Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere

By Celeste Ng

Everyone in Shaker(ˈSHākər) Heights was talking about it that summer: how Isabelle, the last of the Richardson(ˈriCHərdsən) children, had finally gone around the bend(bend) and burned(bərnd) the house down. All spring the gossip(ˈgäsəp) had been about little Mirabelle(ˈmirəˌbel) McCullough(makəlô)—or, depending which side you were on, May Ling Chow—and now, at last, there was something new and sensational(senˈsāSHənl) to discuss(disˈkəs). A little after noon on that Saturday(-dē,ˈsatərˌdā) in May, the shoppers pushing their grocery(ˈgrōs(ə)rē) carts in Heinen’s heard the fire engines(ˈenjən) wail(wāl) to life and careen(kəˈrēn) away, toward the duck pond(pänd). By a quarter(ˈkwôrtər) after twelve(twelv) there were four of them parked in a haphazard(ˌhapˈhazərd) red line along Parkland Drive, where all six bedrooms of the Richardson house were ablaze(əˈblāz), and everyone within a half mile could see the smoke rising(ˈrīziNG) over the trees like a dense(dens) black thundercloud(ˈTHəndərˌkloud). Later people would say that the signs(sīn) had been there all along: that Izzy was a little lunatic(ˈlo͞onəˌtik), that there had always been something off about the Richardson family, that as soon as they heard the sirens(ˈsīrən) that morning they knew something terrible(ˈterəbəl) had happened. By then, of course, Izzy would be long gone, leaving no one to defend(diˈfend) her, and people could—and did—say whatever they liked. At the moment the fire trucks(trək) arrived(əˈrīv), though, and for quite a while afterward, no one knew what was happening. Neighbors(ˈnābər) clustered(ˈkləstərd) as close to the makeshift(ˈmākˌSHift) barrier(ˈbarēər)—a police(pəˈlēs) cruiser(ˈkro͞ozər), parked crosswise(ˈkrôsˌwīz) a few hundred yards away—as they could and watched the firefighters(ˈfīrˌfītər) unreel(ˌənˈrēl) their hoses(hōz) with the grim(grim) faces of men who recognized a hopeless cause. Across the street, the geese(gēs) at the pond ducked their heads underwater(-ˈwätər,ˌəndərˈwôtər) for weeds(wēd), wholly(ˈhōl(l)ē) unruffled(ˌənˈrəfəld) by the commotion(kəˈmōSHən).

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