The flaming world

The sky was on fire, although the weather was frigid. I looked out the window and took a deep breath. Two years ago, ten people had been selected for a competition. There were ten new worlds created, one for each individual. You had to find the Key in order to have a chance at winning. Your world surviving for a long amount of time meant that either you had a lot of people counting on you or you were doing exceedingly well. If the sky burned completely before you retrieved the key, it meant that you would fail the competition and be burnt as the flames consumed the world. There was only first place. There were no top three or top five. It was first place or death.

I sighed. I had stayed alive for two years with no human interaction. I had no idea who was still in and who was out. All I knew was that my world had started to burn and I needed to find the Key.

I hauled myself to my feet and took a deep breath. The woods were a risky place to be as the sky burned, I realized. All of a sudden, I felt a searing pain in my chest. I shrieked, unable to stop the pain as I fell to the ground. When the pain faded and I looked down, I was covered entirely in blood. The link to my best friemd had been broken. She had died as her world had burned. Silent tears streamed down my face, but I pulled myself up and continued walking.

"You can do this!" I screamed. "Don't fail now!" I repeated it to myself over and over, but it was getting harder and harder to breathe as the flames grew higher. In order to calm myself, I reached up to touch the necklace my dad had given me before he died. I stopped dead: my necklace wasn't there.

Turning around, I made my way as quickly as I could back to my campsite. There it was, half hidden in the snow. I grabbed it and slid it back on. The necklace was a black cord with a small, smooth, carved, black rock hanging from it. On the rock, there was a beautiful flame that looked as if it had been done with watercolor. The necklace was the only thing that I had from my dad. I remembered the moment when my dad had given me the beautiful piece of jewelry.

"Isabelle! Come here, my precious girl!" Dad shouted. I turned and ran over to him.

"Yes, Daddy?" I asked as I ran into his arms. Dad picked me up and sat down on the ground, balancing me on his knee.

"I have something for you, my little beauty," he told me as he stroked my hair. Dad reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. He slid it over my head and adjusted it. "This necklace will protect you when you most need it, my darling. Always where it, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy!" I agreed. Dad held me in his arms as I looked over the necklace. I looked up and beamed at him. Dad smiled and hugged me tightly.

"I love you, my darling. Remember that. I know you'll make me proud. That's what you have to promise. Promise you'll make me proud, even after I go. Got that, my little beauty?"

"I promise I'll make you proud, Daddy."

I put my hand to the pendant for reassurance. "Don't worry Dad, I'll make you proud." Just after I said this, the sky exploded. It was beautiful in a way that nothing else was. Flames consumed the trees that surrounded me and I looked around, desperate to find a way out. But there wasn't one. As I held the pendant, I realized something: the Key wasn't literally a key. I grabbed my pendant to toss into the flames, but it was to late. The flames had already touched me and were now licking up my body, pain blinding me. I had lasted two years in this horrible world. That was an achievement. I closed my eyes and took my last breath, holding on to my necklace and not letting go.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

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The End