Black as Night

I thought I was ready to walk into the house that night.  I had mentally prepared myself for what we were about to see.  I was wrong.

It was hot in the house, but I couldn't stop shivering.

Everyone around me was talking, but I only heard my tears.

I could see the outline of furniture, but it was eerily black.

Walking through the house, with Maddie holding my hand and Justin ahead of me, was the most surreal moment of my life.  The couch and loveseat were melted down to the springs.  All of the laundry I had just folded was a pile of ashes.  Kitchen cabinets were no longer on the walls, but on the floor.  Dishes were shattered.  Windows were broken.  A wall was gone.  No-

My home house was gone.

Shock.  Sadness.  Shock.  Disbelief.  Shock.

We walked out of that house different people.  Never to be the same.