When Night Falls

Chapter 1

FIRE

It was happening again.

I was the first to see it. The bright glow of the red, orange, and yellow flames began to spread from our front door to our kitchen and into our living room. The bright flames leaped from our front door to our kitchen and into our living room. The bright flames leaped from our dining room tables and chairs to our couch and computer system causing it to explode into a million pieces. The fire reached our pictures that were hanging on the wall and they quickly burned leaving nothing behind but ashes. The fire danced across the house ruining everything it touched. I stood in the middle of our living room hopeless. I stood there waiting to die because I knew that there was no hope left for me. This fire was going to burn the house down and everything in it. Then there was a call from my room; I had forgotten about Kirsten. I thought of nothing but the safety of my girlfriend. Now there had to be hope. My girlfriend must be saved from the ravaging flames that would soon burn her flesh. I pushed the thought out of my mind, and I raced through my kitchen and into the hallway that led into my bedroom. I shoved my way through the door and found Kirsten on my bed more than terrified at the flames that were making their way through my window. When she looked up at me, her eyes grew ten times the size they were and I spun around to see the fire was quickly approaching my bedroom. I knew if I were to stay here any longer then it would be too late. The dense smoke rushed into the air and it was becoming unbearable. I could barely breathe. We were going to have to crawl our way out. I told her to never leave my side and to not take deep breaths as we passed through smoke. She did as she was told and followed me around the fire. I led her through the kitchen and out into the living room. By then, the fire had reached the ceiling and I watched as it turned a deep black with ashes floating to the ground. Afraid of it falling in on us, I quickened my pace. The smoke was too much for me. As I gasped for air, I started to choke. My breaths were becoming shorter and shorter. Then, I realized something. Kirsten was no longer behind me. I knew if I stayed in the house any longer that I would be buried under the ruins of my home. All of a sudden, the roof couldn't hold together any longer and it collapsed in on me with the bright flames heading straight for me . . .

I woke up petrified of the nightmare I just had, and I couldn't believe how real it seemed to me. I have had plenty of nightmares before just like any other kid, but this particular one was different than any of the other ones. I had a very funny feeling about it which sent chills down my spine every time I thought back to the dream seeing the raging fire, but it was only a dream and I knew there was no worry.

Lately, I've been having a lot of bad dreams and it kind of creeps me out a little bit. I haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep and I'm constantly tired, but when I'm around my friends I never seem to be tired at all. Then after they leave, then I'm back to my usual self not really doing anything except waiting to go to sleep. Sometimes I think I can be a bore, but no one likes a bore, and I do have pretty awesome friends plus a girlfriend who claim to enjoy my company. My friends and I are always doing something together whether it's going out to eat somewhere or hanging out at each other's house or simply walking around our small town.

Now, here in town, there is not much you can do. It's actually quite boring, and it makes me unhappy that excitement never occurs. The best news you get in the newspaper isn't even worth paying for because it's practically pointless. Like I said, nothing happens in our town. There's no robbery, there's no bomb threat, there's no major destruction. You know, all the exciting topics. Honestly, I wouldn't like to see in the paper one day that there was a robbery or a bomb threat or anything destroyed because it's all bad news, but our town needs some special event at least like a competition for whoever collects the most cans or something. Then the winner could earn a special prize. It would be nice if something like that happened every once in a good while.