My Worst Nightmare

Red. The air smelled like red.

I sat straight up in bed, jolted awake by a crash that seemed to shake the earth itself. Screams followed, loud sobbing and animals yelping could be heard in the distance. A hellish heat engulfed my body, threatening to catch my hair, my clothes, and eat away at them with bright, consuming flames.

Allowing myself to look around and take in what surrounded me, I saw a picture taken straight from a horror film. My bed and the wall behind it were completely intact; across from me, where a wall should be, where my familiar pictures and pointless knick-knacks once sat upon a beautiful, dark cherry-wood dresser, there was empty space. All of it, gone. My door, the hallway, leading to the stairs, and to... My sister!

"Where is she!?"

Frantic, I lept from my bed, not caring that the only items of clothing I had on were an old hoodie and too-short shorts. My tousled auburn curls whipped across my face in a sudden burst of hot air as one of my windows shattered, letting in more heat and dancing embers; they looked frozen in time, darting through the air, then hanging, suspended, in my vision. I glanced to my right, toward the window, then decided it wasn't important at the moment.. I'd just leave it for later.

Focus. Jenny; I have to find her. I searched the void where the hallway used to be, then scanned across to where her room balanced precariously on only two supporting walls. The floor swayed slightly, tilting toward the empty space between us. Then I found her.

We locked eyes, and I screamed her name. She whimpered slightly, it was barely audible over the roar of the surrounding destruction. It was like she knew what was coming.

I yelled to her, "Don't move! I'm coming to get you!" I searched, hopelessly, for a way across. "Just, don't move, don't move, don't.....move..."

I trailed off when I saw. The floor split, the cieling began to cave; the look on Jenny's face shattered my heart... She squeezed her little eyes shut, and I watched her fall.

My scream echoed throughout the ruins of my once elegant house. I sank to my knees, wrapping my arms around myself, and cried.