Amber Flames

This is a short story I wrote for my english class:) I hope you enjoy

*AMBER FLAMES*

"I never want you to come home ever again! I hate you!" Kim cried at her sister through the phone.

"But, Kim, you don't under-" Amber tried to explain but Kim hung up on her. Kim sat on her bed and shoved her tear-soked face in between the pillows. Amber had moved out just a few weeks after her 19th birthday to a college in Virginia. That was eight months ago. Kim missed her sister so much she started counting the days. Amber promised she would be home for Christmas no matter what happens. So when Kim found out all the flights were closed and Amber was going to her boyfriend's house instead, she was devastated.

Tears flooded her vision and rolled down her cheeks as she stomped downstairs. She grabbed her dark red coat, slipped into her favorite black boots, and wrapped a scarf around her neck. "I'm going for a walk," Kim choked out loud enough for everyone to hear but no one did. Not even her dad who was sound asleep on the couch. No one could hear the sadness and pain in her voice.

Kim's boots made an obnoxiously loud noise as they crunched down on the fallen autumn leavess. How could she do this to me? Kim's head was spinning with questions. Why would she go to her boyfriend's house instead of coming to see her own family? Does she love him more than she loves us? She knew the flights were closed for the big storm but that didn't matter to her. The amber she knows would do anything to come home and see her family. This Amber surely isn't the one I know, Kim thought. Maybe college had changed her. Doesn't she miss us as much as we miss her?

Suddenly it got dark. Kim heard a loud swooshing sound that rang in her ears and made her blood run cold. Large jet-black clouds surrounded her like a thick fog. When she looked up at the sky it was practically gone. She heard a terrifying scream and realized it was hers. The strange blackness ran along her skin, tugging on her clothes and she yelped. When she tried to push it away her fingers went straight through it, as if this stuff, these things, were ghosts or...shadows. She eventually gave up on her struggle, feeling weak and falling to her knees. She pulled her arms over her head tucking herself into a ball. After a while she noticed that the swooshing noises had finally stopped. She opened her eyes to see where it had gone. All the shadows had collected into one spot making the shape of a wide black screen. Slowly, she carefully stood up, trembling and cold. She flinched when the screen flashed on.

At first it was just flames, then it focused in on the room. Kim covered her ears at the hair-raising screams. She didn't understand what she was seeing until her sister ran into the room crying. It was Amber's dorm room at her college in Virginia.

"No," Kim whispered her voice small and powerless. Amber began to bang on the door.

"Help!" She was out of breath and coughing uncontrollably between screams and sobs.

Kim so badly wanted to be there, to save her.

"No, you can't do this to her!" Kim cried at the screen. Now she was breathing heavy too. She sobbed into her sweaty palms and crumbled to the ground. She slammed her hands down, overwhelmed and frustrated. She couldn't take her eyes away from the screen. Her eyes deeply connected to Amber's dark brown ones. She watched as the flames creeped up around her helpless sister. The ceiling caved in behind her. Ashes rained down, piercing holes in her smooth, pale skin. She let out a long pain-filled cry as her whole world crashed down on her. Kim trembled rapidly. Before she knew it her sister was gone. Her last words to Amber were 'I hate you.' It wasn't true, she wanted to yell. It's not true. Kim sobbed and let out a scream of frustration. She didn't care that she was lying in the mud. She just wanted to sink into the ground and disappear just as the shadows had after her sister.

She awoke in her bedroom. She opened her eyes to see the bright sun shining through her window. Her clock read 8:45 AM and, according to her calendar, it was Christmas morning. The smell of coffee filled Kim's nose. She sighed a lonely sigh. Slowly she found the energy to roll out of bed. Looking in the mirror, she noticed how good she looked. Her clothes were spotless, untouched from the day before. It was as if she hadn't gone outside at all yesterday.

She dragged her feet out of her bedroom, into the hallway, and downstairs. At the bottom step she found her boots and jacket squeaky clean. Confused, she slumped into the kitchen. Her heart stopped. There she stood, a woman with pale skin, thick black hair, and sparkling brown eyes. It was a girl she thought she would never see again. "Amber."

"Come here," she held her arms wide open and Kim ran to her. It was true. She was really here. Yesterday was a nightmare. Today...a dream come true.

"I'm so sorry," Kim sobbed into Amber's shoulder.

"Hey, It's okay. I love you."

"I love you too."

This was a lot shorter than i wanted it to be because it needed to be less than 700 words but ended up a lot more than that. Either way i still got an A. I hope you like it as much as my english teacher did:D