Out of the Burning
It hurts, is the first thing she feels, swimming up through the blackness that fogs her mind.
It hurts, but the the heat is gone. That terrible burning- instead she is cold. Water. Water cascades over her still-painful skin, and she's- alive? She can't rememember clearly. There had been a black dress and fire and pain, and she can't-
Shelley breathes a moment, eyes still tight shut, against the water pouring down onto her, against the hurt, against the world.
Tears slowly begins to seep out from behind closed eyelids, mixing with the water.
It hurts, but the the heat is gone. That terrible burning- instead she is cold. Water. Water cascades over her still-painful skin, and she's- alive? She can't rememember clearly. There had been a black dress and fire and pain, and she can't-
Shelley breathes a moment, eyes still tight shut, against the water pouring down onto her, against the hurt, against the world.
Tears slowly begins to seep out from behind closed eyelids, mixing with the water.