In Rubber Clay Town, all the buildings are made of rubber clay, and since the town’s founding, there has never been a fire. However, despite this, the town still has a fire department.
The fire department has two fire trucks: an old one named “Big An” and a newer one named “Little An,” who had just reported for duty.
Since there was no need to worry about a fire breaking out, many of the town’s residents thought that the fire department was unnecessary. Several people had protested about this in the past, and today, at the front of the crowd was a gentleman wearing a bow tie, shouting, “It’s unfair to keep these two lazy bums around and make everyone pay for them when they don’t do any work!”
“Exactly! We might as well sell them and use the money to give some benefits to the townspeople!” someone else in the crowd chimed in.
“Rather than selling them, why not put them to good use?” The bow-tied man pulled out a gleaming gold business card from his pocket. “Leaving these two fire trucks here is such a waste. I’d like to take them back and use them as mail trucks.”
Inside the fire station, Little An heard everything loud and clear and was fuming with anger. But Big An said, “Let them say whatever they want…”
Little An was still fuming and couldn’t calm down. Every day, it would practice fire drills, and afterward, it would lean against the window, staring at the street. It was always on high alert, ready to respond to a fire at a moment’s notice. However, every day it would return inside with a look of disappointment.
“My dear comrade, wanting to put out fires is, of course, a good thing, but preventing them is even more important. Look, here’s some new equipment for you. Starting tonight, you’ll be in charge of patrolling the streets,” Big An suggested, thinking that keeping Little An busy might help ease its frustration.
“You’re absolutely right! How did I not think of that before?” Excited, Little An strapped on a water hose and ladder and rushed out, its flashing siren illuminating the streets.
Although it still didn’t encounter any fires, Little An was no longer disappointed because it was finally busy running around.
No fire… still no fire… Every time the sun rose, Little An would return to the fire station feeling disappointed.
One afternoon, after a nap, Little An woke up to find a mail truck beside it. Upon closer inspection, it realized it was Big An.
Big An drove away, leaving Little An alone in the fire station. It felt a sense of emptiness.
Since this town will never need a fire department, why should I stay here? Little An tidied up the room, closed the door, and turned off the red light atop the fire station.
Little An was leaving Rubber Clay Town.
It traveled along a dark road, not knowing where it was going.
Suddenly, a dark figure approached from behind. “Do you think you can be a firefighter if you run away like this? No wonder people laugh at you,” said Big An.
“Not having a fire to fight is the greatest achievement a firefighter can have in their lifetime.” Big An explained that the fire alarm light on the top floor had never actually been turned off. “People don’t say it out loud, but they sleep soundly because they know they can always see that light.”
Big An continued, “Come back with me. There are actually many things to do while on patrol.” Little An began to feel a bit uneasy. Could it be that there were many things it hadn’t noticed before?
When they returned to the fire station, Little An saw a crowd gathered in front of their home again, with two horse-drawn carriages parked nearby.
“You couldn’t even be reached by phone. Where have you been in the middle of the night? We’re feeding you for nothing!” It was the bow-tied man again, leading the crowd in the middle of the night. But then again, it seemed that the red light on the roof really did have a special meaning for everyone.
“We’re sorry. Little An and I went to the forest for a fire drill.” As soon as Big An finished unloading the equipment, it went upstairs and turned the red light back on.
The next day, the bow-tied man showed up again. “Haven’t you noticed that the reservoir is about to overflow?”
“We’ll go there right away.” Big An smiled, turned on the siren, and headed toward the reservoir. Little An followed closely behind.
The reservoir wasn’t actually full, but Big An still diligently set up hoses and began draining the water. At first, Little An pouted, but it soon joined in, and a small fish even slipped into its belly, tickling it. “Don’t you find that bow-tied man annoying?” Big An asked as it helped scratch Little An’s itch.
“Of course! He’s always looking for trouble. He’s so annoying,” Little An replied.
“No, you’re wrong,” Big An said. “I used to find him annoying too. But later, I realized he doesn’t really want to get rid of us. He’s just worried we’ll get bored and leave this town, so he deliberately finds things for us to do.”
So that’s what it was all about, Little An finally understood. No wonder he had people bring out horse-drawn carriages to chase after them on the night the siren went out.
A few days later, Big An was set to retire. Little An felt a bit reluctant, but it knew it couldn’t leave the town now because it understood that the responsibility of protecting the town had now fallen squarely on its shoulders.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
