Out.

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My heart thumped out of my chest & I jolted upright in bed. The blankets were tangled around my legs as if I had been thrashing in my sleep. My already-racing pulse quickened further as my eyes searched the darkness around me for some sense of familiarity.

Where am I?

A bead of sweat slithered down the side of my face, along my temple & down into my ear. My nightgown stuck to my body & goosebumps erupted across my flesh, despite the intense heat.

The heat. Why is it so hot?

My nostrils burned & I sneezed. My lungs protested the rush of air as I inhaled sharply.

Smoke. I smell smoke.

I wanted to scream, but my throat ached from trying to pull oxygen from smoke.

How long had I been inhaling smoke?

I had to move. I had to get up. I had to get out.

(Image from morgueFile.com)

I threw myself out of the bed, but my legs were still caught in the blankets. I reached out to brace my fall, but there was nothing in the darkness to grasp onto.  The palms of my hands stung as they slammed into the ground.

Move! Just keep moving!

I made my way on all fours, crawling as quickly as I dared in a direction away from the bed I had awoken in. Constantly searching the darkness for some sign of an escape, I just kept moving forward.

Something crawled across my leg & I shrieked & sprung up onto my feet. Spiders & I do not mix — but neither do my lungs & smoke. My brain swam with protests as I felt my body go limp underneath me, shutting down from a lack of oxygen.

When I came to, I felt muscular arms around me, yet I was floating through the air. My head was pounding & there was a voice off in the distance.

No. The voice was coming from the man who was carrying me.

“Just stay with me. You’re going to be okay. Just stay with me. We’re almost there.”

His voice was heavenly – or maybe I was just relieved he was there.

I felt our bodies propel upward as his legs expertly ascended stairs, seemingly oblivious to the extra weight.

How many stairs are there?

Then I was blind.

No. I was blinded in the darkness before. Now, it was the light. . . & it tasted so sweet!

Wait! No. That was the fresh air in my lungs. I could breathe again!

Oh, thank you, God! He saved me. I am out.

This was one of my first bits of fiction posted on my blog — & it helped me realize that I thoroughly enjoy writing things like this. You might be seeing more of it in the future. It was written as the result of a prompt for a link-up (also called a “blog hop”) called Two Shoes Tuesday, hosted by Josie2Shoes. (I might need to find a blog hop or two that I might enjoy doing on the regular again too. I quite miss the social aspect of them.) Anyway, as always, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.