I felt the heat of the flames press against my cheeks.
The raging inferno that was my house stood in front of me like a final boss. But it was a final boss I was ready to tackle, even if it meant my death. The unpredictable pattern of the flames was enough to deter anyone stupid enough to challenge it.
Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to challenge it.
As I faced the flame, I felt my instincts screaming at me to turn back. But I pushed on; I came so far, I couldn’t stop now.
I saw that one of the front windows had been shattered, and luckily it was the right size for my body to slip through. To my luck, there wasn’t much flame on my end but the smoke was terrible. I covered up my nose and mouth with my hoodie and began my hopefully-not-useless search for my family.
The air was thick with smoke and it was hard to see, but I could hear the sounds of crackling wood and things falling apart. It felt like I was wandering through a nightmare, with every step bringing me closer to danger.
My heart raced as I called out for my family, hoping that someone would hear me. But the only response I got was the sound of flames licking at the walls.
I stumbled over something and looked down to see a charred piece of wood. My eyes widened as I realized that I was walking over what used to be my home.
The thought of my family being trapped inside made my stomach drop. I had to find them. I had to save them.
I continued to search through the flames, feeling the heat and smoke suffocating me. My eyes stung and watered, but I refused to give up.
“MARY, MOM, ARE YOU THERE!?” I called out.
I realized how stupid it was of me to be wasting oxygen screaming, but at this point my fight or flight was kicking it. My house wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either. My family had to be close, they just had to be.
Lo and behold, I heard what could be human whimpering: female whimpering. I focused all my senses on hearing and tried to gauge what direction I heard the sound come from. Unfortunately, I picked up on it too late and had lost it.
That’s when I started feeling my skin burn.
It felt like a thousand hot irons was being applied at maximum force at my skin. I would’ve screamed had it not been for the smoke choking me everytime I tried to open my mouth. The pain was too great and I collapsed onto the floor; I really am going to die, like an idiot no less.
“Martin…?”
The sound of another human’s voice sent me into high alert, enough for me to see through the pain and find who it was. I looked around the burning landscape that was my living room, but could I couldn’t really find anyone. Was I just hallucinating during my final moments?
Suddenly I felt a delicate little finger touch my right arm. Even through the searing pain, I knew exactly who it was.
“Mary…” I said weakly. “You’re alive…”
Like me, she was sprawled on the floor and by some miracle, her burns and injuries didn’t look serious. A bit of flesh had been burned off her right cheek but from what I could tell, she looked like she could make a speedy recovery.
I, however, could feel myself wasting away from these flames. But this was about saving her and my mother, not about me.
With what little strength I had left, I pulled Mary close to me and hugged her; a desperate attempt to shield her from the fire.
“Where’s Mom?” I asked, my voice and deep raspy.
With a shaky breath, Mary responded. “She’s not here. I was home alone.”
Perfect, all I need to do is rescue her and we’re Gucci. I racked my brain, which was already overloaded due to the excessive amount of pain I was feeling. All I could see was fire, the color orange, and my sister.
‘I need a way out,’ I thought to myself. Then it clicked. ‘Wait, how’d I get in here in the first place? Wait, the window!’
At this point, my body stopped responding to the pain of being burnt alive. As much as I’d like to think that this was a good thing, I already knew from several biology lessons and Dateline episodes that this was very, vey bad.
I weakly attempted to wake up my sister, who at this point might have had it worst than me. I shook her tiny body, praying she was still alive. I couldn’t cry anymore; my brain was at a point where all it was focusing on was saving my sister. It couldn’t think about anything more than that.
To my utmost joy, Mary opened her eye and gripped my shirt. She uttered a single prase.
“I don’t want to die.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you…out of here…” I said. I
took a deep breath, gathering all the strength I had left. “And I won’t die either, okay? We’re getting out of here together.”
Mary nodded, tears streaming down her face. I could feel her trembling in my arms as I struggled to stand up, my legs weak and shaky. I gritted my teeth, using every ounce of willpower to push through the pain and get us both to safety.
With Mary in my arms, I stumbled towards the window I had come through earlier. The heat was intense, and I could feel the flames licking at my back. But I kept going, determined to get us both out of there alive.
As we reached the window, I could feel my strength failing me. But I refused to give up. I took a deep breath and threw Mary out of the window, hoping she would land safely on the ground outside.
“Martin, come on!” Mary yelled from outside.
I couldn’t come out even if I wanted to. I had used up every last bit of strength throwing her out the window. I fell to my knees and began coughing up blood, so much blood. My insides felt like they’re being boiled, and I completely fell to the ground.
“MARTIN! MARTIN!!”
Mary’s screams of agony became more and more distant; a clear sign I was losing consciousness. My vision became more and more blurry, and I lost all feelings in my legs. I couldn’t even move my head anymore. The only part of my body I could move was my right hand.
I looked at my right hand; it was now reduced to near bone. I wanted to cry; because I wanted to be a hero, because I wanted to prove something, I was going to die.
I felt my eyelids grow heavy, if I even had eyelids anymore. I was so tired, my body felt like a living corpse. I felt the flames creep up on me, consuming the flesh off my body.I just wanted it all to end, for some peace and quiet.
Is that so wrong.
