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| World of: Fire | |
| by Harry Leonard
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Lael ran across the grass straight through the park towards her apartment. She had no time for snaking paths or stiffening limbs. Unfortunately, her chilled muscles began to hurt and slow her down. She stumbled and kept on going, getting number each footfall.
She saw the brick and concrete wall in the distance. As she drew closer, she prepared to vault herself over. The meters disappeared, she planted her left hand and shifted her weight, but her numbing limbs wouldn't respond the way they should have. Her left leg scraped the edge as she rolled over the other side of the wall. Lael landed hard on her right side and rolled onto her back, breathing hard.
She couldn't really feel the pain in her side nor realize she was bleeding till she sat up and looked at her leg.
Lael looked across the street to her building. It's not that much farther, she told herself. Just across the street, up the steps, in the door, in the elevator, down the hall, and into the apartment. That's it! She couldn't even tell if she laughed.
Lael rolled over on to her left side, curled up in the fetal position, and lost consciousness.
*
She felt the heat, heard the screams, but didn't smell the smoke.
Then she found consciousness.
Lael uncurled and sat up as she opened her eyes to see the fire. It was everywhere. On the ground where she had been curled, there was an outline of her with flames burning all around it. She looked around at the sea of fire covering every inch of the street. Her building was alight with crimson flame. She turned her head towards the park. The trees were burning. She watched as a large limb fell to the ground.
Her head hurt, she noticed. In fact, it hurt a lot, like it was a gem being held tightly in its setting. She had the feeling she was forgetting something.
She could still feel the heat, but couldn't hear the screams anymore. The heat was just there, far from being uncomfortable. Lael looked down at her feet; her toes extended into the fire, but they didn't hurt. They weren't burning.
What am I forgetting, she thought.
Lael stood up and glanced around again. She could now see over the wall and into the park where everything was burning.
She looked down at herself and counted the silver stars. One, two, three, she paused, three. She stopped and tried again. One, two, she stopped again. Her head hurt too much. She could see all eight of the stars and they appeared to be there where they should have been, so she smiled.
She remembered an old man. What had she said to him? What time was it? Where was the sun?
"Oh, yes," she said. "The sun was sinking, the world was going to end, and everyone was going to...no wait...almost everyone was going to die. Yes, that's right."
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| ©1997, 2000 Harry Leonard | |
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