I think the house was blue. Or maybe it was red. I can't really remember, I never payed that much attention to it. Not untill it was gone.
I was about nine years old at the time. It was summer, and the school was finally out. Now, everywhere else those would have been the happiest and the most exiting days to be a child, but it just so happened that we lived in a very small town (well, not even a town really, but a village) and the most exiting things that ever happened there were the days it rained. At least then you had an exuse for not being able to do anything.
And we had a lot of those days that summer. And even when it didn't rain, the air was dripping wet. And I remember thinking that if the clouds would ever scatter and the sun would come out, the whole village would soon start to bubble and boil.
And it did. The very first hot day that summer. The day we saw the dark smoke in the sky.
Olli and I were at the frog pond. We were building "The Frog World". We made little dams and little rivers, and small mud castles where the frogs could live, and we hoped that it would grow in to a great civilization, which Gods we would then be.
Olli saw the smoke first. It came from somewhere behind the pond, at the edge of the village, and we were a little baffled because neither of us remembered that anyone ever lived there. Or that there even were any houses near there.
- But something is definitely burning there, Olli said. - Let's go have a look!

There wasn't much left of the house when we arrived there. A charred chimney that stood alone in the middle of burned, black rubble. Something that could have been a child's bed or a small table, and something that looked like parts of toys or maybe some kind of tools.
- Who's house was this? I asked Olli.
- I don't know, Olli said and shrugged his shoulders.
- What do you think happened? I asked again. - Do you think anybody... died?
- Probably, Olli said.
And all the time more and more people came, gathering around the place to see what had happened. And pretty soon the whole village was there, just standing, trying to sneak a peak inside the house that wasn't.
- Didn't that old man, who used to live near the school, just move here last month, said Mr. Fredrikson.
- I heard he was once in a mental institution, Mrs. Hilda said. - He always did seem strange to me.
- But he lived alone. I heard it was a whole family that lived here, old man Grumpy said.
- I heard somebody saw kids walking around with a canister couple nights ago, Mr. Fredrikson said.
- I know, Mrs. Hilda said. - And I warned people. I said it would mean trouble.
- Well, I'm not going to sleep well tonight, Mr. Fredrikson said. - I have a big house and a lot of valuables in there.
- Kids, Grumpy grumbled.
- But what if it was that crazy old man who did this... I mean, why would anybody do something like this?
- Trouble, Mrs. Hilda said quietly. - More trouble. Lots of trouble, I'm telling you...
- I'm afraid you're right, Mr. Fredrikson said.
And smoke was still rising from the rubble.

Nobody talked about anything else that day. It was whispered in the streets, talked about in the stores, agreed upon around coffee tables - there was a monster loose in the village. And nobody was completely safe. You could feel it everywhere. Something horrible had found it's way in to our quiet little village, and it had quickly taken a strong hold of it. More and more stories about the fire were told. Some people were sure it was a revenge, that it was something from the past. And everybody knew somebody who had seen a dark figure somewhere, standing silently, just watching their house. Children weren't allowed to go outside and play anymore, everybody locked their doors and most people stayed up whole night guarding their house, sitting on their porch, watching for shadows.
And even though the paper next morning claimed that the fire was caused by an electric failure, and that nobody had lost their lives, people were still sure there was more to the story. There had to be. Things like these just don't happen by accident. And when things like these happen, they will surely happen again.
- God, I wish they catch who ever did this, mom said while we were having breakfast.
- But I thought it was just a broken electric box, I said.
- Yes, but if it wasn't...
And right then, thankfully, the doorbell rang.
- It's Olli, I said and finished my juice quickly, jumped up from the chair and ran to the door.
- Hi, I said.
- Hi, Olli said.
- So, what do you want to do? Should we go have a look at that house again?
- Nah, Olli said tiredly. - Let's go build The Frog World. I found some tin cans that will make great towers.
- Sure, I said. - Sounds great!
I grabbed my jacket, and when I ran out the door I looked up.
- You know, I think it might start raining again...
- Good, Olli said. - That means more frogs.