Chapter 1 - First a Flame, then a Fire; Oh How the Memories Burned

Oh! I seem to be dreaming. Though there is only darkness, it's been that way for a while now. I guess it's always been that way.

But I think I can see a shadow approaching, still dark, but a shade lighter than the darkness that surrounds me.

It stops a few feet away from me, and won't come any closer. I can't make out who it is, but I feel like I know them.

I'm getting a bit uncomfortable, I feel like it's been a while, and the shadow hasn't moved at all. It has no face, and it when it turns it's head, or if it's turning it's body, you can't tell the back from the front, but I have a feeling it's been staring at me this whole time.

I wonder if I try to speak, will the shadow hear me?

Umm, uh....hello?

Are we friends?

[Why is it I can't remember no matter how hard I try.]

Do I know you?

[It's weird how I don't remember.]

Do you know me?

[How will I be able to tell who is on my side.]

We must have been friends…right?

...why aren't you answering?

— • — • —

Thursday, August 7, XX77

It was a nice day, the last day of summer break before school begins tomorrow, and everyone was intending to make use of such a nice day. The weather was nice, you could feel cheerfulness in the air, and the excitement of getting new things for school.

Discount posters are plastered in every store whether grocery or warehouse. Kids can be seen running through store isles while parents and strangers alike shake their heads in disapproval but can't help but smile.

At exactly 9:00 am, a car pulls up on a driveway, and out of the car, a happy family of five emerges. They can all be seen carry groceries and school supplies into a 2-story house.

This family consists of a mother, a father, and three young girls. While the mother and father carry the rest of the things into the house, the eldest of the three children tells the other two what to do while separating the bags of groceries from the bags of school supplies.

"Here, take this into the house," she orders both of her sisters.

"Why don't you take them in, you're holding them," one of the sisters say, it's the second born.

"Yeah Mila," the youngest adds, "you do this every time."

"Because it gets the work done, I'm helping," the eldest says in a firm tone, letting on that arguing would get them nowhere.

The other two children stare in disbelief for a moment at their sister. Then they take the bags in protest, noticeable scowls on their faces, thinking and knowing that the oldest won't carry a single one into the house.

The two children go back and forth from the car to the house, till they've taken all the bags into the house.

Once all the bags are in the house, the youngest starts to un-bag the groceries and puts them near the floor on the left side of her other sister, who would then place them in the fridge neatly.

"Could you hand me the drinks first, Clara?" the middle child says addressing the youngest as she goes to open the refrigerator, proceeding to squat down in the floor.

"Okay," the youngest responds. "Hey, where did Mila go?" she turns and asks.

"...I don't know? Bathroom probably, that's usually always," the second born replies, as she confined to stuff vegetables inside the fridge.

Once one sister was done with her duty, she would help the others. It took the whole family 3 minutes and 37 seconds exactly to do this.

After, the groceries were safely in the fridge, the parents, who had been carrying newly bought furniture to the backyard, had told the girls to sort their supplies and take it up to their rooms when they finish putting the groceries away, while they cooked lunch and got ready for their relatives to come over for the last day of summer party.

Once the kids were done sorting their supplies, which was pretty quickly, Mila and Clara went outside in the backyard to swim, while their other sister was making her way upstairs to find something to read in the study while she briefly glanced at her sisters and parents from the hallway windows.

Also, if you're wondering why she can't just swim with them, well it's because she doesn't know how to, has a fear of the deep end, and didn't feel like swimming at the time, after all, she had gotten exhausted from shopping.

She could see that guests had already started coming and were entering through the yard's gate entrance. She decided she'd have to go down after finishing her book, or until her sisters or parents called for her.

Her parents had been hosting parties and attending them with the kids almost every week, at least three times a week, and probably wouldn't mind her coming late to this one, plus, they were the ones hosting it, so she didn't need to stand around outside like she usually would if they were attending a party at someone else's house.

When she finished her book, which maybe took about an hour or two, she went into a room connected to the study. The room had a bed and a fan, and even another desk, it was like a resting room. The study seemed to be getting humid, even with the air conditioner on as a precaution for the hot summer weather, so she turned the fan on then sat on the bed while briefly thinking she'd go down and join the party after cooling down and thinking about what she just read, she fell asleep.

Then, she head shouting and jolting wake she found it odd that she smelled smoke, unlike what she had just smelled seconds ago when she had passed the kitchen as she came upstairs. It didn't really smell like a barbecue.

"How long was I asleep for," she thought to herself as she got up from the bed.

She checked the window in front of her first, but as she neared it, she heard her sisters' screaming and her parents shouting. The guests seemed to be pointing at the house.

She got a bad feeling and ran to the bedroom door that connected to the study and started to step out of the study room and into the hallway, only to be greeted by a wall of fire that was already up the stairs and catching onto the door she'd left open.

"Well, that explains why it was hotter than usual," she thought to herself.

There was no escape. She ran back to the window, calling for help.

It was 3:01 pm and the whole 2-story house was on fire. You could hear people shouting and running out of the Sharmil's yard for their lives.

However, out of all the people there, they failed to notice, that someone was still inside the burning house on the top floor.

Even the family of the second born thought that she was safe, somewhere close by them or near a safe place. That she had possibly run out of the backyard like most of the crowd had.

There, on the top floor of the burning house, stood a girl, who had gone back into the study and rushed into into the resting room, closing the door against the flames now in the study. The flames were creeping below the door and catching onto the carpet, soon, she would be encircled by flames. Tears streamed down her eyes, her lungs started to burn from having inhaled too much smoke.

"Call 911!" she heard people yell as she hammered with her fists on the only window in the rest room. It was stuck tight, but it was thick glass.

No one had noticed her standing near the window hoping, yelling, and banging on the window for help. Knowing that no one would come for her in time, she did what came to her, without giving what she was about to do any thought.

She folded her arms onto her chest, and hugged herself reassuringly. At most, she got a tiny running start, the room was already small, the bed taking up most of the room, and it was on fire anyway, and now there were flames all around her.

She aimed for the window at top speed, using all her weight against the glass, and crashed into the window as it shattered. Then, her foot hit the window frame, and losing her balance, she opened her eyes as she half jumped, but mostly fell out the window, headfirst, and saw the ground closing in in front of her.

"Shit." she uttered silently to herself.

She had planned to aim her body towards the pool, and fall into the pool feet first, but because she misjudged the fall way too much, all she could see was the ground, and a few people staring in horror or making running starts towards her.

"Please let the ground be soft," she whispered as she tries to shield herself with her arms and twist her body. It was far from a plea for life, but it was all she could really think about.

As she landed, she heard screams and people yelling, there was an almost gentle rush and a feeling of warmth she felt near her head as she hit the grass, barely missing the pavement, not that it was any better. She felt an almost indescribable shock of pain, and then, everything went black.