My eyes shot open at the sound of my mother’s scream. I looked up at the ceiling and watched as the flames ate away the sheet rock. My body suddenly went into panic. I looked over the side of my bed and found a clear spot next to the door where the flames had yet to touch. Thankfully the path was clear from my bed to the door. I swung the door open and ran into a dark thick cloud of smoke. With every breath, the smoke crept down into my lungs which made me cough uncontrollably. Then I suddenly had a flash back to the fire safety class we had in 4th grade. You’re supposed to crawl on the floor because the smoke rises so the air is clearer closer to the floor. I dropped to my hands and knees and moved quickly through the debris. Listening and searching for any sign of my mother.
My eyes stung from the smoke and they began to water. Suddenly I heard my mother call my name “Rose! Rose! Where are you?” she yelled between violent coughs. I kept moving closer to the sound of her voice. The sound of the ceiling crashing to the floor and the flames crackling surrounded me. But I stayed focused on my mother’s voice until I saw her. I called her name and moved quickly to her side. “Oh my god Rose I was so worried about you” she hugged me tightly. ”Alright we have to move quickly now Rose go down the hall and out the front door!” We stood up and with our hands clasped tightly we ran through the hallway. We were jumping and weaving through the broken and crumbling pieces of our home. Finally we reached the front door. The cool night air hit our faces as I swung the door open. We ran down the porch steps, through the front lawn and into the empty street. We watched as the flames as they swallowed our house. My mother sobbed on my shoulder. I heard sirens in the background and people started to crowd around us. But the only thing going through my mind was “We made it out alive…We are alive”.