Going Up in Smoke

I See Fire

Flashback:

She could feel the heat creeping slowly across her body, the thick smoke blinding her.

"Mom! Dad!" she screamed, but no one answered her cry for help.

Her bedroom was partially intact, the wallpaper peeling off the wall and her bed collapsed by boards falling from the ceiling. She looked back as something caught her eye. The journal her parents gave her for her sixteenth birthday still sat on her desk, unopened. She ran towards the desk, quickly grabbing the book. Before she could get back across the room, a crash echoed through the walls and she was struck down by the ceiling crumbling on top of her. She felt her body hit the ground and her leg was pinned by a large piece of metal. She saw the blood pouring down her face, most likely having been cut by something near by. She was in too much shock to notice. Her leg was in excrutiating pain, and she could not move.

"Help! Anyone, please help!" she shouted, hoping anyone would hear her.

"Ellie!" she heard a muffled yell across the hall.

The voice was distant, but familiar. She immediately recognized her father's voice.

"Dad! In here!" she cried.

Through the flames, she saw a figure approach her slowly. As the figure got closer, she saw their shoes. They were a beaten pair of Nike's and they were most definitely not her father's. A hand reached down to pull her out. As the face of this person inched closer, she knew he was not her father. He was too young. The only thing she could see clearly through the fog in the room were the shoes on the ground and the stranger's outstretched palm. He spoke softly.

"Eliryn I know you're scared, but you are going to be just fine. Hold on, I'll get you out of here."

She opened her mouth to speak, but before a word could escape her lips, she felt her mind grow dizzy. The last thing she saw was the stranger lifting the metal off her leg. She succumbed to the darkness, her head hitting the floor with a thunk.

Eliryn remembered the day her life changed completely like it was yesterday. She still had nightmares about that night and she feared they would never go away. Every detail was etched into her memory, a permanent scar she could never remove.