More of Anna's memories

I remember looking up at the window to my sister's bedroom, smoke billowing out and up to the sky.
I remember hearing her voice calling down to us, crying for help as her lungs filled with smoke and her body burned.
I remember the sounds of the firetruck siren as it wailed up our long gravel driveway.
I remember firemen in their yellow suits and large helmets rushing past me with hose, ladder and axe.
I remember my brother shivering on the cool summer night. My mother, hysterical but trying to keep composure for our sake, knelt beside him, the two wrapped in a blanket.
I remember standing there, numb and dizzy. I couldn't do anything to help my sister, but everyone around me buzzed like worker bees doing what they could to save her life.
I remember my father, begging the firemen to let him help save his eldest child. He tried to grab a helmet or a jacket and was almost in the house before a policeman caught him and dragged him away from the fiery building.
I remember the way the red and yellow flames contrast with the midnight sky - stars peeking out behind the thick smoke. It was almost a beautiful sight, flame against sky. I stared, mesmerized, suddenly aware of the commotion surrounding me. I simply stared, finding solace in the ways the fire licked the sky. As two worlds came together far above the horizon, one life ended within the house, and our family was changed forever.