As we kept walking

The mist broke to a small field

There was a small hill rising up

And a tree with soft pink

Blossoming flowers sprouting from it

The pedals were coating the ground around it

I see a figure cresting the hill and I realize

It's you standing there

My guide releases my hand

She gives me a light smile and a small wave

I wave back at her and then she turns

And disappears back into the mist

Leaving just you and me

I step forward

A cool breeze catches me

I look up and see the pedals flowing off of the tree

I see your hair blowing slightly in the wind

I step over sticks and rocks

Wild onion grass brushing against my shins

I reach the hill

And begin to make my short climb

One foot after the other I push upward

I feel my weight shifting from foot to foot

Causing my calves to clench and strain

In mild pain but I don't complain about it

I stumble once on a small divot in the dirt

But I catch myself and continue going

I reach you

I let my eyes rest upon your face

Your pallid cheeks tinted pink

Your sparkling blue eyes locking with mine

And a smile spreading across your face

I walk forward putting my arms out

I catch you

Wrapping my arms around your body

And yours around mine

Our bodies in a warm snug embrace

I release you letting my hands slide down

To your elbows with your fingers wrapped around my forearms

I look at your face

At every line and every spot

And studying your eyes for what seemed like an eternity

Then something hit me

There was the smell of smoke and ash on the wind

I witness an ember blow between us from our left

I throw my eyes towards the path it left behind

In the distance in the mist I see a deep orange glow

I begin to feel a burning in my forearms

I throw my eyes down

Realizing it's your hands

Steaming and smoking

My skin beginning to burn and blister

I throw my gaze up to your face

I watch in horror as your face erupts

Into flame your features and skin

Blistering and evaporating away

I jerk upright in my bed

Screaming

I throw my face into my hands

Tears streaming down my cheeks

And through the gaps of my fingers

I ask myself what I had just seen

I lift my face from my hands

And realize I see a flickering glow under my door

And smoke billowing into the room

I jump from my bed flinging my blanket off of me

It sails into the corner of the room

I bound over to my door and jiggle it with my fingers

Testing it to see if I'd get my hand melted off my body

It was cool

I turned the knob and pulled my door open

Smoke hit me in the face

I stepped out into the hallway cupping my face

And as the timbers and roof

Come crashing down around me

I see a way to escape

Down an emblazoned hallway

I throw my eyes to the charred

Smoke and ember smothered door

I take off running

My feet digging into the floor

The heat brushing against the skin of my heels

Timbers falling and just barely missing

My shoulder making way

I slam into the door

I struggle as I try to turn the knob

I flick the deadbolt lock

And I shove it open

I stumble out

And run down the stairs of the porch

I get some ways away

And collapse into the grass

Giving a deep huff of my breath

I collapse on my back

After hours of hoses

Shooting streaks of white water at the house

And men running amongst their trucks

Scrambling to put out the flames

The sun had just crest the horizon

My room was just barely untouched

I snuck in to grab my things

As I climbed through a gapping window

Pried open by cramped and shaky hands

My bedroom door wide open

The charred ruins of the house beyond

I grab a black hooded sweatshirt

Fade to the point of being almost grey

With small a bleached patch here or there

And a worn scuffed white skull blazened on the front

I grab a pair of pants from my dresser and pull them on my body

I hoist my bag filled with books to the point it feels like bricks onto my back

The left shoulder strap being tied in a knot due to a buckle snapping in two

And leaving a scar on the inside of my elbow

I heft myself back out of the window

And set off towards school at a sure pace

By the time I arrived my calves felt like they were on fire

My back ached

And I smelled like someone who went to the gym

And then sat next to someone

While they smoked an entire pack of cigarettes

And then dumped the ashtray on them

I got inside the school after buzzing myself in

I walked into the office

Walls creamy white and fake plants

Seeming to be placed almost strategically around

The desk worker handing me a red piece of paper

With my name emblazoned in blue ink on it

The owner of the hand giving it to me

Her face having a professional look

Behind a set of wiry glasses

I step out into the almost cavernous hallway

My footsteps echoing off of the white tiles

I make it just a little after my second class began

I get let in by the teacher, her giving me a greeting

In German and I give it back in response

I shuffle over to my desk and have a seat

Planting my bag on the floor

Rows of desks spread out to my left and right

With someone sitting in front me

The sight of the girl's brown hair

Smacking me in the face

I peer over my shoulder and see you

Sitting diagonally from me

Your sparkling blue eyes

Focused on the notebook in front of you

Your delicate fingers grasping a pencil in one hand

And holding the paper down with the other

Your right hand swishing the pencil gracefully

Writing what

I don't know

You glance up at me

A somewhat normal blank expression on your face

I give a slight smile and turn forward

The sensation of my body sizzling from the flames

Feeling of my skin melting to my bones

And the sight of you bursting into flames

Clouds my vision for a moment

I clench my eyes shut tight

I shiver with goosebumps springing up on my body

I take a deep breath

As I prepare myself for the day to come