Fire Diaries
Rachel Saylor, along with her husband and family dog, escape a home fire with only seconds to spare. Their world turns on end.
Rachel must confront her anger and heartbreak in order to find peace within her life, but finding the bright side of an inferno is hard when you’re shrouded in the ashes.
One Last Letter
The only items to withstand the fire were the mailboxes lined up at the end of the road.
My husband and I moved into a new home on the same side of town as our fire apartment, so every day, I drove by what once was our home. Our mailbox, out of the five that stood there, liked to open its lid. More than once, my husband swung into the parking lot to close it, but the next day it’d be open again.
This irked me.
Why is it taunting me? I’d think every time I saw it opened.
Until I figured maybe it was trying to communicate with me. Gently shoving me to tell my tale. To write a letter or diary of sorts, but for anyone to read, not just one recipient.
So as crazy as it sounds, I listened to my mailbox and wrote my story. Placing the original copy in its protective walls for community members to read at the actual site of the event.
The fire, of course, is the main reason Fire Diaries is in existence, but it’s because of the mailbox this story is seeing the light of day.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“HEYY!! GET OUT!!”
My eyes pop open. What did I just hear?
Another loud yell and more bangs occur, reminding my brain to stay awake. I shoot upright in bed.
“Do you hear that?” I ask Austin.
“Yeah," he croaks.
At first, I think the yelling is drunken-party noise, but it grows more desperate. “GET OUT!!” I hear.
I jump out of bed and run to the front of the apartment. A stream of light shines across our front balcony. Its unknown origins don’t act as a warning for me.
What is the large cloud of smoke rolling by our front windows? OH MY GOD!
“Fire Diaries is unfiltered. Rachel Saylor graciously shares her journey as she processes the trauma of sudden displacement. In her memoir, Rachel turns her tragedy into an orchestrated exploration of change and resilience. I recommend it to anyone who is curious about the meaning of the human spirit.”
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Fire Diaries T-shirt
Audiobook
(coming this summer)
Signed paperback
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“Thanks for gifting the world your words. Favorite line from the book, 'Life has a funny way of continuing; it doesn't wait for people to catch up.' I think there is a beauty, even if it is tragic, to this.”
Fire Diaries
