Jeremiah, "Fire"
The fire crept closer and closer. Jeremiah had pushed back as far as he could go, but the wall behind his back was solid. He was trapped. He had been looking frantically around for a way to escape for several minutes, but there was just nothing. He was encircled on all sides by the tall flames. They were so high, so hot, that he felt as if the fire were burning inside of him.
It was loud. A campfire was fairly quiet, the cracks and pops of the wood a friendly sound, like company. This fire had a monster's roar.
Part of him wanted to close his eyes, resign himself to his fate. But there was the stubborn part, the side that kept hunting for Valhalla Sector, kept hunting for his dad, even though logic said it was a hopeless quest. That part gritted its teeth and started struggling once more.
The flames reached his toes. A spark danced out of the fire and landed on his side, burning. His hand burned, too, as he reached to put it out. Yet his face felt oddly cool. Wet. There was water raining down on him from somewhere.
He squinted up, over the flames. There was a man-shaped shadow on the other side, holding something--a hose--from which water arched. The fire was dying, ghost-smoke twisting upward.
Kurdy reached out a hand to him, and Jeremiah took it.
( next)
It was loud. A campfire was fairly quiet, the cracks and pops of the wood a friendly sound, like company. This fire had a monster's roar.
Part of him wanted to close his eyes, resign himself to his fate. But there was the stubborn part, the side that kept hunting for Valhalla Sector, kept hunting for his dad, even though logic said it was a hopeless quest. That part gritted its teeth and started struggling once more.
The flames reached his toes. A spark danced out of the fire and landed on his side, burning. His hand burned, too, as he reached to put it out. Yet his face felt oddly cool. Wet. There was water raining down on him from somewhere.
He squinted up, over the flames. There was a man-shaped shadow on the other side, holding something--a hose--from which water arched. The fire was dying, ghost-smoke twisting upward.
Kurdy reached out a hand to him, and Jeremiah took it.
( next)