It
took me four minutes to run to it. I was standing in front of the red
house. The people next to me were in shock. Some had dialed the
police, others just watched the flames grow higher. Was someone still
in the house? And that's when I heard the scream again. The same
shrieking scream as before. Only louder now. And it was coming from
inside the building. But everyone else just kept watching.
Ede, go inside. You need to help.
The
front door had already burned down to ashes. I sprinted inside. And
regretted it the moment I was in the house. The heat was unbearable.
I started sweating he third second I was inside. And I felt like I
couldn't breathe, as if my lungs weren't working anymore. I staggered
slowly to the stairs in front of me. The first step broke as I stood
on it. My knee scraped against the staircase as I fell to the floor.
Breathing heavily. I didn't want to move. Maybe I should of just
waited until the fireman arrived. It was a maybe anymore, I should of
just waited. Why did I have to do something so stupid? And then I
heard the scream again. It came from upstairs. It sounded like a
small child. I took a sharp breath and pulled myself up again. That
kid must have been in there longer than I and he still had enough
strength to scream. Pull yourself together. Come on. Slowly I walked
up the stairs to see two doors. Coffing loudly, I ran inside the left
one.
“Anyone...anyone
in here!” I could barely hear my voice over the roof collapsing.
With a smash I was pushed to the floor by a wooden bar. My head was
spinning; I couldn't move; I felt my heart race slower and slower; my
eye lids were closing; I can't die now. No. No. stay focused. The
kid..the kid..think about the kid...
I
woke up on the cool cement floor. There was some kind of blanket on
top of me. It was made of plastic. And then I realized it wasn't a
blanket. It was a body bag. They thought I was dead.
I
heard voices. And what sounded like a hose. The fireman must be here.
“Help!
Someone! Please! Help!” I screamed. My voice felt weird talking
again, like all the saliva had vanished from my mouth. “Please!”
The
bag unzipped quickly, and I found myself surrounded by at least five
firemen. Their eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their
sockets.
“You
didn't have a heartbeat”, one whispered.
I
stood up quickly, trying to get away from the looming eyes.
“I'm
fine”, was all I managed to say. One fireman came closer, he was
tall with blond hair, and seemed to have burned half his face.
“How
can you not have burns?”, he asked. I ignored his question and
looked at the red house. It was in ashes now. Not much of it was
left.
“The
kid? There was a kid inside. I... I went and tried to rescued him.
Where is he?”
“There
was no one inside. You were the only one”, he said gently.
“I
heard someone scream! It sounded like a child, I was... I went inside
to save him.” I looked around, maybe he had gone outside before I
had. Saved himself. But there wasn't anyone in the crowed behind the
police barricades that seemed to have been in a fire. And then I
looked down at myself. I didn't seem to have been in a fire either. I
was scruffy and dirty; my clothes were ripped apart and crisped; but
I had no burn marks.
“Let
me call your parents, okay? What's your name?”
Run,
Ede, get out of there. Now.
Lu
was right. I needed to get home. Dads couldn't see this. I looked at
the firemen, then at the house, before bolting it. I ran the rest of
the way home. My body was aching, but more like muscle pains then
anything else. And by the time I was home, ten minutes later, I felt
fine.
Points: 4906
Reviews: 95
Donate