Mom smiles at me from her adjacent lounger. “Go on and swim. It’s getting too hot.”
As the words leave her mouth, the heat seems to increase. It’s odd, not beating down from above, but swelling and pushing in on all sides. The air grows thick with it and my mouth is suddenly too dry to answer. Everyone has disappeared from the pool. When I look back at Mom, she’s stillsmiling but it’s too wide and she’s frozen in place, a vacant look in her eyes.
Her skin begins to glow red and thin tendrils of smoke rise from her hairline. I try to call her name, but I can’t speak. Her ominous smile remains while blisters bubble up on her skin. She’s burning. We’re all going to burn. I can’t scream or make a sound. It’s so hot, I can’t breathe.
We need to get to the pool. If we can get under the water, we’ll be fine. I reach for her hand to pull her with me.
A sharp bang makes my entire body jerk and yanks me out of one nightmare and into another. This time when I try to scream, my deep inhale is strangled off as I choke on the stifling acrid air. I fight to get the blanket off me, confused and terrified.
“Silver!” Lee shouts, and I try to look in the direction of his voice. My eyes burn every time I open them. Where am I? What’s happening?
I force my eyes to stay open long enough to focus but all I can see is a curtain of gray as the smell of smoke finally registers. The house is on fire! Before I can move, strong arms lift me. Lee cradles me against his chest and rushes out of my bedroom. The air turns into a hazy veil in the hallway and clears a little more in the living room, giving me a glorious breath.
“You’re okay. I’ve got you,” Lee says.
My eyes pour, but I get a glimpse of the ceiling where thick smoke rolls across like a living monster, reaching out for us. It surrounds us again for a few seconds before we reach the front door.
Night air has never felt so good. Deep, refreshing breaths make me cough but clear my lungs. Lee runs down the steps, still holding me in his arms, and his deep voice booms. “Call the fire department!”
“I did!” Sharon, my neighbor across the street, yells back.
“Goblin!” I utter, remembering her in a panic. “My cat. Put me down!”
A loud crash echoes down the block as Lee sets me on my feet. He grabs me around the waist, not letting me move while we watch more of my roof cave in. “You can’t go back in there!”
Oh god, this isn’t happening.
Red lights begin to chase each other across the darkened houses, and more of the neighbors come out to see what’s going on as the fire truck parks out front and the firefighters jump out.
“Is anyone else inside?” one of them asks.
“No, no people. My cat…I don’t know how this happened!” My brain just can’t wrap around what I’m seeing. A half hour ago, I was stretched out on my bed, looking forward to Lee showing up. Now, I’m losing everything.
The firefighter instructs Lee to take me over to the ambulance that’s just arrived while they’re hooking up the hoses.
“I’m fine. I don’t need—” A coughing fit interrupts me, and Lee steers me toward the waiting paramedic.
“She was asleep, choking on the smoke,” he tells him.
“Do you feel dizzy or lightheaded?” he asks and has me sit down.
“No. I just need some water.”
My throat is dry and sore. He clips an oxygen monitor on my finger and continues to ask questions while Lee jogs over to his truck, then returns with a bottle of water. He texts on his phone while the paramedic checks me over.
“Do you feel short of breath? Your oxygen looks good.”
“My chest feels a little achy, but I can breathe fine.” A shiver runs through me, and he wraps a blanket around my shoulders. I’m glad I chose to go to bed in my little pajama shorts and a tee shirt. At least I’m not out here naked or in lingerie.
“We need to take you to the emergency room. You need tests to see the extent of the smoke inhalation,” he says as the second paramedic joins him.
“No, I don’t need an ambulance.”
“I’ll take her,” Lee tells them.
Doubt lives on their faces but one of them regards him. “Soon. Some symptoms don’t show up for a few hours. If her airway swells, she won’t be able to breathe.”
“We’re going. Right now,” he says, grabbing my hand to help me to my feet.
