Her laugh is the best thing the world has ever created. It was the first sound I ever heard, and it was the sound that kept me going. She turns to me still laughing and says something I can't quiet hear. Shadows obscure every part of her face besides her smile, but I can picture the rest as clear as day. Her hand stretches toward me, and I reach out to grasp it, but suddenly she's gone. Hidden behind a wall of flames. All I hear is screaming. Screaming screaming screaming! I can't escape! I spin in a circle, but I'm completely encased in a ring of fire. I can feel the heat burning my skin as I try to get out. I'm screaming her name, Pleading with her to help, but her voices has vanished from the cries of the others. Charred hands appear out of the blaze, snatching at me, trying to pull me into the fire, and I scream with all the breath in my lungs, trying to pull out of their grasp, but they won't let go, they won't let go, they won't let-
I bolt up-right gasping for breath. My lungs can't seem to get enough air. I can still feel the flickering flames, feel their heat. It's hot. really hot. It shouldn't be this hot. I jump to my feet and race for the entrance to the "room" and skid to a halt. Fire. It's real. It wasn't a dream! The flames start at the edge of the hill and are nearly to my shelter. It's raining, but not hard enough to put out the flames. I bolt back inside and gather my things. Turning back to the fire I see it's reached the entrance. The heat is unbearable now. I move toward the very back of the room, trying to find a weak spot, trying to find a way out! I can't die here, I can't! Please please please! Please let me out! I'm screaming it, but I can't hear my voice. I can't hear anything because I didn't have time to put my hearing aids in. Fire is much more unsettling when you can't hear it. It continues to creep silently toward me, and i feel my back start to blister. I pound on the wall, using my knife to try to get some more force behind my blows. The wall starts to give, and I strike harder, smashing my way through the plaster until I make a hole large enough for my to fit through. I shove my pack out and start to climb out when a flames lick my back. I scream, pain blinding me, as I fall through the wall. I land on my stomach, and I push myself up, grabbing my pack and stumbling blindly up the hill. It's raining harder than before, and the fire hisses as the rain hits it. It stops trying to pursue me out of the room and hovers there whipping angrily back and forth as it watches me go with glaring eyes. I make it to the top of the hill before my knees collapse under me.
I lie there for a minute catching my breath. My back screams at me, angry blisters already appearing on my skin. I need to treat them, I know, but I don't have anything to treat burns with.
I force myself up, and stumble to the bottom of the other side, where I can see a stream. I drop to my knees beside in and plunge my hands in, hissing in pain as the cold water clashed with the burns I got from holding my knife. After cleaning my hands as best I could, I drank my fill and dampened some bandages to put on my back. Peeling my shirt off, I see that the fire burned the back almost completely off, and I can feel some bits melted to my skin. The cold rain still falling hitting my burns hurts so bad I want to pass out. I grit my teeth, trying to position the bandages to cover the worst of the burns without being able to see them. I scream through my teeth as I apply the cloth to my skin. I wrap them around my torso twice before the pain gets to be too much. I'm on my hands and knees, Gasping for breath, tears stinging my eyes and smoke burning my lungs. I don't knw anything about fires. I could have severe damage to my lungs and not know. At least then my journey would be over sooner than expected. I gag, trying to force myself up, but I can't. I collapse to the ground, gasping as my back hits the pebbles on the stream bank. I don't have enough energy to scream anymore. I stare at the sky, watching the stars shine so beautifully above me. The water from the stream laps against my right side as the rain mingles with the tears of exhaustion and pain on my face. I wonder how the fire started. It doesn't make any sense, It was raining when it started. If it starts again, or a new one comes, it's over. I curse myself for not making it farther away before stopping, but I know I wouldn't have made it very far anyway. The stars start to disappear, and I can't fight the darkness taking over my mind. My last thought before everything goes dark is wondering if the little room I was in felt any pain as the fire devoured it.
