One evening last autumn, while Marcos, 15, did his homework and his father, Frank, 47, prepared lesson plans, they heard screaming outside. It was from one of their neighbors, the Smith family. Then Marcos' eye was caught by a glow (火光) from there.
"The house's on fire!" Marcos cried. Wearing only in shorts, the barefoot (光脚的) teen ran out with his dad. When they got there, Grandmother Mary, mother Susan, and son Nathan were crying for help. Through the open front door, father Alex was staggering (磕磕绊绊) down the stairs, coughing heavily.
"Anyone else in it?" Frank asked.
"My son!" Alex pointed to the second floor.
Frank started up the stairs, but smoke and heat forced him to his knees. He crawled (爬) upstairs and down the hall where Alex said he would find Cody, 8, who had locked himself in a bedroom. Frank tried hard to open the door. But Cody made no reply, and Frank had to make his way back downstairs. At the same time, Marcos saw Mary and Susan pulling a ladder, shouting: "Cody is at the window!"
Marcos then placed the ladder near the window and climbed up. When Marcos reached the window, he pushed the screen into the room and managed to coax (哄) Cody out. Holding Cody with one arm, Marcos slowly climbed down the ladder. Cody was quickly sent to a nearby hospital, where he's treated for smoke inhalation (吸入).
"You just don't see a teenager have that kind of braveness," said people around.
