Hungry eyes

The smell of fire filled the air, filling his nostrils, choking and inflaming his lungs. In a mighty effort for breathe, he started coughing violently. It shook his massive frame causing him to bend over and drop to one knee. "No," he thought. "NOW was not the time dior this." He knew he had to keep going, keep moving. To stop now was to quit, to die. The fire would get him, it would stop him. They would all die.

Looking up, he could see the layer of smoke on the ceiling. That is what had gotten him, it was thick now. No more running, it was time to crawl. Gasping shallow breaths of the hot smoky air, he took stock of the situation. The last thing he could afford to do was to panic, here, now. In this.

Four more doors, he just had to crawl four doors to his daughters room. She was young and wouldn't know how to get out. He had to save her. He was sweating through his shirt, the fire was getting hot.

Soon, he reached her door, now to get her out. He reached for the knob and hesitated before opening it. "Was it hot?" he wondered. His survival instinct kicking in, his subconscious taking control. Gently, taking precious seconds he knew he didn't have, he touched the handle. It didn't burn him. Sighing with relief, he should hear his daughter crying over the sound of the fire alarm. It's incessant beeping had deafened him.

With a hurried effort, he opened the door. Only to be greeted with a parent's nightmare. His daughter sat huddled in the corner, crying, with a wall of flame between him and her. The roof was burning and had fallen through. He would have to cross through the fire to get her, and then back out.

He gathered a deep breath and never hesitated. The fire burned for a moment and then he was through. He grabbed his daughter into his arms, and hugged her tight. Then grabbing her blankie from her bed, he wrapped it around her and rushed for the door. It hurt a little bit more, but then he was through.

Once he reached the hallway again, he crouched down to catch his breath. Gazing towards the outside door, he could see that things had gotten worse in his absence. The fire had spread. It was going to be a hot escape. He knew he was going to get burned badly doing this. But it was their only chance of escape. And if he waited any longer, they wouldn't have that.

Gathering his sobbing daughter, he lunged for the door. The fire burned so bad, but he never stopped. Finally, he hurled himself through the burning door, back first and out into the cold night. He hit the ground hard, his daughter coming free. Instinctively, he rolled around on the ground making sure HE wasn't on fire.

Once satisfied that he was no longer burning, he looked for daughter. She sat a few feet away, her blankie smoking, but unharmed. He heard his wife running up to them, screaming their daughter's name.

And then everything went black.

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