The Feeling of Vulnerability

Was woken up this morning, not by any alarm, but by my house's fire alarm.  It was loud!! There was a lady's voice that said something along the lines of "Fire. Fire. Evacuate. Evacuate."

I sat up in bed... groggy.  Looked at the clock - 5:30AM.  What was happening!?! Was there really a fire?? Did I leave the stove on?? Did Joyce burn something in the oven??  I got up... grabbed my phone... of course... and proceeded into the hallway.  *Sniff*Sniff*.  No smoke.  The kids got up and started walking out of their room.  Do we really evacuate like we do in school and work fire drills?

Right, wrong or indifferent.  I ensured their room was safe... and I walked around the house to check it out.  Nothing was out of the ordinary.  Front door.  Living room.  Kitchen.  Garage.  Dead and still as night.  What triggered the alarm??? Was it smoke? Carbon Monoxide? Maybe we have critters in our attic that cause the line to jump? The alarm stopped and I tried to get the kids to bed - but they were too excited or amped up.  They talked and talked until it was 7AM. 

Tonight... we had a little family meeting.  We talked about what to do in case of an emergency.  The kids then volunteered what they would bring with them.  A piggy bank.  A blanky.  A pillow or squishmellow.  I told them I would grab our documents, my wallet, my phone and the car keys.  If anything, we can drive to somewhere else. 

Then at night... after we turned off the lights... and I was telling my bed time story, SW was standing up doing stuff.  I wasn't sure what he was doing.  Right before saying goodnight.. .he said he was scared.  Scared that a fire can burn our house down.  **How do you reassure someone to NOT be scared?? By saying, "唔洗驚?"**

After they fell asleep and they started snoring away, I got up and there was a mess on the floor.  I shone my phone on the bedroom floor.... and it was a giant quilt.  In the middle of the quilt... was their piggy bank, a blanky and a squishmellow.  He made his bug-out bag and was ready to split at a moment's notice.

How long will my kids have to live in fear...and to live with this feeling of vulnerability?