Flame

Chapter 2

Katerina Elise, that was the name of the lady who screamed. She was sitting in the VIP section close to the back stage area. She was a very influential designer in the fashion industry. When she speaks, everybody listens. First we heard her screaming, then the people around her began to panic wildly. It wasn’t long before everyone was panicking and trying to leave to event hall. 

Everyone was panicking because the backstage area had caught fire. I got up and started towards the nearest exit. Now the flames were moving on to the silk curtains from backstage and onto the canopy overhead. The smoke began to sting my eyes and I was being smothered by the large crowd trying to get out. I clung on to my purse and kept walking. Slowly I was being pushed closer to the runway. This was bad. 

Now the smoke was in everybody’s lungs and people were screaming and pushing wildly to get out. I’m not sure how it happen but somehow I ended up losing my purse. Oh well, as long as I get out alive. Suddenly, I felt a burst of heat behind be on my left. I craned my neck and saw that the beginning of the runway had caught fire and the flames were moving closer my way.

I looked around me. People looked so different in the light of the flames. The most striking thing about everyone was their eyes. They were all the same: large and scared. I realized that in these moments everyone, actors, designers, company owners, security, we were all the same. We were all scared human beings fighting to stay alive. 

When I would look into some ones eyes, I would see who they were fighting for. Sometimes it would be their mothers, their company, oddly enough there was one lady who was fighting to stay alive for her dog, but most of the time they would be fighting to stay alive for their family. 

The flames were getting closer to me. I don’t know when it started but I discovered that I was crying. The person behind me clumsily stepped on my dress, even though I was holding it up, and I lurched forward and hit my head on the runway. My vision blurred and I could barely breath because of the smoke. I had the sensation that I was spinning even though I was on my knees. I tried to get up but I discovered that I couldn’t. I grabbed onto a mans sleeve aking him to help me but he continued moving through the crowd without even looking at me. I tried to get up again and almost succeeded but ended up being pushed again and falling onto my back. The last thing I remember was the runway beside me being engulfed in flames and the pounding music still playing, drowning out any other thoughts in my head.