Flickering shadows danced across lidded eyes and eyelashes fluttered as particles clung to the ends. A warm light emanating from a heat source close by, warmed the young girl’s bones as she was reluctant to open her eyes. Her mind swam with disorientation as she struggled to remember what happened. 

“Breathe”  A deeply familiar, but unrecognized voice commanded in her head, reminding her to gasp in much-needed air into her lungs. However, the particles that clung to her lashes were immediately sucked into her mouth and coughs racked her small body violently. Her blonde hair was braided tightly behind her but was so covered in dirt that the color was barely recognizable. 

Memories flashed across her mind like the visions her mother used to talk about, but this time, truth rang like a bell throughout each passing scene. 

Her name was ...

What was her name?

Was that.. ash around her? Was something on fire? 

Her small eyelids bound open as she recognized the harsh flickering of the light as the familiar shadow dance of flames. The heavy air slogged through her lungs like molasses with smoke and wound around her throat as if it wanted to squeeze out her breath. The warm sensation of sitting by a fireplace that used to bring comfort, to signify she was safe, was now a threat to her life.

Fire. 

The house was on fire. 

Understanding her situation finally hit her like a physical blow and it was all she could do not to stumble backward. Tears welled up in her eyes, both with emotion as she watched flames lick along the cottage’s wooden frames as well as the sting of the smoke. Where was her mother? Hadn’t this .. happened before? Confusion muddled her senses. 

She stumbled over the uneven boards of the common room, catching herself on the wooden table in the middle, causing the steel silverware to clank ominously against their partners. Along the far side of the room, bright orange flames kissed almost reverently against the door’s length, as if the fire had love for the old cottage, her home.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Baba? Momma?” Her voice was small and frightened and the inferno’s roar swallowed up her cry. It quavered as she frantically looked for her family. “Ari? Where are you?”

A rug with a beautiful winding blue and purple pattern settled in the center and small wooden chairs her father had made adorned the edges. The beds were little more than piles of furs on the ground with quilts hand-sewn on each one lined up along the wall to her right, three in total. One large one resided behind a divider made of wood and fur to keep out prying eyes, another smaller one that shared on the left side of the room, and one along the far wall. A sense of familiarity gripped her chest, but she could not place why.

Need to get out..I need air, she thought as her mind finally cleared enough to look for a way out. The fire roared threateningly to her right, so she veered quickly away to the left, hunched over so she could stay as low as possible, the ceiling already engulfed in black smoke. Her loose-fitting nightgown covered her young wiry frame and her bare feet slapped against the charred wooden floor as she tried to hurry along. Her foot caught on the side of the fur bed and she crashed down on her knees with a resounding *crack*. Rubble underneath her sliced into her skin and her hands came away black with soot. 

Her lips parted in a desperate cry and it morphed into a whimper of pain. She had no time to examine the damage to her knees, so in the midst of the throbbing pain, she began to crawl forward to stay low where the air was cleaner and continued creeping forward toward the back door. Her nightgown clung to her body as sweat dampened her skin from the heat, her hair half drenched and slicked to her forehead. 

Before she could reach the oddly leaning backdoor, an inhuman-like creaking and groaning sound could be heard and her eyes flicked upward in silent horror. The roof began to collapse and she threw herself forward to reach the door. Wincing as more pain wracked her fragile body as she crashed to the floor, she coughed again, violently shaking with fear. 

She glanced behind her and the inferno was growing to impossible heights, devouring her home as if it was its last meal. Turning, she pushed against the door helplessly to open to the night air ... but it did not budge. She threw her weakened body against the frame, but her efforts slowed down as her energy waned.

“Help!” She screamed with little energy she had out of the cracks in the wood, but her voice was carried away in the night that cared not for the plight of a young girl. Her body slumped against the aged lumber as her vision swam with the smoke inhalation and heat that stole the energy from her muscles. 

There was none. 

She was going to die and there was no one left to save her.