MOVING ( CONT) 2

It was almost dark when I noticed the smoke rising above the hills behind our house. Old Red and I ran out of the yard and up through John Lomac's cotton field. We came out on the top of Violet Hill and away across the hollow I could see the fire.  It looked like a ruby necklace strung out along the ridge of the mountain. It lit up the sky with a crimson glow. The fire was too far away for me to hear the roar and crackle of the flames but when the wind blew toward me I could smell the hot, smothery scent of burning leaves and underbrush. I stood and watched as the fire leaped and danced among the trees. Suddenly I felt scared. I turned and ran back down toward the house with Red at my heels.

I looked down at our little house nestled, safe, underneath the hackberry trees. I saw Daddy's workshop where he let me build my playhouse and would come and visit me.  I saw the old barn where the cow stayed and our outdoor toilet with it's rusty roof. We liked to wait until our brother Gene got in there and then throw rocks on the roof and make the rust fall down on him. I could see my sister, Betty in the kitchen and my little niece standing at the kitchen door looking for me.