(This story was made by me and my friend. Hope you like it.)
My head was painfully throbbing the moment I felt my senses coming back. I quickly opened my eyes and gasped for air but nothing except the saturated smoke filled my lungs. With squinting eyes, I surveyed the room for the quickest way out. Ten paces away, I spotted the half melted sign struggling to hang on its position.A second passed and I caught a familiar voice calling out for help My head turned to every direction but all I could see was the petrifying tongues of fire waiting to devour everything on its path. “Anyone! Help!”
“Etienne! Take centerfield!” Scott was cornered and waiting for the right timing to pass the ball. The timer was ticking louder than it used to be when I was suddenly slide-tackled by number 14. The referee blew his whistle and called for a penalty kick. Minutes later, I found myself huddling with my team around me. Honestly I was shocked with the world playing fast forward in front of me. I knew that winning goal wasn’t for me. Scott could’ve kicked that ball straight into the goal keeper’s face but he choose to pass the spotlight and give me the shot.
I found Scott with his right leg crushed by the pillar. I gave the fire exit a last glance and painfully made my way towards Skye. Even though the fire was on its move, I crawled faster to where Scott was. I quickly got my handkerchief out my pocket and masked Scott’s nose with it. “Hold on, Budd.” I gave the heavy pillar a quick push and struggled to pull Scott out the wreckage. Together, we limped towards the exit however we were too late. ~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~
So here I am, screaming for help because my leg is crushed under a pillar that is not on fire …yet. What kind of Marine am I? I started coughing and my lungs started burning. I stopped screaming for help, obviously everybody got out already…unless the others who are still here are dead. I shook my head, I can’t afford to think of anything that will lose my composure. There is only one thing to think of: Survive. Suddenly, I felt heat surrounding my trapped leg, I turned around to see that the pillar that trapped my leg is now burning, in a matter of minutes, I’ll be burning with it. My first thought is that I’m losing my mind, because I saw a man’s silhouette beside me. “Hold on, Budd” The silhouette said. But that was it, it spoke. No wait – HE spoke. It was a man’s voice. Unmistakably it belongs too... “Etienne.” I said in disbelief. It took me a second to realize what he was doing on my side. He was trying to lift the pillar, save my life.
Sophomore year. Biology class. I was texting which, if caught, would earn you a week in detention. But I’ve been doing it for so long now I didn’t care. I was about to put my phone back in my pocket when I noticed that everyone was staring at me, and that Ms. Coude stopped talking. “Mr. Skyes, I am sure you are well aware that texting during class in not allowed.” She said. “But I wasn’t texting.” I said in defense, which I wish I didn’t. Because I knew what her next answer would be. “Then please enlighten me on why you were holding your phone and looking at it’s screen?” she said, eyebrows raised. Before I could answer, Etienne answered for me. “Ms. Coude, isn’t obvious by the look of his place? He accidentally knocked down his bag making his cellphone fall out. He was just checking if it was still alive. I know, I am right beside him. But if you don’t believe me, then you could ask everybody else.” Everyone started muttering in agreement. Etienne had that way too him. “Very well.” Said Ms. Coude. I looked at Etienne and before I could say any message, he just winked at me.
He helped me up, apparently my leg was broken. Typical. Etienne was about to bring us towards the ONLY exit door visible when the roof collapsed and blocked it. “Crap.” He cursed. I vaguely heard the screams of fire and the – Without me thinking, my instincts kicked in. I pushed Etienne out of the way before we got crushed under the roof. ~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~
Clouds of ashes rose into the atmosphere as the crumbling roof met the floor. We were now temporarily trapped between the building debris and a wall behind us. For a moment the small space enclosing us turned annoyingly silent and it was harder for me to breath, now. I rested my head on my knees
The sun was setting and the leaves took the monotonous colors of red and orange. I was staring across the horizon when I heard my phone ring. It was Scott. No matter how worse things got between us, he was still my best friend and I awfully miss him. “Hey. I see you’ve brought a ball with you.” Shocked, I quickly turned and saw him shoving his phone back to his pockets. I threw the ball and he caught it. “You still go up here?” “Of course. This has the awesomest view of the sun.” I caught the ball back. “Etienne. I know what you’re probably thinking, but just here me out---“ “You know what I just realized something. I was too apathetic not seeing what was between you and Claudette.” “You’re getting it all wrong.” “NO! You are the one getting this all wrong. I was too selfish from keeping the two of you together. I was scared Skye---scared of being attached towards her.” “I never knew…” “I never wanted anything to break what was previously established. For one, I know my priorities, and one of those is our friendship.” I threw the ball on the ground and left the scene.
I still remembered why I hated him. I was breathing harder now. How sarcastic life could be; I thought and laughed to myself. “I can’t believe you’re still laughing while we're about to get roasted in this room---The typical Etienne.” “I just remembered something with the awful silence.” He grinned and coughed immediately. “After we get out, let’s have a better reunion than this alright.I just remembered happy 9th bro-sary.” ~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~
As I was listening to Etienne speaking, I couldn’t help but get a little flashback back when we were in the middle of senior year…
This was supposed to be our 4th bro-sary. Something Etienne and I invented. It was the day we became more than best friends, we became more of like brothers. Anyway, this was just another day for me to regret what I’ve done. As I was reminiscing what happened, I didn’t really pay much attention to where I was going. Until I bumped into someone. We both muttered an apology, but when we both looked up to see who we bumped into… “Etienne.” I said. But at the same time he said, “Scott.” It wasn’t like we haven’t seen each other for the past six months, we did. But hadn’t really said a word to each other. We haven’t even made eye contact! But that wasn’t the point. “Umm…” Etienne said awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand since he was carrying his Physics book. “It’s been along time…” He said. I knew immediately that he remembered what day it is. That made me tense all over. “Yeah.” Was all I could say. I looked down at the floor, anything to make me not look at him. Before I could lose my witts and said, “I’m sorry.” “For what specifically?” He said grudgingly. I winced at his tone but I didn’t reply. He looked at me and his gaze softened. “I’m sorry too.” At that exact moment the bell rang. We stared at each other for a little while longer. I nodded first and turned around to go to my Statistics class.
What brought me back to reality was Etienne gasping for air. He doubled over. I ignored the sudden pain in my leg. I carried Etienne on my shoulders. I moved burning wood, rubble, and ash as quick as I can. My destination? The wall. Once I reached the wall, I was covered with burns, cut and ash. But that is the least of my problems. I looked over to Etienne and saw that he was turning purple. With great difficulty, I ran towards the wall and tried to knock it down. I thought that if I get a hole through that wall, I could let in Oxygen (even though that will make the fire worse but I really needed to get Etienne Oxygen) and check carefully if there was anyone down there, hopefully with a trampoline. The fire around us was taunting me. I heard its whispers vaguely. But I couldn’t hear what it was saying though. I went back a little bit, I charged back to the wall. Good news: I made a hole. Bad news: We were plummeting to our death. I think the sensation of falling woke Etienne back to his sense because he started screaming. I for one, did not scream. I contemplated on how stupid the plan was. Before I got to the second part of my scolding, I hit a soft object, and the sensation of falling stopped. At first, I thought I was dead, then I realized that we landed on a Trampoline.
My head was painfully throbbing the moment I felt my senses coming back. I quickly opened my eyes and gasped for air but nothing except the saturated smoke filled my lungs. With squinting eyes, I surveyed the room for the quickest way out. Ten paces away, I spotted the half melted sign struggling to hang on its position.A second passed and I caught a familiar voice calling out for help My head turned to every direction but all I could see was the petrifying tongues of fire waiting to devour everything on its path. “Anyone! Help!”
“Etienne! Take centerfield!” Scott was cornered and waiting for the right timing to pass the ball. The timer was ticking louder than it used to be when I was suddenly slide-tackled by number 14. The referee blew his whistle and called for a penalty kick. Minutes later, I found myself huddling with my team around me. Honestly I was shocked with the world playing fast forward in front of me. I knew that winning goal wasn’t for me. Scott could’ve kicked that ball straight into the goal keeper’s face but he choose to pass the spotlight and give me the shot.
I found Scott with his right leg crushed by the pillar. I gave the fire exit a last glance and painfully made my way towards Skye. Even though the fire was on its move, I crawled faster to where Scott was. I quickly got my handkerchief out my pocket and masked Scott’s nose with it. “Hold on, Budd.” I gave the heavy pillar a quick push and struggled to pull Scott out the wreckage. Together, we limped towards the exit however we were too late.
~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~
So here I am, screaming for help because my leg is crushed under a pillar that is not on fire …yet.
What kind of Marine am I?
I started coughing and my lungs started burning.
I stopped screaming for help, obviously everybody got out already…unless the others who are still here are dead. I shook my head, I can’t afford to think of anything that will lose my composure. There is only one thing to think of: Survive.
Suddenly, I felt heat surrounding my trapped leg, I turned around to see that the pillar that trapped my leg is now burning, in a matter of minutes, I’ll be burning with it.
My first thought is that I’m losing my mind, because I saw a man’s silhouette beside me. “Hold on, Budd” The silhouette said. But that was it, it spoke. No wait – HE spoke. It was a man’s voice. Unmistakably it belongs too...
“Etienne.” I said in disbelief. It took me a second to realize what he was doing on my side. He was trying to lift the pillar, save my life.
Sophomore year. Biology class. I was texting which, if caught, would earn you a week in detention. But I’ve been doing it for so long now I didn’t care. I was about to put my phone back in my pocket when I noticed that everyone was staring at me, and that Ms. Coude stopped talking.
“Mr. Skyes, I am sure you are well aware that texting during class in not allowed.” She said.
“But I wasn’t texting.” I said in defense, which I wish I didn’t. Because I knew what her next answer would be.
“Then please enlighten me on why you were holding your phone and looking at it’s screen?” she said, eyebrows raised.
Before I could answer, Etienne answered for me. “Ms. Coude, isn’t obvious by the look of his place? He accidentally knocked down his bag making his cellphone fall out. He was just checking if it was still alive. I know, I am right beside him. But if you don’t believe me, then you could ask everybody else.” Everyone started muttering in agreement. Etienne had that way too him.
“Very well.” Said Ms. Coude. I looked at Etienne and before I could say any message, he just winked at me.
He helped me up, apparently my leg was broken. Typical. Etienne was about to bring us towards the ONLY exit door visible when the roof collapsed and blocked it. “Crap.” He cursed.
I vaguely heard the screams of fire and the –
Without me thinking, my instincts kicked in. I pushed Etienne out of the way before we got crushed under the roof.
~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~
Clouds of ashes rose into the atmosphere as the crumbling roof met the floor. We were now temporarily trapped between the building debris and a wall behind us. For a moment the small space enclosing us turned annoyingly silent and it was harder for me to breath, now. I rested my head on my knees
The sun was setting and the leaves took the monotonous colors of red and orange. I was staring across the horizon when I heard my phone ring. It was Scott. No matter how worse things got between us, he was still my best friend and I awfully miss him. “Hey. I see you’ve brought a ball with you.” Shocked, I quickly turned and saw him shoving his phone back to his pockets. I threw the ball and he caught it. “You still go up here?”
“Of course. This has the awesomest view of the sun.”
I caught the ball back.
“Etienne. I know what you’re probably thinking, but just here me out---“
“You know what I just realized something. I was too apathetic not seeing what was between you and Claudette.”
“You’re getting it all wrong.”
“NO! You are the one getting this all wrong. I was too selfish from keeping the two of you together. I was scared Skye---scared of being attached towards her.”
“I never knew…”
“I never wanted anything to break what was previously established. For one, I know my priorities, and one of those is our friendship.” I threw the ball on the ground and left the scene.
I still remembered why I hated him. I was breathing harder now. How sarcastic life could be; I thought and laughed to myself. “I can’t believe you’re still laughing while we're about to get roasted in this room---The typical Etienne.”
“I just remembered something with the awful silence.” He grinned and coughed immediately. “After we get out, let’s have a better reunion than this alright.I just remembered happy 9th bro-sary.”
~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~
As I was listening to Etienne speaking, I couldn’t help but get a little flashback back when we were in the middle of senior year…
This was supposed to be our 4th bro-sary. Something Etienne and I invented. It was the day we became more than best friends, we became more of like brothers.
Anyway, this was just another day for me to regret what I’ve done.
As I was reminiscing what happened, I didn’t really pay much attention to where I was going. Until I bumped into someone.
We both muttered an apology, but when we both looked up to see who we bumped into…
“Etienne.” I said. But at the same time he said, “Scott.”
It wasn’t like we haven’t seen each other for the past six months, we did. But hadn’t really said a word to each other. We haven’t even made eye contact! But that wasn’t the point.
“Umm…” Etienne said awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand since he was carrying his Physics book. “It’s been along time…” He said.
I knew immediately that he remembered what day it is. That made me tense all over. “Yeah.” Was all I could say. I looked down at the floor, anything to make me not look at him.
Before I could lose my witts and said, “I’m sorry.”
“For what specifically?” He said grudgingly. I winced at his tone but I didn’t reply. He looked at me and his gaze softened. “I’m sorry too.”
At that exact moment the bell rang. We stared at each other for a little while longer. I nodded first and turned around to go to my Statistics class.
What brought me back to reality was Etienne gasping for air. He doubled over. I ignored the sudden pain in my leg. I carried Etienne on my shoulders. I moved burning wood, rubble, and ash as quick as I can. My destination? The wall.
Once I reached the wall, I was covered with burns, cut and ash. But that is the least of my problems. I looked over to Etienne and saw that he was turning purple.
With great difficulty, I ran towards the wall and tried to knock it down. I thought that if I get a hole through that wall, I could let in Oxygen (even though that will make the fire worse but I really needed to get Etienne Oxygen) and check carefully if there was anyone down there, hopefully with a trampoline.
The fire around us was taunting me. I heard its whispers vaguely. But I couldn’t hear what it was saying though. I went back a little bit, I charged back to the wall.
Good news: I made a hole.
Bad news: We were plummeting to our death.
I think the sensation of falling woke Etienne back to his sense because he started screaming. I for one, did not scream. I contemplated on how stupid the plan was.
Before I got to the second part of my scolding, I hit a soft object, and the sensation of falling stopped. At first, I thought I was dead, then I realized that we landed on a Trampoline.