Chapter 9
Ivana looked down and saw that the candle
she had just lit somehow fell onto the tablecloth. In an instant, flames leaped up, quickly spreading from the table to the couch.
Ernest instinctively pulled Ivana to the side, trying to get her out of harm’s way.
Sydney tried to grab Ernest, but missed him and had to sprint over herself, accidentally knocking over a full bottle of whiskey.
The fire grew rapidly and no one in the room was brave enough to approach. Sydney clung to Ernest, trembling, “Ernest, I’m scared.”
Ernest let go of Ivana and softly comforted Sydney in his arms.
Ivana’s face paled. She tried to move, but the two women behind her were pushing and shouting, occasionally letting out
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piercing screams, “Where’s the fire extinguisher?”
The flames had grown taller and Ivana found herself being pushed closer and closer to the origin of the fire. Someone, panicked, grabbed a curtain and began waving it at the fire.
Ivana tried to retreat, but she was pushed forward by the crowd toward the flames.
“Ah!” screams filled the air.
The curtains caught fire too. The burning fabric whipped through the air, setting
tables and sofas on fire.
Panicked, the person holding the curtain shouted and threw the burning cloth straight toward Ivana.
The red flames reminded her of her
parents, triggering an overwhelming fear that froze her in place, making her unable to react normally.
The curtain landed on her head and Ivana
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Chapter 9
instantly became engulfed in flames. “Ah! Ah!” The room erupted in screams, some for Ivana and others for various people.
Ignoring the searing pain, Ivana trembled, using her shaking hands to rip the burning curtain off. “I can survive this! I can survive,” Ivana kept repeating to herself, trying to calm her mind.
Her hands burned horribly, worse than when she was locked in the cold storage
before.
“Sprinklers! Fire extinguishers!” Ernest yelled angrily. “Call 911! Call 911!”
Finally managing to tear the curtain away, what Ivana saw was utter chaos. She was now surrounded by flames.
The sprinkler system had not responded. The alarm didn’t go off and the fire.
extinguishers were nowhere to be found.
Through the thick, suffocating smoke, Ivana saw Ernest carrying Sydney as they rushed toward the exit. Everyone else
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surged toward the door, leaving Ivana to be completely surrounded by the fire.
She gritted her teeth, pushing forward through the terror, hoping to escape. But the flames were too strong. She had no choice but to carefully dodge the flickering.
flames.
Her arms, legs and feet were all burnt, but she didn’t have time to care. The smoke choked her, tears streaming from her eyes, her breathing becoming labored. She stumbled, searching for a bathroom, hoping to soak her clothes with water to cover her mouth and nose.
Everywhere she turned was fire, smoke and heat and she couldn’t tell which direction
to go in.
“I won’t die. I will survive. Why? Just seven more days. Just seven more days and I can go to France. My visa has already been approved. Mom, Dad, are you coming to pick me up?” Her consciousness began to fade, the black, choking smoke enveloping
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her as she saw what seemed to be her
parents‘ faces.
Her parents had died in a fire when she was younger, too. It was the same, the fire and the smoke everywhere.
Ivana remembered her dad, holding her and her mom as they ran out of the kitchen. Then, her dad disappeared. Later, her mom had hugged her tightly, placing her into a firefighter’s arms. After that, her mom also disappeared.
She sat surrounded by flames, hoping her parents would come out to hold her, stroke her head and say, “Ivana, don’t be afraid.”
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