He rushed out of the house, his mother on his heels.
"Run! Run and don't stop! I'll be right behind you!" his mother yelled.
He continued to run, obeying his mother. He could smell the smoke, he could feel the heat, he could hear the crackling. He didn't stop. When he reached the front door, he wrenched the handle and thrust the door open, quickly rushing outside. Once he'd reached the pavement, he turned around, watching his house crumble to ashes.
The fire truck arrived soon afterwards, but the house was already gone. As were his parents.
He thought about his mother's last words: "I'll be right behind you"
He realised that she didn't mean it literally, but metaphorically. She'll be behind him in his heart, not there physically, but there spiritually.
He looked up to the sky before falling to the ground from exhaustion.
~*~*~
She rushed through the house, her maid on her heels.
She ignored the cries of pain her maid emitted and kept running. She had to reach her room. She had to reach her bedside table. She had to reach her photo. The only photo of her mother. Her mother who died in a car accident years previously. She wrenched her door open then slammed it shut in the midst of her rush. She ran to her bedside table and thrust the drawer open, grabbing the picture.
She swiftly moved to her window and opened it. She turned around for a brief moment, only to find her door being consumed by the flames. She screamed. She turned her attention back to the task at hand. She flung herself from the ledge of her window, falling from the first floor. She flipped her body and landed in a crouch to break the fall. She stumbled back up and started running. She ran around her house, before reaching the pavement. Once she'd reached the pavement, she turned around, watching her house crumble to ashes.
The fire truck arrived soon afterwards, but the house was already gone. Her dad was at work, and he rushed home, parking his car in the driveway of the non-existent house.
He cradled her head as she looked up to the sky.
"Thank you." she whispered, before collapsing from exhaustion.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They both escaped. Not both of them obeyed the rules.
Sometimes, disobeying the rules is worth it. You just gotta take the risk. Don't walk when you're taking a risk. Run.
Run as fast as you can before reality catches up with you.
If you reach the end before it does, you live the dream.
Living the dream is possible.
