1 Through the Fire and Flames

Yawning as my alarm goes off, I reach over and press the snooze button. It's a nice Sunday morning, the sun peering through the window illuminating my room with a ambient glow. Getting out of bed and looking at the clock. "9 o'clock already?" I mutters to myself. Moving on to the kitchen I look through the fridge for something resembling a breakfast food.

"I guess its ramen for today" putting water in the kettle, still somewhat drowsy. A knock on the door grabs my attention. "Who is it?" rubbing my eyes I stumble to the livingroom. "Hi I'm new here, I just moved in next door, I was wondering if you had any sugar you could possibly spare?"

looking through the peephole I see a average looking blonde woman with a ponytail and glasses. "I dont mean to be a bother" she says as I open the door. "Nah dont worry about it." I try to smile even though I'm still barely conscious. "I'm Leon, nice to meet you." She blushes "Nice to meet you Leon, I'm Haley!"

The kettle whistles in the kitchen. "Have a seat, sorry I'm in the middle of making breakfast" she nods and plops down on my couch, looking somewhat nervous. "I'll be right back, how much do you need?" She pulls a half-cup out of her purse. "It doesn't have to be full, I just need enough for some coffee please." Grabbing it I head to the stove and turn it off.

"So what do you think of the neighborhood?" I half yell, not wanting her to think I'm just ignoring her. "Oh it's nice, it's close to my college too!" She pipes up. How can she be so energetic this early in the morning I wonder, and before coffee at that! "You mean RMCC?" I reply as I walk back, sugar in hand. Ramen in the other.

She nods and smiles "Yup that's the one." I hand her the sugar and she glances at the ramen in my hand "You dont mean you are having that for breakfast? it's so unhealthy!" she exclaims, then promptly turning red "Not to judge or anything, sorry." I laugh. "Well tbh it's not like I have much else around here, I've been neglecting my shopping list.

She stands up jubilantly "Can I cook you something instead? My major is in culinary arts and it wouldn't hurt to practice!" still as red as a tomato. "I mean, fair trade for half a cup of sugar. Why not?" She smiles "I'm just right next door. I'll be back soon!" she rushes out and I sit down with a sigh.

I had only just recently moved into the apartment complex myself, after graduation I took off and got a full time job in Las Vegas. My apartment was still mostly unfurnished, like a empty canvas just waiting to be used. I put the ramen in a thermos, I'd have that for lunch. I sat back and made a cup of my favorite tea with the remaining hot water.

Not too long later I hear a knock on the door again, its Haley with a tray full of food. "Wow, you are fast" I say as I open the door. She walks to the table and sets it down. "Its the least I could do." Looking down I realize she really went all out, eggs, bacon, toast. All of it smells amazing.

"Wow, this is really amazing! I can't wait to try it!" I sit down as she sets up some paper plates and plastic forks. "Cooking is a passion of mine, I hope you enjoy it." We eat and talk about ourselves for a bit before she heads home. Now full and ready for the day I put on my uniform and head to work.

As I pull into the restaurant, I smell fire. I get out and hear sirens in the distance, getting louder and louder. "Someone help me!" I hear screaming. I look around and see smoke billowing from the bookstore down the road. Without thinking I run into the fire, theres no way the firefighters would reach them in time.

As I burst through the door, I pull my shirt over my face as a mask. "Help me please!" I see a man stuck on the stairs, a support beam fell on him, crushing his legs. Ignoring the raging fire I run to the rescue. With all my strength I lift the burning beam. "Can you slide out?" I yell. He nods and rolls down the stairs, screaming with every bump.

I drop the beam and rush to grab him. He is unconscious by the time I reach him so I throw him over my shoulder and bolt for the door. As I get closer the door is already on fire, leaving the front window as our only means of escape. I kick through it and manage to get outside. I collapse and the jolt of hitting the ground wakes the man up. "Is there anyone else inside?" I say out of breath. "No, it was just me" he replies, promptly passing back out.

A crowd of people are staring at me, clapping and cheering but then everyone goes silent, as if in fear. I'm on fire! I realize, rolling around on the ground my clothes are put out. The crowd still stares at me without a sound. looking at the man, he suffered major injuries and burns. The adrenaline must keep me from feeling the pain, I figured. To my surprise my clothes are half burned off.

The thing that gets me, is I'm not burned at all. not even a little. In fact I feel pretty good! The realization that I'm not burned confused me, but I understood why they were scared, my hand was still on fire! It doesn't hurt, but it tingles. I hold my palm up, mesmerized by the flame in my hand. Everyone takes a step back.

What's going on?!?!?