family is indeed running Crowe Athletic Gear. Also I learned that your family has so much money, it would be an insult to call it a fortune.” He was so proud of himself for finding that out.
“Oh that.” Billy rolled over, not sounding especially excited.
“OH THAT? Dude! Instead of buying your dream car, you can buy the entire lot. What’s up with that?!”
“Well, now that you know the truth, you might as well forget about it.”
“Forg … Forget about it? Wha …? Weren’t you the one trying to convince us earlier? What about all your big plans in case you ever landed on some real money?”
Billy laughed. “Well, guess what? I was wrong. It isn’t our money. It’s God’s. And we need to use it the way He would want it used. It’s all His anyway.” He laid his head down again and a thought popped into his mind. “You remember the Parable of the Talents?”
Even though this looked like a random question, Curtis answered, “Sure. The three employees who were given the talents. One had five, another had two, and finally the guy with only the one. The dude with the one just buried it in a hole and eventually gave it back like a fool.”
“That’s right. Even though these guys were given those talents to invest and make grow, all that money still technically belonged to the boss man. That’s how it is with us. Our money, our time, our talents, even us – we completely belong to him. And my parents believe that this money can be best used for God if no one knows that it is even there. So until further notice, this dough is a secret – totally invisible.”
“Do you really believe that?”
It took a few seconds for Billy to answer. “I’m starting to.”
Mercifully, the sun finally came up and that horribly long night at last came to an end. At church, people gathered around to pray for the Harris’. After a stirring message, the two families went back to the Baker’s house for Sunday lunch and a long, well-deserved nap before evening service. The boys agreed that the trip down to the Falls would wait for another day. But while Mrs. Baker was busy working on lunch, the Harris’ and Curtis took a few minutes to return to the burned-out home. Was there much to salvage? They wanted to find out.
While they were there, they came across the fire marshal and the insurance investigators who were occupied with paperwork detail. They escorted William over to what they believed to be the source of the blaze. The two of them pointed to the charred remains of their vintage dryer, burned to a crisp and yet hauntingly recognizable. This spiteful thing almost seemed to make fun of them with its arrogant pose – practically saying, For countless ages, I have dried clothes in my rotating belly, from bell-bottoms and parachute pants to polyester blouses and skinny jeans. I defy you all to count the sum of socks and underwear that have crossed my threshold! Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
William looked directly at the scorched appliance and assessed the situation as thus, “I guess there is no excuse not to get a new dryer now.” William was trying to be funny. “Perhaps this was what Shakespeare would call the ‘rude mechanical.’” Like most dads, he laughed at his own corny joke. His son, on the other hand, did not get the vague reference to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Speaking of dreams, Billy thought back to his, the one in which he was playing Chess against James. He quietly said to himself, “Well, if someone were to actually make my life into a movie, I now understand who the villain would be. It would be that scary old dryer.”
From the far side of the house, Diane gasped so loudly that William, Curtis, and Billy were all startled by the sound. They rushed over and found her crying in front of a burned trunk. The large wooden trunk had been in their family for years and had now suffered extensive damage from the fire. Inside were all the Harris’ loose photographs. Expecting the worst, she was too afraid to open the trunk. William took the liberty. Miraculously, they were completely undamaged. Diane held up a small portrait of her and William taken at their wedding, her in her long white wedding dress and big hair, him with a skinny face and a pathetic little moustache. William was amazed. He picked up a photo of little Billy smashing a cake on his first birthday.
Diane had already made digital copies that she emailed to herself and discs that were kept in a safety deposit box – but these were the originals. These were the ones she cared about. After Diane stopped crying, her and her husband had a nice, sweet prayer of thanksgiving for their pictures being spared.
But the blessings did not stop there. William managed to find all of his journals miraculously undamaged as well.
Billy found his trombone slide.