Jake The Fireman

   Jake was sitting on the floor in his bedroom playing with his red fire engine.  
    “Oh no Firetruck, there’s a fire at the Brown’s house!” Jake exclaimed.  He grabbed the firetruck, turned on the lights and siren and rolled it over to his bed, which he was pretending was the Brown’s house.  Jake raised the ladder up and rotated it around to meet the edge of the bed, then pulled the fireman doll from the front seat.  He walked the fireman up the ladder and onto the bed.
    “Fireman Bob to the rescue!” he yelled.  Bob ran to the fire and using his imaginary hose, doused the flames.  The Brown’s house was saved and Bob was the hero.  Jake put Bob back into the firetruck and lowered the ladder.
    That was fun, Jake thought to himself, but not as much fun as actually putting the fire out himself.  “I wish I could be a real fireman,” he said aloud.
    “Well, maybe you can,” a small deep voice said from his firetruck.
    Jake froze, then stood up and backed away from the firetruck until he bumped into his closet.  He looked carefully at the firetruck and inside the cab of the truck to see what was going on.  Suddenly, the Bob the Fireman stuck his head out the window.
    “So, how about it, do you want to be a real fireman?” Bob asked.  Jake was speechless.  Bob, his toy, was talking to him.  This had never happened to him before.  Boo-Boo, his blue
bear, had never spoken before.  None of his stuffed animals had spoken before.  But here was Bob, his fireman in the firetruck, talking like a real live person.
    “Sure,” said Jake while crawling over to get a better look, “I’d love to be a real fireman.”
    “Good,” said Bob, “now just get in the truck, because we have a fire to go to.”
    “But, I’m to big to fit in the firetruck,” said Jake sadly, looking at the seat next to Bob.
    “No problem,” said Bob, “just grab my hand and we will be on our way.”
    Jake wasn’t sure what taking Bob’s hand would do, but since he’d never talked to a real live toy before, he wasn’t going to argue.  He reached out and took Bob’s hand and ....
    WHOOSH.  Jake felt himself spin like a tornado and suddenly he was sitting next to Bob.  Bob smiled at him.
    “Ready to go to work?” he asked.  Jake looked at Bob with amazement in his eyes and nodded his head.
    Bob reached out and pushed a button on the dashboard labeled “Go To Work”.  Suddenly, the firetruck lifted up off the ground, into the air and disappeared in a flash.
    Before Jake knew what had happened, they were on a city street next to a two-story house that was on fire.  Bob looked at him.
    “Time to save the house and any people inside.  Put on your fireman clothes and let’s get to work!” Bob said.  Bob, who was already in his fireman clothes, hopped out of the truck and grabbed an axe from the side of the truck.
    Jake jumped out of the truck and quickly put on the jacket,  pants and boots of a real fireman.  Bob was already running towards the house, so Jake followed him as fast as he could.  It was hard to run in the big clothes, but Jake caught up as Bob stopped to look at the burning house.
    “We’re going to have to in the front door to see if anyone is inside, “ Bob said, “are you ready, Fireman Jake?”
    “Yes Sir!” Jake said eagerly, ready to do his best.
    Bob walked up to the front door and swung the big axe against the door handle.  The door flew open with a crash to reveal the fire inside.
    “Keep your head down and follow me,” Bob said and they both ran into the house.
    Fire was on the walls and the ceiling as they ran inside.  Bob came to the first bedroom and kicked the door open with his boot.  He looked inside and then turned to Jake and said, “Nobody in this room, let’s go to the next bedroom.”
    Jake and Bob went to the next bedroom and once again Bob kicked the door open.  Inside there was a little boy with a small bear in his arms.  Bob rushed over and picked him up.
    “It’s all right little boy, we have you now and it’s time to get you out of the house,” Bob said, picking up the little boy and starting to walk to the door.
    Jake started to follow when he heard a little yelp behind him.  He turned around but didn’t see anything.  He started to turn back around to leave the house when he heard another yelp, followed by several short barks.  Jake turned back around and went to the last door.  Kicking the door just like Bob, the door burst open to show a small little puppy sitting in the middle of the room looking very scared.
    Jake slowly walked up the puppy.  “Here boy, “ he called with his hand stretched out.  The little puppy sniffed his hand and then gave it a couple of licks.  Jake picked up the puppy and held it in his arms close to his chest.
    “Come on boy, let’s get out of this house,” Jake said and started to run for the front door.
    They came around the hallway corner towards the front door when Jake stopped.  The front door was completely covered in flames.  Jake turned to look at the back door and it was also covered in flames.  They were trapped!
    Jake looked at his jacket and pants.  He knew that fireman clothes were fireproof but he also knew that the puppy wasn’t.  Jake unbuttoned his jacket, put the puppy inside and then buttoned it back up again.  He held the dog against his chest and then said “Here we go little boy, it’s time to be brave!”
    Jake pulled the hood over his head and ducked his head against his chest so that the fire would hit the hood.  He ran as fast as he could and jumped through the fire!  
    When he came through the other side of the flames he saw that everyone was clapping.  Jake unbuttoned his jacket and pulled out the little puppy.  The puppy licked Jake’s face and then jumped down and ran to the little boy Bob had rescued.  The little boy knelt down the hugged the puppy.
    “Thank you Fireman Jake.  You saved Buster!” the little boy said.  The boys parents hugged them both and also said thank you to Jake.
    Bob came over.  “Well done Fireman Jake,” he said, “you’ve proved yourself to be a real fireman.”  Bob shook Jake’s hand and patted him on the back.   “Now, I think it’s time for us to get back in the truck.”
    Jake and Bob walked back to the firetruck.  The neighbors cheered and waved at them.  Bob jumped into the drivers seat and Jake climbed into the passengers seat.
    Bob turned to Jake.  “Remember Jake, only a trained firefighter goes into a burning house,” he said.  “Today you were a real fireman but now we have to go back to your room and you’ll be a little boy again.”  Bob smiled at Jake and then pushed another button on the dashboard of the truck labeled “Back To Jake’s Room”.
    Instantly they were back in Jake’s room and Jake was sitting in front of his toy firetruck again.  He reached inside the cab of the truck and pulled out the little fireman doll.  He looked like any other plastic doll except now he smelled slightly of woodsmoke.  Jake smiled and put him back in the truck.  What an amazing adventure.  He stood up and walked out into the kitchen to get a snack.  Firefighting make you hungry, that’s for sure!