It must have been in the early 1950's, we lived ten miles northwest of TULSA, OKLA. on an oil lease that my dad worked on. He would walk to each oilwell and check to see if thay were pumping ok, there must have been fourteen or so of them. Some times he would take my brother and I and we would trail behind him at a slow trot. It must have been late spring. I can remember the mornings being chilly and the new leafs on the trees.

One morning daddy tooK my brother and I with him as he make his rounds, as we walked back to the house down the old road that wound down the side of bold hill. Witch was named so because there were no tress that grew on top of it. As we came to the bottom we had about a quarter mile to go to get back home, when my dad lead us off the road and into a small dry creek bed and a persimmon thicket. And lifted brother and I up on one of the persimmon trees limbs and told us that the big brahma bull was just down the creek and to stay in the tree untill he got back. We could see the house from the tree and could see no cows or the bull he was talking about. Daddy walked back to the road and then to the house, and then around it several times and then went to the back of the house where I could no longer see him, and stayed there for what seemed a haft hour or so. And then he came walking back up the old road retreved brother and I from the tree, and we all walked back to the house. I have never been able to figure out what it was all about, unless it has somthing to do with the rest of the story.

I do remember the time we had gone to town. I cant remember where we had been, and Daddy had gotten drunk and Moma, I my brother and sisters, where going back home in the 1940 somthing black car. And Daddy had seen the big gray humped back brahma bull not far off the old dusty road that lead to the house. He had pulled the car so the headlights were shinning on the big bull. He got out of the car, curseing and yelling somthing I dont remember what. And started walking towards the animal. Momma was yelling for him to get back in the car and of course he ignored her, so she was trying to calm brother and I down becouse we were yelling and crying, becouse we new somthing bad was about to happen,. But we didn't know what.

The big bull stoud fast, head down snorting and blowing with red eyes glowing like fire balls in the night from the headlights of the car, I could see the big hump on his back swaying from side to side between the two big horns as he kicked up clouds of dust with his front hooves. Daddy walk steadly twards him, curseing all the time. Walked straght up to the bull calmly patted the large animal on the head a few times and walked back to the car and drove home.

The old house was a nice one as I remember, nothing fancy, a big front room and two bed rooms and a kitchen with new stove, refrigirater and new livingroom furnature. It had a nice big finced yard and nice shade trees. Carl and I had gotton trycycle's, wagons and a big swing set to play on. I remember standing in the yard one day and seeing a gigantic blimp flying west. It must have been a mile high and a thousand feet long. While not making a sound it took forever to pass beowned the hills to the west of the house.

Daddy had a big dog pin in the back yard, and at one time had as meny as thirteen hunting dogs in it. I remember staying up after dark when we had compony, and everyone setting out side in the cool of the evening and listening to the dogs bark and howell at the racoon's and other wild game thay would chase up and down the creeks and hollows.

There was an engine house, or what thay call a powerhouse maybe a hundered feet from the house we lived in. This powerhouse had a big one cylinder natural gas engine with two flywheels that where six or seven feet tall, and made a very loud pop,pop,pop, sound about every second or two. The engine was connnected to a very big band wheel that was lying horizontal in the back of the powerhouse and it must have been thirty feet across. It was connected to steel rods that where about three quarts of an inch in diamater and thirty feet long, connected end to end and led to each oil well and made them go up and down to pump the oil.

Yelling, screaming, glass braking. I woke up, laying in a big bed with my brother and sisters. The front room light was on. Momma and Daddy was fighting about somthing. The light was flickering from the generator out in the powerhouse,.Was that what was wrong? Momma came into the bedroom carring my youngest sister and lay her next to me. I raised up. Momma told me to lay back down that every thing was allright. More yelling. I herd Momma cry out in pain. What was happening I wonderd. Momma came back into the bedroom and set on the edge of the bed crying. Daddy came to the bedroom door and told her not to move. He had a arm load of diapers or news papers or somthing white. And he had gone into the kitchin. I heard the kitchen stove rattle, Momma jumped up and ran to the kitchen Daddy yelled at her. She ran back to the bedroom and started pickiing up the babbys, and told me to come with her. I jumped out of bed, there was Daddy standing in the doorway with somthing in his hand. All I could see of him was the dark silhouette.

Was it a gun or a pipe or baseball bat. He told Momma to stay there and not move untill he told her to. He went back to the kitchin. Was it the light bulb from the frountroom making the funny danceing orange pattern on the wall. There was smoke lots of smoke, coming in the top of the door. The house was on fire,

I could see the flames now, lapping at the top of the bedroom door. Momma I gess desided to make a brake for it. I was hot on her heels. I could feel the heat from the fire as I ran though the old house. Daddy met her at the front door and told her to stay in the front yard. Every thing had shadows, black and white was all I could see. The flames where coming out the windows now. I could still feel the heat from the fire but why was I so cold? I was in my PJ's but had no shoes. Momma had none eather. The hole house was in flames now as Daddy came over to us and told Momma to get in the car and go next door and get some help and not to say enything about what had happen.

She put us in the car and did what he said. I dont know how she drove shaking so bad, and with tears in her eyes. I could see the flames reaching into the sky from a mile away.

When we got back with the man from down the road the house was gone. Daddy was standing out front with his hands burnt. He told the man he had gone back in the house and tryed to same things. And he thought that the gas piolet on the kitchen stove had coused the fire. Every thing was gone even the swing set and trycycles had melted. We had no clothes food or babby diapers or nothing. Every one belived Daddy's story about the stove, but Momma and I knew what had happen, and I was so scared I will never forget that night.