There was an explosion at the power station and a fire broke out. It was a few miles from our house but it was a big enough bang to wake all of us. By the time the fire engines could be heard heading out there we were all up and standing out on the back porch. It was a warm night.

Our house backed onto the woods. Our village was so small that nearly everyone’s house backed onto woodland. My dad and mom, little sister and myself were all staring in the direction of the fire. We lived at the top of a hilly street that was the villages highest point. From our location we could see the light of the fire. It looked like it had spread quickly. The smoke filling the night sky looked so beautiful.

After a while the sheriff stopped by our house. He walked straight around to our back porch because he figured rightly that’s where he’d find us. The fire was not headed in our direction however the insane asylum near the power station had gone up in flames.

Dad made a joke about loons escaping into the woods at night.