*A/N* It's not really a formal essay, more just me talking about something that's happening. It's really scary, so please send your thoughts to the firefighters and the families that have lost their homes.

 

It’s smelling like a campfire outside, and I don’t live close to the fires. These wildfires are too scary for me. Yesterday when we fed horses we could see the smoke clouds and it started gently raining ash.             Several of my close friends have had to evacuate not only themselves but all of their horses and sit there and worry about whether or not their houses are going to get burned to the ground. I heard that the fires are about 80 percent contained now, though. We dropped off Gatorades for the firefighters at Ms. Kate’s* yesterday afternoon. Over a thousand homes were destroyed in Bastrop.             I don’t understand. There are never wildfires where I’m at.             Most people got lucky. There have been only two fatalities last I heard. It was a 23 year old mother and her 18 month old baby.             People have had to write their phone numbers on their horses and let them go free when the fire was bearing down upon them and they couldn’t get them evacuated in time. I told my mom that I would ride my horse out of there. There are four horses on the property where I keep him, and only a two horse trailer. I only live about ten minutes away-so if I had to, I could ride him home and lead another horse behind me.             I don’t blame those people at all though-they couldn’t do anything else. I sincerely hope that they find their horses.             I hope that they are able to stop these fires good and soon so that my friends and everybody else can return home.