"Yumi, no! Don't go back there!" a voice screamed.
"But Mom, he's still in there!" a small fragile girl replies. With that the small girl runs back into the burning building that was once her home. She hears screaming and wailing behind her but she ignores it. She had somehow found a way to get past the firefighters and is now inside the room where the living room once stood. Squinting her eyes didn't help her see much through the smoke and fire but she had managed to go through the hall and up the stairs to the second floor.
"Yumi," a small voice rang out and echoed. The small girl whipped her head to the side and opened the door to her right.
"Oh, Mica. You're still here!," the girl named Yumi sighed. The room Yumi is standing on was her playroom, which was now nothing but a rubble of wood and melting plastic. Mica was standing exactly in the middle of the room with a smile on his face when he met Yumi's eyes. He looks like a teenager, with his hair styled in a fohawk, his casual clothing, and high top shoes. And yet there was something odd about him. Yumi tried to figure him out but she couldn't seem to unravel him.
"Hey, Kiddo!" Mica called out to her. “I thought you forgot about me already".
"Don't be silly! Why would I forget about you? You're my best friend!"
"I am? Really? Well, what an honor”. Mica gave a small bow with a grin. Then his grin faded and he became serious. “I don't really deserve that title though. I've been a really bad person in my life".
"No you haven't. I know that because you haven't been bad to me,“ Yumi pointed out. With a smile she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He patted her on the head and then looked up sharply towards the door.
Yumi tightened her grip on him and whispered out, “I hear voices. I guess that means you have to go, right?"
Understanding what she meant, Mica whispered back, “I won't be leaving forever. This is just temporary for now. It looks like I won't be able to visit you every day though. You know that right?"
She gave a small nod and looked up into his deep ocean-blue eyes. “Will you promise that we'll see each other again? That way we can play hide and seek and tag and twenty-one questions again! Especially twenty-one questions because we can never finish that game!"
Mica laughed and replied, “That’s right. We always got interrupted in that game." He gazed into her hazel eyes and added, “I promise that we'll see each other again someday. I wouldn't miss that day for anything in the world." And with that he walked away from her grasp and seemed to have disappeared into the flames. The next few seconds flew by too fast for Yumi to understand what was wrong.
After Mica had left, two firefighters barged into the room and were telling her something, probably some instructions, but Yumi wasn't listening. She had heard a small snap from somewhere and was now tilting her head so she can listen to it. But the sound was gone. All that was left was a small creaking from underneath. Yumi then sees her parents in the doorway, which are now being pushed back by one of the firefighters. Her parents are struggling to get through when all of a sudden the roof starts to collapse on all four of them, engulfing them in nothing but fire and burning wood.
