When the room went dark, she heard her name. At this point, the usual facade of happiness she tried to uphold in her small town of Dark Bay, Newfoundland, was coming apart. She had problems, just like anyone else but, it truly seemed to her that her problems were much, much worse. Emiliana Browne was a mild mannered 25 year old and had lived in Dark Bay her whole life, You know those towns, where everyone knew everyone and everyone seemed to be (in some way or another) in on every person’s business.


‘Morning, Mr. Ravner’ Robert Ravner, the local shopkeep was surprised to see Emi (as everyone called her) up so early ‘Morning, Ms. Browne, what can I do for you?’ he said behind a plume of cigarette smoke ‘Oh, you know, the usual, Milk, Eggs, Cheese…’ she said with a nearly disgusted tone ‘boy oh boy, I swear, you Brownes are going to turn into an omelet one of these days!’ He put out his cigarette and began to bag up the items as they were the same items he had bagged up so many times before. Emi looked around the store and waited as Mr. Ravner knew exactly the weights and amounts the Browne family would purchase on each grocery trip. To break the silence Mr. Ravner initiated conversation ‘How are your Mother and Father, Ms. Browne?’ Unlike A lot of the younger people in Dark Bay, Mr. Ravner trusted Emi not to shoplift  as the Browne family ran the church in Dark Bay, with Charles Browne being the priest and his wife, Daphne Browne, was the head of the choir. ‘They are doing just fine, Mr. Ravner, Mother still has that awful flu and Father won’t leave her side, That’s why I’m here so early this morning, she’s getting a little bit of her appetite back’ she replied while looking over a display of chocolate bars ‘That’s great to hear Ms. Browne, and here you go, the usual, that’ll be twelve dollars’ at this point the shopkeep was eyeing the cigarette he had to put out and the bottle of whiskey underneath the front cash. Emiliana paid for her groceries and with a wave and a ‘Thank you, Sir’ exited the store and into the blistering, June morning sun. She didn’t know it at the time, but this would be her last walk home with her usual.


Not a moment later, just enough time for Robert Ravner to take a nice big gulp of whiskey and re-light his cigarette, the head of Police in Dark Bay walked in. Ross Howell was an out of towner, A city guy, but fortunately not rude about it. ‘Morning, Ross, any cats stuck up a tree today?’ Mr. Ravner thought he was being clever with his remark. Ross Howell took it with a grain of salt, laughed and replied ‘Yep, We had one call early this morning, your wife called and reported your new kitten climbed up on the roof of the house!’ The two men laughed (as they both knew that Robert Ravner hated cats) ‘How can I help you today, Ross?’ said Ravner as he choked on the butt of his Camel brand cigarette ‘Well, that’s the thing, Bob, I was kind of hoping you could help me’ A very serious look came over the officers face ‘ Ravner had never seen this look on the officers face, there isn’t much serious crime in Dark Bay. A little shoplifting, a drunken scuffle here and there. That’s when the distinct smell of burning wood crossed Ravner’s nose.


Emiliana arrived home in record time as she was worried about her mother’s condition and finally getting some food into her would hopefully help mend her condition. She began to cook her Mother and Father’s favourite dish, Cheese omelettes. She had learned to cook this dish on her own when she was very young, Self taught. She wasn’t quite sure if her Mother and Father actually liked omelettes that much or they were just proud of the fact she learned to make them when she could barely reach the stove top. She finished the omelettes and brought two plates to the master bedroom ‘Mother, Father, your food is ready, just the way you like it!’ Silence. ‘Father?’ piercing silence ‘I’ll just leave these by the door, then! I’ll see you later tonight, I’m off to work’ Emiliana made her living by cleaning the church from top to bottom before and after every service, and, according to the townsfolk, the church was the cleanest church they had ever seen. She set out in the early morning sun, part of her knowing what was about to transpire.


The smell of smoke whipped across Robert Ravner’s nose like when your grandmother was baking fresh bread and you walked in the front door for a Sunday visit. ‘Help you? Replied Bob Ravner, nervously (he was convinced someone reported that bottle of whiskey he always had behind the cash) The officer kept his stern expression and after a moment spoke up ‘Yes, Bob. It seems that someone lit a fire at the church this morning, half of the building is gone and we have crews coming from every town around to try and get control of it. Have you seen anyone suspicious today? Anyone buying gasoline or anything like that?’ Bob Ravner was dumbfounded, ‘uhhhhhhhh’ he stuttered ‘I don’t think so, well, my only customer was Emiliana Browne and she was just picking up a few grocery items’ ‘Emiliana Browne?’ Bob Ravner didn’t think the officer’s face could get any more serious, but it did. ‘Look, Bob, close up shop, we have to get up there, we could use every hand we could get’ A radio call from his patrol car that Bob Ravner could not quite understand had come through, and now the officer was in a complete panic, The men dashed from the tiny shop and into the morning sun to see something neither of them thought was impossible.


Emiliana walked toward the church, only stopping to pick some berries, she heard the distinct sounds of sirens coming from over the big hill that separated the Browne family home and the church. She reached the top of the hill and upon looking out over the valley, saw something she was very disappointed in, only half the town was burning. The church was nearly gone and there were firefighters surrounding it trying to distinguish what she had started ‘They are ruining everything!!’ she screamed to herself. She began a full sprint down the hill, reaching the churchyard just in time to see the entire structure collapse, at that moment, Bob Ravner and Ross Howell pulled onto the scene. The officer approached Emiliana and with a quivering voice said ‘Ms. Browne, we need to see your Father, right now, I know your Mother is sick, but if this fire keeps moving it will soon go beyond the hill and consume the rest of the town!! Go, now!’ Emiliana looked at the ground for a brief moment, in deep thought. Finally with an icy stare, she responded ‘Haven’t you wondered why there hasn’t been a service in weeks? Mother and Father were inside the church, I murdered them quite a while ago, and now, the rest of this town can start anew. Oh, and officer, My Mother and Father were allergic to eggs, But, I love them…