My father and I watched the fireworks show for the first time in 5 years that I had forgotten what the fireworks looked like.

"Amazing," I said while I saw the light, vibrant lights explode in my peripheral vision. In the crowd, babies were crying from the loud booms that echoed in the distance.

"Yes, it is," agreed my father. I looked at him, and he was wearing a smirk which caused his dimples to stick out.

Loud whistling came through the sky as we watched the fireworks zoom off. Kayaks and canoes sitting on the water. Which was a mistake. A kayak came into the middle of the water. He had a firework sitting on the end of his kayak. He was about to launch it in the air, but it looked like he was waiting for the finale to occur.

"This isn't good by this idiot launching the firework at the angle he is; the firework will hit one boat, causing a domino effect to launch other fireworks. That will directly cause the other boats to catch on fire." I saw his pale face, and his eyes darted around each boat. I could tell he was worried. In the dark, I could hear his husky, deep voice.

"There's no way out of this. The kayak is surrounded by boats. He cannot safely launch the firework. Somebody will get hurt! He has to flip his kayak completely to soak the firework," I explained. 

"Yea, that's true, but this is an accident just waiting to happen! The minute the finales happen is the minute everybody will be in danger!" He declared as he continued to glance at the scene as if he were trying to plan an escape.

Suddenly, I was startled by my father shouting that my body automatically jumped, "Hey, get out of the water. You're going to cause a disaster."  He attempted to warn the teenager. However, the teen on the kayak didn't hear him over the loud screech the fireworks made. People on the land started to stare at us,

"I gotta get to them before it is too late," he said worriedly.

"How are you going to get there?" I questioned.

"Look, over there is a canoe. I can paddle out there and warn them, and I have 5 minutes before the finale before somebody might die!" He pointed then my father shouted back at me as he maneuvered through the congregation of people.

I glanced at my father as he made his way to the canoe; he got into it. Soon he realized there was no paddle. He ripped a branch off a nearby tree and paddled as fast as he could into the deep water. From then, I started to count to 5 minutes in my head.

"He's got 4 minutes before the finale," I anxiously thought as I paced back and forth, watching my dad paddle like it was life or death if he got there in time.

"Was this it? Is this my chance to save the world?" I thought as I zoned out. In a split second, I realized I was being shoved back by a crowd of people leaving. I hadn't lost count, and he had less than a minute. He was close by and was only inches away from saving lives. 

Then, there was a pause of fireworks milliseconds away from the finale. The idiot launched the firework at the boats, pulling a prank. At that instant, fireworks started taking off in random directions, reaching the land and setting the ground on fire.

"Somebody, help me!" The woman cried in fear and danger. Trees surrounded her, and the grass in front of her was on fire. I could either run or save the damsel in distress. I didn't have time to think; I knew I wanted to save her.

I knew the closest thing I could come to fire-retardant was the wool jacket I was wearing.

"Grab your shirt around your waist and tie it around your mouth. I will do the rest." I said to the woman as the fire was slowly scorching the side of my body.

Without a second thought, she grabbed the lightweight cotton jacket around her waist and tied it around her mouth, lessening smoke inhalation. Smoke all around her rising. Quickly, I dropped my jacket, and it barely covered any part of the fire,

"Come on! Hurry!" I pleaded to the woman who stood there, scared for her life.

She hurriedly stepped over the jacket just in time before the trees surrounding her engulfed the area where she was standing. The trees started to drop big branches, which could easily have crushed her.

"How, How did you do that!" she looked at me, her whole body shaking from the trauma she had experienced.

"Worry about that later. I have to help others." I told her as I was protecting her from people still shoving, trying to escape the exploding fireworks.

"At least, let me get a name?" she pleaded as she looked me in the eyes.

"William Smith," I said as I left her area to go help others.

I saw my father on the water, grabbing people who jumped off the boat 1 by 1 to shore. I looked around the area and saw canoes that weren't engulfed in flames or debris. I decided to jump into the canoe and help. I found myself pulling people back and forth from the shore. My father and I were doing the things we were raised to do.  My father looked back at one of the boats. My father and I were safe until,

"Ahhh!" We heard a man scream at a low growl noise.

"I gotta go back, son; he's stuck inside that boat." He shouted.

"Dad, no, you can't. You're not going to make it back out!" I pleaded as a few tears rolled down my cheeks.

"I have to; if I die, I'll go out the way that a paramedic should, doing what they love by saving lives." He looked me in the eyes, rapidly wrapping me into an embrace before quickly pulling away. He grabbed a shirt that was lying on the ground and made his way back to the canoe.

My father paddled back to the boat before dipping the extra shirt in the water. He wrapped it around his face before returning to the scorching heat from the flames that had nearly fully engulfed the outside edges of the boat.

From a distance, I saw the boat cave within itself. Debris flew everywhere, landing in nearby water. The time he had been gone was very dangerous. It only took a few minutes before he could experience the acute effects of smoke inhalation. I jumped back into the canoe as I returned to the boat.

"It won't budge." I heard as I paddled my way closer to the boat.

"Just leave me!" claimed the man whose voice sounded familiar. 

When I got off, I went to the middle of the boat.

"Anybody here?" I shouted, coughing from the smoke.

"William? I'm over here!" my father's voice echoed in my head as I followed the voice. I had to try to make it before the rest of this boat became further engulfed than it already was. 

"He's pinned. I need you to help me, son. We have to lift the pillar off of his legs." My father said with labored breath, wheezing.

"It's so heavy. I don't think we can do it," I claimed as I looked at the massive pillar that had pinned this man.

"Believe you can and you will." My father looked at me. With just a few grunts, I gave up. I wasn't able to do it.

"I can't. I tried" I was breathing heavily from the smoke and the lifting. 

"If we don't, this man will die, and so will we. I won't let you give up." my father demanded, darting his eyes at me and back at the now unconscious male.

I don't know what it was, maybe the fact that my father told me I would die or the adrenaline rush I was getting to save this mans life, but we grabbed the pillar with in mind one last attempt. I put all of my strength into that moment. We managed to slowly lift the pillar off him enough to wiggle his legs out from under the pillar. 

"Son, I'm proud of you," my father said to me as he put his arm on my shoulder.

We tried to fit all three of us on the canoe, but it was barely large enough to fit two of us. 

"Go without me." claimed my father. The longer we waited, the worse it got. The water around the boat had oil from the nearby exploding boats, which made it toxic for anybody who wanted to swim.

"I won't leave you. I won't be able to lift him out of the canoe," I pleaded to my father, and I was fueled with rage. Nobody was like my father, and I wasn't about to grow up without one.

"there's a bunch of emergency medical personnel at the shore. If you can't get it, you will find a way to get him out." My father said to me. He stood at the end of the boat, where I watched him every paddle of the way.

When I got to shore, I ran as fast as possible, and my heart felt like it was going to burst. 

"Hey, I have Mr.Smith stuck on a boat. I can make it back to him and get him off the boat." I looked at them, and immediately they grabbed me. 

"Sir, you have to calm down," they were thinking I was an ordinary civilian, but I was a son worried about his paramedic father. 

"No, you aren't listening to me. Mr.Smith, the Paramedic." When I said paramedic, time stood still. Immediately available medical personnel followed me. They brought their lifeboat with them on their way to save my father. They made their way out toward the boat. The boat exploded as soon as they got close enough to climb aboard. My father wasn't in sight, and I was worried I had lost him.