Burn Baby Burn

The sky is lit. Burning bright with sparks of orange. It erupts from within the darkness just like a volcano. You look up to the dark sky, uncertain whether the misplaced moon is covered by clouds or smoke. You walk towards the flames. Screams of death shatter the air above the crackling of the fire. Their lingering screeches pierce your ears and drag you back into reality. The smoke billows into your face, lathering you in ash. You turn your head to cough as your elbow wraps around your face in protection. The flames lick at your skin, hissing like a cobra that is hungry to dig it’s poisonous fangs into it’s prey. Your body is streaked with sweat and caked with layers upon layers of ashes, covering you in a mixture similar to cement. It dries and cracks as if it were an added layer of dead skin. You can feel it rub against your skin, causing an overwelling desire to itch and peel it off. You can feel beads of sweat trickling down into your eyes, but your arms feel too stiff to move. You push further into the fire. The screams have died and you stand surrounded by explosive sounds of poping. You search the streets, looking for any signs of life. Nothing. There's nothing. Only the flesh eating flames dance in mockery of your pain as it steals souls to fuel its own life. You dodge through the flames and slowly, you can feel them eating at your own body. Your skin burns. It has been ripped from the flesh, leaving your muscle to fend for itself. Your stomach curls as you see the next building. It's your house. It's fully collapsed. The wood is burnt to a dark char and small flames continue to knaw at the remains. The damage is already done. Tears burn your eyes and sting your partially baked face. Your body quivers as you release choked gasps of air. You stagger over to the wreck and you turn away immediately to cover your mouth and nose. A stagnant, metallic, burnt odour sits ideally over the burning embers. You clutch your gut and turn back to resume your search. A search for anything. Anything. Piles of ashes disperse and scatter as you step over them. You push large logs and piles of rubble out of the way. Your legs give, causing you to stumble as you carry a log. You reposition your feet to steady yourself and while doing so, you hear a crunch underneath your foot. You look down. It's a bone. A human bone. You fall to your knees and clutch it. It burns in your hands, but what does it matter. Nothing can bring back the dead. You cradle it in your arms and rock back and forth as if putting a baby to sleep. You cry in silences as you look up to the sky and watch chaos ensue. Your home is gone, burned and destroyed, with no way for you to help. In defeat, you lie down and cry, joining your fallen comrades in an eternal sleep.

***This was supposed to be put into a challenge but I was a bit tardy in finishing it***