My eyes sting so badly I’m squinting, and thick snot is running down my face. Or maybe it’s tears. I stand up and slam my shoulder into the door while holding the knob, but I just bounce. It’s not going to budge.
I turn to the big triangular window, my mind frantic, but what I see makes me scream.
Bright red flames dance just out of sight, and black smoke billows from below.
I’m surrounded.
How long until the fire eats through my bedroom walls?
I have to break the window and jump, before the fire gets any closer. Before the smoke kills me.
Where is the fire department?
Linden.
I choke out a sob.
I’m sorry you were alone with this for so long.
My sobs turn frantic.Linden, I need you!
He has to be coming. How could he not be coming to help me? My house is ten minutes from town. How long has the fire been burning? He should be here by now!
Panicking, I search my room for something heavy enough to break the window. The smoke layer is only a few feet above the floor, like a flood in reverse. I can’t breathe. Or see. On my way to the other side of the bed, I trip over the rug, cracking my shoulder on the dresser. I manage to get to my knees, keeping the t-shirt on my face, my sweaty fingers slipping on the wood. I try to breathe shallow but my breaths are so ragged and I’m sobbing as I grope for something in here that’s heavy enough to break the window. There’s so much snot and tears on my cheeks and I’m sobbing into the t-shirt.
The high-pitched whine of a siren cuts through the roar of the flames and the desperate gulping of my breaths.
He’s here.
The relief only makes me cry harder. He’s so close, but I’m trapped. How do I tell him where to find me?
If only I had my phone!
A memory flickers to life—Linden carrying my bedside table. I lunge for it, wrap my hands around the top edge, and lift it. Before I lose my nerve, I swing it back, then hurl it with all my strength at the window.
Glass explodes, and a gust of cold air rushes past me. It must do something to the dynamic of the fire because there’s a roar behind me, like the fire is eating toward this new source of oxygen. I can breathe for one precious second, and then the smoke is back, filling my room.
The sirens get louder, but so does the roar of the flames behind me. I wrap my hand in the t-shirt and pound off the jagged remnants of the window so I can climb over it without eviscerating myself. Giant orange flames lick up the exterior from below. It’s so hot my face feels blistered. I need to jump,but it’s a twenty foot drop to the gravel. It’s going to break both my legs.
But there’s fire dancing all around me. I’ll die if I don’t jump.
A siren wails. Through the smoke, red lights flash.
He’s close.
I peer out my window. My hair sizzles. I’m on fire! Screaming, I swat at my hair. The flames go out but a searing pain tears at my skin.
I glance over my shoulder, then wish I hadn’t. My door is engulfed in flames. It’s like something out of a horror movie.
The big, red fire engine stops below me, facing my house. Firefighters jump out.
“Up here!” I yell.
A firefighter looks up. He’s dressed in a thick tan coat and a black helmet, a giant pack on his back.
It’s Linden.
I fall to my knees and grip the windowsill. Can he see that we’re out of time?
