Excerpt
The smoke was so thick she could barely discern the outline of her own hand as she felt her way across the floor, moving towards the door. She hoped. Disoriented and strangling, she used most of her fading breath to call to him.

“Nathan,” she coughed, “Nathan where are you?” She strained to hear anything beyond the roar of the flames devouring the hallway. The floor was becoming hotter, all but singing her bare hands. The long petticoat was a blessing and a curse; the sturdy cloth protected her legs from the heat as she crawled, but the fire would surely burn the fabric into her skin upon contact.

“Sandy, over here.” She heard his voice call to her from the direction of the window. What was he doing? They were staying on the fifth floor; a drop from this height would surely kill them as quickly as the fire. So it was a choice, then, she thought. Burn to death, or crash against the rocky shoreline, then be washed out to sea. No, she thought fiercely as she turned to crawl toward his voice. We will not die, not like this.

Flames began creeping beneath the closed bedroom door as she blindly made her way through the dense, black fog. After bumping head-first into the bed post, she reached for the linens and dragged them with her to the window. “Nathan, say something,” she croaked.

“Here, come here.” She felt the gush of air as she heard the window slide open.

The oxygen filling the room began chasing away the smoke while inviting the flames to come closer. Tendrils of fire teasing the doorway flared into a raging inferno wall, speeding toward them.

“NO,” she cried as Nathan disappeared amid the red and yellow haze. “NATHAN…..”

“Cassie, wake up.” She heard Roni’s voice and felt the touch of a cool hand on her face. “Cassie.”

She came out of the dream gasping for air, tears streaming down her face. She couldn’t speak. The horror was too fresh. She had lost him again.