PYRA

A Mare Night

Thick black smoke hovered across the room. Fumes slowly invade her lungs. Torturing her. Filling her in and left her gasping for oxygen. She crawls as fast as she could. Heat draining the moisture out of her eyes.

She grabbed the hem of her nightgown as she reached the front door, holding it and giving it a quick turn, hoping that the silk of her dress is capable of blocking the heat from her skin, like the mittens her mom used to get the fresh baked cookies or birthday cake out of the oven.

Mom, she remembered. Where is she? Is she safe?

The door opened before she completely loses all of her strength to turn its knob. Sirens of the fire trucks flooded her ears. Two men in orange suits run into the door. Her muscle trembling, knees swaying and eyes barely open.

"No, no." She whispered. "My mom's still there, inside"

She turned her head into their burning house. Hoping her mother will be in her sight any second by now. A loud explosion from inside the house startled them and almost shook the earth under their feet.

"Mom!" She stumbled, attempting to go back inside until something -- someone appeared at her room's window catches her attention.

It took a few seconds to observe that familiar figure. It wasn't mom not dad either.

Miguel.

His body's glowing red. His eyes don't leave hers. It takes forever until she realizes that he wasn't really glowing red. It was not she remembered. She wanted to scream at the blood-draining sight, but she can't with her dry throat. Miguel's body was molten red with visible black spots as if he swam across a lake of molten lava. As if he jumped into a volcano's mouth.

In his one hand he raised Mom.

Her eyes widened, pulse raised and tears pooled in her eyes as Miguel dragged his molten lava hand down Mom's face. Mom cried. Her skin reddened, wrinkled, half of her face almost melted her face by Miguel's touch.

She screamed. But no one can hear her, even her neighbors, who crowded behind the yellow police tape surrounding the house.

A few seconds after, she can't see Mom in the window anymore. Seconds after, Mom appeared in front of her. The smell of dripping blood and flesh burning from Mom's face made her sick.

Mom slowly opens her mouth, flesh tears violently. Her lip line extended from ear to ear.

"You did this to me!"

⊙⊙⊙

By the moment she shot her eyes wide open, she was already sitting on her bed. She was sweating like hell. Like she was in hell. She stumbled down into the bathroom and tightly grasps the sink to support her weight.

Her hands were shaking as she turns the faucet. Water flows fast into the sink as she threw up.

Nightmare.

She let the water fill her mouth and spit it out after, rinsing away the sour taste left in her mouth. She looks up, her reflection giving a pathetic look back at her

"You'll be alright. Everything will be alright." She assured herself. But definitely she, herself, doesn't believe it. "Someday."

The clock on her bedside table reads 3:17am. Too late to watch her favorite show and little too early for work.

She grabs her sleeping pills. She swallowed two, to make sure she'll fall into a deep, deep sleep, deeper than Princess Aurora's. And it worked. One second she's staring at the ceiling, another second she drifted away.