They always warned us in school about the danger of the Australian bush and I listened but never took it seriously. I saw the flames bursting out of control when it hit the dry bush ground. I heard Rhys scream something at me but at the time I wasn’t paying attention to him only my girlfriend Sarah. She was just standing there, she looked paralysed. Her emerald green eyes were full of fear.
Chapter 1.
All it took was a flick of a match, a dare, stupidity. I told them it was a stupid idea especially on a dry hot day and that I wouldn’t do it. But they convinced me that nothing would happen, everything would be fine. I reached into my backpack and slowly searched for the box. Sweat trickled down my red face as I pulled out the match. I stroked it swiftly and quickly until I saw the flame. I was mesmerized by it, it seemed magical. I hadn’t realised how quickly it was burning until the tips of my fingers felt a tingling. I looked down and see the flame practically dancing off my fingertips. Instinctively I dropped the match, another stupid idea.
They always warned us in school about the danger of the Australian bush and I listened but never took it seriously. I saw the flames bursting out of control when it hit the dry, bush ground. I heard Rhys scream something at me but at the time I wasn’t paying attention to him only my girlfriend Sarah. She was just standing there, she looked paralysed. Her emerald green eyes were full of fear.
I ran to Sarah to get her to move away from the fire. I grab her hand and try pulling her away but she stays still, gasping at the fire.
“Sarah, we have to get out of here!” I exclaim, feeling the heat of the fire surrounding us.
“NO! We have to try to put it out, we have to try” she said with tears in her eyes. I only just understand why her eyes are becoming teary, her dad died in a fire years ago and nobody got there in time to put it out. Her dad and Sarah were the only ones home, Sarah had only been seven. Her dad got Sarah out of the house first and then he got trapped while trying to get himself out. Sarah had to stand there watching her own father burn. She still has night mares about it. Since then Sarah had always put others before herself and I’ve always respected that, but this is not the time to do that.
“How do you think we do that Sarah? The fire is getting out of control!” I exclaim looking around us. All I see is fire, fire, fire, except a small opening that Rhys had already ran out of. Typical Rhys, takes care of himself and no one else. It sickened me sometimes that I was friends with him, if I wasn’t none of this would’ve happened, the least he could do was help me.
“I don’t know!?” she yells, her eyes darting around frantically. Her delicate fingers ran through her thick, long, curly orange hair. She always does that when she is stressed.
“Sarah, we have to go now, otherwise we will burn with the bush” Sarah doesn’t respond but looks around, her eyes full of fear.
“What are you doing?” I scream. She turns and looks at me, her eyes wild, just like the fire.
“I’m trying to find a way out of here! What about you? Just having a relaxing time there?” I am so relieved that she was now willing to get out here fast, and be her sarcastic self, but surely she can see the opening right behind me. I turn around, beginning to tell her that there is an opening but stop, nearly choking on my own words. I felt like all the breath had been taken out of me. The opening that Rhys had gone through is no longer there. The fire has gotten bigger and perished it. There is no way for us to get out.
My eyes dart to Sarah as she coughs loudly. The smoke from the fire is closing in on us. I bolt to Sarah, because I am now several steps away from her, and take her hand. This time she takes it and runs with me. I have to find a way out, I just have to. I can smell the thick black smoke. It feels like it was following us and only us, it wants to suffocate us, I start coughing harshly.
It feels like we run for hours but it is more like a matter of seconds. Just as I start think we are never going to be rid of this fire, for it is still burning around us, I see a small clearing where the fire has not perished yet. A shot of faith comes running through me. We might actually get out of this alive. I turn to Sarah and tell her to wait here so I can make sure that we can get through the opening quickly and easily. She simply nods her head and kisses me softly on the cheek. Her lips linger there for a moment and then she whispers “hurry.”
As I run I start to take notice of the sounds around me. I can hear the fire burning the leaves and the animals rushing around and I thought I heard a kind of cracking sound but I am not sure. I am nearly at the clearing, then I hear it. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, even though I can’t be cold; I am in the middle of a bush fire. That one terrified scream that can only belong to Sarah is followed by a crashing sound. I turn around and see Sarah behind a burning, fallen tree. She is surrounded by fire with no way to get out and she looks at me with her familiar emerald green eyes that almost look calm. Her bright orange hair is messed up from the wind. She looks amazingly beautiful. Then she screams the words
“RUN”.
A/N so this is the first chapter and it hasnt been published so please forgive me if there are mistakes! I really hope you like it so far, i have a couple other chapters but i wont post until i get some comments. hope you guys enjoyed! read, vote, comment!
