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It was a quiet night out with my two friends—there were three of us in total. After spending time together, we put out our campfire, packed our things, and drove away. About half a kilometer down the road, I looked back and noticed a bright glow in the distance. It looked like a fire had broken out, so we hurried back to check.
One of my friends said, "Maybe you forgot to extinguish the fire completely?" I was sure I had, but I realized a single burning ember might have been left behind. Together, we put out the flames entirely and headed back home. Everyone went inside, and the night ended normally.
A few days later, my younger brother started saying something strange. He told us he had made a new "little friend" who kept repeating: "Your brother killed one of us, and we are going to get revenge."
We didn't take it lightly and began watching him closely. But a few days later, we lost sight of him. When we realized he wasn't at home or at any of the neighbors' houses, we panicked. We gathered our friends to search for him and notified the police.
After ten agonizing hours, the police called us. They had found a burned body in a newly constructed building and needed us to identify it. At the hospital, the doctor explained that the face was completely unrecognizable due to severe burns. He asked, "Is there any birthmark or specific detail you can identify him by?"
My mother remembered a dark mark under his knee, like a mole. My other brother added, "I gave him a bracelet just like the one on my wrist."
When we went in to examine the body, all the signs were there. Still, the doctor asked us to wait for the official verification results before jumping to conclusions. Eventually, it was confirmed to be my younger brother. My mother broke down, weeping and crying out, "What did he do to deserve this? Why punished like this?"
All of this happened because of a single forgotten ember. I caused the loss of my younger brother. Am I to blame for what happened?
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From @vortexyem