By whatever God you swore by, the noise was too much. Smoke alarms, the blaring scream of fire engines, and all the while a crying girl in my arms. Was I the only sane one, internalizing my screams? But no that probably wasn't the case. I wanted to cover my ears, but my hands were preoccupied. A little girl was clutched in them.
The neighbor next door had asked me to look after little Sasha when she had to cover shifts. It helped that I was a recluse that was always free, and I accepted payment in the form of food. That's right, the sweet nectar of the fabled shut-in, a cheeseburger with fries. My greatest weakness landed me in the situation. I probably should have asked for a double extra chocolate shake all things considered
I doubted she knew who I was, other than the quiet young woman next door. Probably desperate the first time but, Sasha and I had gotten along just fine. Eventually, it became a regular occurrence. She’d even left toys and clothes over just because it was easier. It was unlikely that she'd wanted someone like me looking after a child but what you didn't know couldn’t hurt you. Seriously, you tamper with one national news broadcast, and everyone thinks you're going to end humanity. Though right now, I’m getting dizzy.
Finding it hard to breathe, I crouched low, that's what you're supposed to do in a fire, right? Shifting Sasha to my left hand I used my right to open the window. Immediately a billow of smoke escaped. Cool fresh air gusts past, and after a few breaths my thoughts begin to return to what I consider normal operations.
The cheap tenement building I was living in was burning. Correction, we had gone past burning straight into engulfed, and we're headed dangerously close to the past tense of burned down. While I had no affection for this human-sized roach trap; it did bother me slightly that I was still inside.
Best guess, the restaurant downstairs had a grease fire and the pittance for rent hadn't included a working sprinkler system. "Convenient fried rice was not worth this hassle," I murmured under my breath. At the time I had thought it a blessing to my undercover lifestyle. Reality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A small hand clutched at my neckline, "I want to go down." Considering we were on the 6th floor of a burning building I seconded her sentiment but couldn't find a way to accommodate her without gravitational troubles.
I could feel my hair starting to curl from the heat, waves of it radiating across my back as I looked down on the crowd. The area had been cordoned off and the fire engines were just starting to get their ladders into position; it wasn't going to be soon enough. I climbed out of the window with my legs dangling over the street. I sat on the windowsill trying to put as much distance between myself and the flames as possible. There was the barest glimmer of hope that we might get out of this unscathed. From the gradual way, the heat at my back was intensifying from painful to agonizing it was unlikely.
Okay, I needed a list. Lists were my solution for everything.
Option A: A guaranteed searing agonizing death not only for myself but the understating kiddo in my charge.
Option B: A six-story drop to the pavement below, again probably death for both of us.
Even I had to admin Option B was the better of the two. ‘Probably’ sure as hell beat ‘Guaranteed’ and at least it would be quick. The sobbing girl burying her head in my bosom also made a compelling argument. Over the last six months, she had come to mean more to me than I thought she would. At first, it had been a convenient fix for fast food. Now… she was kind of like the younger sister I never had a chance to meet.
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What made up my mind was the sight of my hair burning and my sweater on fire. Already, I was gritting my teeth through the pain. And seeing my clothes on fire let me know things were not going to get better any time soon. I looked down praying for a miracle and against all hope, I found one. "Oh, like hell this is a movie!"
With that, I dropped. I tucked myself into a neat ball with Sasha at my center, angling my back downwards. After being freed from the heat the cold winter air whipping my skin felt like a soothing salve on my burns. After a second or more I made contact with the awning of the former restaurant below. In any half-baked film, I would have slowly and gradually rolled off into the arms of some rescuers. I felt the slight slowing of my momentum, then the half-burned canvas let me down. Literally.
A jarring impact, a flash of light, then quiet darkness. It was so sudden I didn't even have time for regrets. Surprisingly that pissed me off more than it should have. "Don't I have some moment where my life flashes before my eyes?"
"No. But I suppose I can give you one if you really want?"
With a sudden case of vertigo, I opened my eyes on a hazy morning. Before me stretched a picturesque view of a river with all manner of birds singing. Sitting just to my right, a woman wore a light dress patterned with pink flowers in various shades of bloom. Her dark hair was cut short framing a boyish face, well creased with laugh lines. Despite the wrinkles, her age seemed unguessable, somewhere in her early ‘20s to late ’40s. Her most captivating feature was violet eyes and as she turned to look down at me the early morning sun caught them, giving the impression of amethysts on fire. I could see so much in those eyes, and it stunned me for a breath.
I slowly sat up, unsure exactly where I ended up or who I was with.
"I don't mean to be rude here but where am I?"
"The banks of the Meuse River."
"... And how did I get here?" I Wasn't exactly unhappy not to be a squished mess or burned to a crisp but…” Sasha! The girl! Did she make it?”
“Oh yes, she has a few broken bones, but she’ll live. Well done by the way. I wasn’t actually sure you would do it until the last.”
The wave of adrenalin and subsequent relief that washed over me caused me to start shaking. I placed my face in my hands for support. Then I noticed the fat pudgy fingers and deep grooved lines in my hands.
Suddenly I looked at myself more closely, "Whose body is this?!" I had been a young woman in her mid-20s with shoulder-length brown hair, a slightly pinched face, and tidy glasses. I knew what I looked like, and this body of what appeared to be an older man was not it.
"What did you expect of me?” It was a reply filled with the joy of a hidden joke and one well played. “I am a trickster don’t you know?” All I could do is glare. Maybe the burning building would have been preferable.
“Oh, don't sweat the small stuff this is just temporary after all!" Suddenly, I caught a glint of mischief in her eyes. With a light theatrical sigh, the woman stood and graced me with a short bow. "I am a god!" She paused waiting for some sort of effect. However, all she got was mute silence.
It's not that I didn't believe she was a god, but if I had died and was going to be judged I wish she’d get on with it. This time she gave a slightly more depressed sigh, "you may call me Hermes. That's one of the names the people of this world called me long ago."
“I see… You here to judge my eternal soul or something?”
“No, no, nothing so trite. I'm actually quite depressed at losing my favorite mortal in this world. And I’ve come to a decision!” As she spoke, she looked at the ground scuffing her feet in the grass. A brief look of sadness had overtaken her face but as she finished was replaced in an instant with a broad smile.
I was at a loss for words. It felt weird moving around in a body that wasn't mine but ultimately found the strength to pull myself up to my feet. Now we were on equal footing. Actually, the body I had now is about a foot taller than hers. "Oh, and what would that be?" for some reason, my voice still sounded the same to me. I couldn't tell if it creeped me out or made me feel better.