It was the middle of June in 1998. The town of New Haven was going about business as normal, when the Chemical Plant outside of town, began to smoke. Some Ethyl Acetate had leaked from it's container, it got all over the floor. At first no one noticed it on the the floor. People walked through it and tracked it outside. People were smoking outside the building even though they shouldn't have been. Some one must have thrown their cigarette butt down in the chemicals. The Ethyl Acetate caught fire, and everything went out of control. People ran screaming, some getting caught in the fire. My father was working there that day. He came home everyday for lunch, and it was about time for his break.

I was standing on the corner of Elm and Main Street waiting for my dad to come home from work. I just stared as people ran past, thinking they were playing a game of tag. My mom came over and picked me up. My dad was running from the factory where he worked. He grabbed my mom and whispered something I couldn't hear.

My mom sat me into my car seat as my Dad went into the house. When he came out of the house, carrying some of our clothes, he hurled them on top of me when my mom opened the door for him. He was already sitting in the driver seat when I dug myself out of the clothes pile.

“Mommy, Daddy, where are we going?” I asked as I pulled more clothes off of my lap.

“We're going to visit your Aunt Rita. Now buckle yourself up.” My mom grabbed my dad's hand as she spoke “You remember your Aunt Rita from your birthday party, right?”

I had no clue who she was talking about. There were to many aunts and uncles at my birthday party last month. “She got me the Barbie doll?” I asked to be sure.

“Yes, the one that came with a baby,” my dad answered for my mom. He was squeezing my mom's hand to comfort her. I didn't say anything after that and neither did my parents.

We were about to exit the town. I looked through the back window at the town we were leaving behind. The town went into a cloud of black smoke. I watched the smoke rise higher and higher. As I was watching the smoke my mom screamed and ducked under the dashboard I turned around to see a tree falling over. Some one had decided to go off the road and they hit a tree hard enough to make it fall.

“Get down. Misty, get down” my dad yelled as he put on the brakes and covered my mom's head with his right hand.

I bent over and covered my head as I heard horns honking endlessly. When I felt my mom's hand on my head, I sat up. “Mommy, what happened?” I asked her.

“A tree fell over in front of us, honey. Are you okay?” she started to pat me up and down searching for any cuts or bruises. “Nothing serious?” she asked me.

“Mommy, I'm alright.” I said patting her hands away. “There's nothing wrong with me. Daddy are you okay?” I asked him. I tried to peer around his seat at him but I couldn't see him. “ Daddy? Daddy what happened?” I began to worry.

“Honey wake up, wake up.” Mommy began to shake him when he wouldn't answer. “Joseph, wake up.”

“Mommy is daddy alright?” I asked, trying to peer around his seat. He wasn't making any noise like we were.

“Joseph, Joseph?” Mommy began to cry. “Wake up, please.”

There was a loud boom from behind us. “Mommy, get down,” I screamed. I covered my head and ducked behind my dad's seat. I heard my mom scream, but it didn't sound like she was covering her head. The car jostled to the left a little, then settled where it was.

Another car had smashed into the passenger side of our car. When the booming noise finally ceased, I sat up in my seat, unbuckled myself and went to the front to see what happened. “Mommy? Daddy?” I cried. “Mommy? Daddy? What happened? Are you alright?” As I pushed down the middle seat I saw my mom laying on top of my dad.


“Mommy? Mommy?” I cried as I shook her. She wouldn't wake up when I shook her. “Mommy, wake up.” I shook her even harder and saw blood come out onto the seat. “MOMMY!” I screamed. There was a loud noise after that then everything was blank.

I woke up about 4 days later, in the hospital. My parents were dead and I was sent to live with Aunt Rita. I was 5 years old when this happened. The town was surrounded by mountains; the Red Cross couldn't reach us. We didn't get much help until they started to bring in the army.

The army sectioned the town out into many parts. The soldiers weren't allowed to start a new section until the first was finished. We were on the border of the second and the third section. The first section was mainly woods so it didn't take too long. It would take days to finish the sections after one and two..

Aunt Rita moved close to New Haven to help the army and Red Cross with the sections. We have lived there ever since. Now, 11 years later, we volunteer in the Red Cross to help rebuild the town, to make a real New Haven. I can't help but wonder; what if it happens again?