She's running, trying to find a way out. She hears yelling and panic all around her.
She was told not to stop. With that in mind, she keeps running until she feels the cools air hit her face.
She turn around to look at the building she just escaped. She screams in terror as she watches the entire building fall to the ground.
She falls to her knees, sobbing and screaming, unable to open her eyes.
Why?! she screams.
Why why why why why why why....
•••••
She opens her eyes, startled. She looks around her, breathing heavily. The green vines and dark wood around her will her to calm down.
It was just a dream again, she says, taking a deep breath. It was just a dream.
She stands up and starts walking towards the door. Her bare feet are steady as she navigates her way through the branches and the trees.
This is her life now. She knows that. She knows that no matter how much she wishes for it, she won't get her old life back.
She has finally reaches it. She stands before a huge, ancient willow tree, it's branches and leaves spreading out all around it.
She kneels before the tree, and takes a second to look around her. It truly is beautiful, the way the leaves almost reach the ground, how it almost makes it seem as though she's in her own little world.
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, and just as she does everyday, places her palm against the tree and closes her eyes.
A flashback of the dream stirs in her mind, but she pushes it away.
"Hey Mom and Dad," she says.
As if on cue, the wind around her picks up, moving her brown curls around behind her.
"I got you guys something. I found it while I was walking on the north side of the forest the other day. It made me think of you."
She pulls out a flower from a pocket in her makeshift dress and places it in front of the willow.
"It's a lily," she adds, smiling. "You know, cause you love lilies."
As she starts to stand up, she whispers, "after all, that's what you named me."
She walks off into the forest, off to start her daily routine.
She had become at peace with what had happened, for the most part, but some days it was harder to cope than others. Today seemed to be one of those days.
She starts focusing on the scenery around her to distract her. The sound of the forest was so calming to her, and every aspect of it made her feel at home. The smell of the flowers and trees and animals and smoke...
Smoke? she thought. That's odd.
Panic slowly starts to dawn over her as realization of what that could mean.
She runs off, trying to find the source of the scent, which only seemed to be getting stronger as she went.
Suddenly, she comes to a complete stop and gasps in horror at the sight before her.
This wasn't just any forest fire. This was an enormous fire that seemed to come from the roots of Hell and reach up into the sky. It spread out for what seemed like miles, and was consuming more and more of the forest with every second.
All Lily could do was stand there, mouth agape, the fire reflecting in her emerald green eyes.
Her confusion was soon replaced by anger. This was in no way a natural fire. Something had had to have done this. Someone had done this. On purpose.
Furious, she ran off to find the source of the fire.
