I clawed at the ground, trying to drag myself away from the flames.
“Dad!” I screamed again. “Please!”
The woman stepped closer.
The fire in her hands burned brighter now, her fingers stretching and thinning until they resembled claws made entirely of flame. She reached down toward me as if she meant to grab me next.
Heat roared over my skin.
I could feel it consuming me.
My body began to crumble, dissolving into ash that scattered into the air like drifting embers.
Hannah’s laughter rang out over the sound of the fire.
Just as the flames threatened to swallow the last piece of me, the world changed.
The heat vanished.
Cold rushed in to take its place.
I found myself floating in darkness.
Endless, silent darkness.
Faint echoes of birdsong drifted through the void, soft whisper
