Burns

The everyday fight.

I awoke to the smell of smoke. Snapping my eyes open I jumped out of bed. The room was hot and filled with a black haze. I could see the flames along the walls and around the door. I was trapped.

I frantically tried  to think what could have caused this. Did I leave the oven on last night? No, I hadn't used the oven. Candle? No. Maybe it was an electrical fire. Perhaps there was a misfire somewhere. I didn't know much about electrical workings and the like, but at this moment it didn't matter. I had to get out.

I went to the door first but the flame flicked out and struck my legs. I fell back. My legs had already began to bleed. I started to cry. How was I going to get out of here? I looked toward the window. Maybe I could get out over there. I stood up, shakily, and ran to the window. I grabbed the base but before I could start to pull up the flames wrapped around my arms. I fell back again.

Tears falling down my face, I looked around again. There was no other way out. The flames were so loud I could barely hear myself think. My mind raced and bounced between incoherent babblings and desperate prayers. 

"Why was this happening to me? Please Lord, same me! What did I do to deserve this? The fire is playing with me. If I play dead it will go away. What is wrong with you? That makes no sense. Get it together. It will know you are faking."

It was getting hard to breathe. I was gasping for air. I had to do something. I could either lay down and die or I could fight. I slowly made my way to my feet and faced the window again. "I can do this/" I rushed to the window and grabbed the base again. Like before, the flames surrounded my arms. I screamed through the pain. The red hot tendrils worked their way down until they engulfed my legs also. In moments My whole body was besieged by fire. The window wasn't budging. I could no longer stand it. I let go and fell to the floor. The flames around me dissipated. That was it. I had no more fight in me. The only thing left to do was to let the fire kill me. I laid down and closed my eyes. I let the roar of the inferno be a lullaby.

I wake up to the morning sun. Moving to stand in front of the mirror I can see the scars from that fight. Some healed and almost invisible. Others still oozing blood. In the mirror I can see the flames begin to rise again. Today is the day. I won't fight today. I will walk into the furnace and let it take me. I've run out of energy. It is time to rest.