I typically avoid sharing too much about my personal life and what goes on, but this is something that affects me majorly, and in turn will affect a lot of my activity around here.

So, to get right to the point, my family and I have lost our home due to a tragic fire incident last night. Everyone is okay, though we lost our two cats and nearly all of our possessions. Shit sucks, but I'm really looking optimistically at all of this, as deranged as that may sound. XD I'm a little bummed about losing a lot of my stuff, but they were just possessions anyway. My family is perfectly healthy, and that's all that matters to me. However, I did manage to save my laptop (where I write and keep all of my stories) and my 3DS, so I'm well-off in the current situation. ^-^ We're currently safe and staying with my grandparents, who live only several miles away.

Really, this is a huge step in the right direction for my family. We've never had much money to work with and manage to scrape by for the most part. Our house wasn't in very good condition, and it would have cost a lot of money to fix things up, which would have honestly put us out worse than the entire thing burning to the ground. =P Because, with our insurance we'll be able to afford either moving to or rebuilding a brand new house: a fresh start, if you will. It'll be a rough couple of months--and maybe longer--but it'll be worth it in the end. This journey will be an experience I won't forget.


I'm sure some of you may be curious of the details, so I'll go ahead and say what happened. Only my father and I were home while my sister and mother were out shopping. My father was changing his vaporizer battery when it suddenly exploded and sprayed sparks and hot oil/acid which caught flame almost immediately after. Both of us tried to put the fire out, but it was growing far too rapidly and the smoke was intoxicating. We had to give it up and call 911. I managed to grab a few of my possessions that mattered most; I was mostly worried about my laptop. We made it out okay, but sadly we couldn't do anything about our cats--and neither of us even thought of them at the time. I've never truly felt so panicked before and my thoughts were so muddled: it was very difficult to process anything.

A few more explosions went off after we were outside. My dad is a computer geek, so he kept the pressurized cans of air for dusting in his room. Six of those things exploded, and boy was it loud--like gunshots. XD After that, some electrical sparks went off and spewed off the side of the house; they sounded and looked like fireworks. Meanwhile, the fire blazed higher and higher and quickly ate up the attic/roof since we kept insulation and cardboard boxes up there.

It was a surreal feeling to just stand there, completely helpless, watching as it all went up in flames. I can't recollect how much time really passed, but it felt like centuries before the Fire Department arrived. By then, half of the house was burning. I'd say it was probably burning for about 10 minutes before they got there and were able to spray it down.

We waited for a long time, and I didn't get to see what the inside was like until today. But our neighbors were very supporting. Many of them offered their help and gave us some things. I was only wearing socks at the time as I didn't have time to put on shoes, so my friend's mother brought be some brand-new shoes to keep. Our family and relatives have been very helpful too. Many organizations have already reached out to us; we received a $500 gift card from Red Cross to buy some more clothes, which we did today. The generosity of people has been surprising, but very, very welcome. I can't thank everyone enough--and it's too bad none of them will see this message. =P I'm very grateful.

I probably missed a lot of things I wanted to say, but I am exhausted. XD


TL;DR: House caught fire, everyone is safe and healthy, the house is FUBAR, rough couple of months ahead, but looking forward to them!