sentimental value...

The fire raged within, consuming every space possible. It was hard to see through the distorted view of flame, heat and smoke. John could not believe that he had re-entered the crumbling building. At least the floors were concrete and not prone to dissolving into oblivion. However, they kept the heat in well and turned the room into a heated oven. The plaster walls were melting as a testament to the surmounting heat.

The walls were slowly melting, trickling drips of melted plaster. The streaks across the wall looked just like tears running down a face. It seems as the wall was mourning, mourning for the lost of the room. Fingers of flames licked the tears and dried them just like a real finger would. Consoling the mourner in quick succession, the fingers left streaks of blacken soot as reminders of the tears that were dried.

John looked at his gauge, it was three quarters empty. John tried remembering what he was supposed to be looking for, a ceramic statue. Again, John wondered what had compelled him to come back to get it. Glancing around, John saw it, grabbed it and prepared to douse the fire. John pulled out a circular metallic coin, he pushed the sole button on the coin twice and placed it gingerly in the centre of the room. After that, he quickly made his way out of the room.

Seconds later, a soft blast sounded signaling the mission accomplished. It was the newest technology in firefighting, a carbon dioxide blast. The room was basically frozen over, which was the reason why the owner had requested someone go in to retrieve the statue before the blast took place. John looked down at the statue in his hand. Nothing too special, the owner better have a good reason.

Handing the statue back to the owner, the owner took it with both hands and in one swift movement smashed the statue into the wall next to him. The floor was a mosaic of ceramic. John was just shocked, speechless. The owner fell to his knees and sieved his fingers through the sea of ceramic pieces. Everyone stood around, seeing only ceramic. The owner saw more, he saw what he was looking for, a ring. It was embedded into the ceramic when the man made the statue after his wife passed away. John smiled, something he hadn’t done in a long while.