The Society

Chapter 3

I wake up to someone shaking me. It's so dark that I can hardly make out who it is. It's a women with short hair and a similar shape to me, my mother.

"Aurora get up! Fire!" she yells. I can hear the utter panic in her voice as she shakes me hard.

"What?" My voice is groggy and slow, as well as my mind.

"Fire!" She yells louder than last time right in my face. Right then I smell a wiff of smoke and my room brightens. My eyes widen as I jump up out of my bed and whip around only to see the house across the street burst up in flames. I can feel the heat through my open window.

"Where's Jacob and Dad?!" My heart is beating a million miles an hour and I can hear the blood pounding in my head again, probably from getting up to fast or the fact that I am so scared. Either way it doesn't matter. The only thing that I care about right now is where my family is and the fact that any second my house could explode into a firey ball of heat and well... fire.

"They are safe," she says and my heart slows down. They are safe, thank goodness. She continues, "at the open area next to the fence with everyone else in the neighborhood. Grab anything you can manage to save. The fire is spreading quickly."

She runs out of the room to save what little she can. She is so fragile and weak; I can't imagine her being able to carry much. As soon as I can, I run to my closet to grab the biggest bag I can find. I find my photo albums, my memory box and papers. I don't know what the papers have written on them, but I don't want to know until I have time. It's hard to see in just the light of the burning house across the street through my window, so what ever my hand can find I throw it in my bag. My heart is racing and I am trying my best not to fall into full fledged panic. All I can hear is my mothers voice in my head telling me grab anything, they are safe. My family is safe, but what am I? I'm alone in a closed off bedroom with a massive house burning to the ground fifty yards away. The fire feels like its in my room burning my back.

I glance out my window only to see an ember fly off the burning house onto my front yard. A bush erupts into flames and I scream. In my train of thought I dropped my bag. I lurch for it and at the last minute grab my book as well. I shoot out the door running faster than I have ever ran before. My breath strained with the smoke and speed, but I don't slow. I turn the corner of the hall way and scurry down the stairs. My bag flies behind me and as I jump off the last few steps to the bottom floor.

I can't help but cough because of all the smoke filling my house. The fire is less than a foot away from my front wall and the heat is unbearable. I stumble to the door, short of breathe and weak. My hand feels for the door knob and I get a grip on it. I have never experienced a fire so close to me or even gone through fire safety. All I know is what I my instincts tell me to do. I try to stay low to the ground because it seems to be easier to breathe down there. The coughing has become constant and unstoppable. My vision starts to go black at the edges and my throat feels raw. My chest aches and the smoke sticks to my skin. My eyes are still puffy from all my crying. My life just went from perfect to a living nightmare in the matter of minutes, and I can't do a single thing about it.

I finally gain enough strength to turn the old, squeaky door knob belonging to our front door. It's pitch black outside as usual along with an added unusual orange glow casting over the neighborhood. My peripheral vision has left me completely now. I gulp, hard, to keep my self from screaming. My feet feel heavy and my head's faint. I vaguely hear footsteps of someone running behind me. I slow down a bit, still running down my windy drive way to the wide road, and turn my head to get a glimpse of who it is. The smoke makes it hazy and barely visible, but I see my mother's shape carrying something. It looks like a large bag, which I would expect her to be carrying right now. The wind pushes my hair into my face as I am turned around. I flip my head forward again. I'm coughing wildly, and my legs burn more than ever. Who know I could ever run this fast so far!