Through Clouded Glass

Almost Home

I could feel my breaths, short and shallow, catching in my throat with every gasp I took. The more I tried to breathe, the more I choked on my only lifeline. My chest would rise and fall, but to no avail. My eyes burned intensely and I could feel hot tears cascading down my cheeks in waves, washing away the soot and grime caked against my skin.

My lungs ached and protested in anguish as I inhaled more thick, black smoke. It felt as though ashes were weighing down my chest, collecting in the bottom of my lungs and dragging me down to the ground beneath my weak body. The ashes seemed to engulf the small amounts of oxygen I was able take in and absorb it for its own selfish needs.

It felt as though an inferno singed my throat with every cough, heaving my chest up and down forcefully and burning my insides raw. It was as if the flames in front of me were eating away at my insides, swallowing me whole as their fiery tendrils tore at my body from every direction.

I could hear the raging fire roaring with a mighty prowess, crackling as it destroyed everything in its path, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake.

Flames licked at my body, the pain so intense I could feel nothing but a stinging numbness as my skin blistered immediately.

Though my sight was limited, I crawled limply across the floor, painfully scraping my skin against the aged wood as I tried to find an escape. I could feel splinters shredding my legs to ribbons, but I knew those deep lacerations would not matter if I didn't make it out of here.

Reaching forward over a small patch of fire, I could feel a heavy wooden object. Disregarding any and all fire protocol, I assumed it was a door and frantically used my hands to blindly search for a handle. When my skin met with the ever increasingly hot metal of the door handle, I turned with all of the strength I had left in me, but it didn't budge.

I took but a second to recover before I tried again, focusing all of my strength into my muscles and turning with all of the force I had. I could feel my muscles burning and my arms caving under my weight. It was now or never.

I pushed hard.

Nothing.

Pulled even harder.

Nothing.

No matter how much I fought the internal struggle, my arms gave out and I collapsed completely, landing in a disheveled heap, surrounded by a towering inferno.

A loud crack radiated throughout the building as a board came down from above, the unnerving crash echoing above the chaos. Just like the simple tabletop game, with the removal of one piece comes the downfall of all others.

I crouched as close as I could to the door and watched in horror as the ceiling caved, sagging unnaturally for a moment before dissipating and disintegrating into large pieces. The entire ceiling above me collapsed and fell rapidly to the floor, busting through the burning boards and continuing its descent to the bottom floor.

I took in wheezing breaths, suffocating and coughing in a fit of panic and adrenaline. Mustering all of my strength, I pulled myself to my feet and pounded hard against the door. The most I could do was heave my body weight against the wood, trying so desperately to get it to budge. My legs gave way and I collapsed onto my bloody knees, but I continued to forcefully bang on the door with everything I had.

The sounds of chaos rang out in a symphonic yet terrifying harmony all around, echoing in my ears and swallowing me whole. The roaring flames mixed with the crackle of fire, crashes of falling objects melted with the heavy drum of my desperate pleading to escape. My wheezing efforts to breathe intermixed with dispersions of hacking coughs.