At the age of sixteen, I was part of the teenagers volunteer program at the fire station in my town. Its fun, but I never got to go on a real call with a real fire. But I got to hang out with Ben.

Ben was eight, he wasn't a certified member, but with us he sure felt like one to the rest of the guys and me.

He was always around, playing on the trucks and helping us with every chore we had to do.

Then came the day I was hoping would never come. The elementary school caught on fire, everything was up in flames. The streets were crowded with wounded kids, fire trucks, and worried parents. I ran into the chief of the station, Mike, for an update on what was going on. " Well, we got here on time, and everything will be okay, thanks to Ben" he told me. I saw him sitting on the bumper of one of the trucks.
" Hey buddy, heard your a hero".
" Not really, I saw the fire on my way home, so I ran to the station".
" Well, a lot of kids are alive because of you".
I picked up a firemans helmet that was lying on the pavement and placed it on his head, " and that makes you a honourary fireman".
" Really, wow thanks Naddy".
"Nadrea" Mike called, " can you please come here".
I walked over to him, he lowered his voice.
" We're lucky, we only lost one person in the fire", he pointed to a body bag on the sidewalk. I knelt down next to it. As I opened it, I was face to face with Ben. I looked back to where I last saw him. But all there was on the bumper was the fire helmet I found on the pavement.