Dreams Up in Flames
July’s pencil still dances on the paper. She draws a wedding dress on her sketch pad. The sudden, high-pitched scream startled her.
July’s heart raced. Her head lifted instinctively at the disturbing sound. An eerie sense of dread filled her as she rose from her seat, her mind filled with worry.
The door swung open with a force that was a sign of imminent chaos. Becca burst in, her face a canvas of raw fear and panic. Her chest rose and fell in quick succession, her breathing was strained.
“Be, what’s going on?” July queried, her voice laced with worry as she moved away from her desk.
“Fire… next door… the coffee shop,” Becca stammered, her words choked with fear.
“Fire?” July echoed.
Without uttering another word, Becca crossed the room in swift strides. She clutched July’s arm with a grip as firm as iron. “We need to get out of here,” she implored.
“But…” July’s protest fell on deaf ears as she tried to salvage whatever she could.
“It’s too close! We have no time!” Becca’s voice echoed with desperate urgency.
There was a mountain of precious items to sort through and carry, but time was a luxury they didn’t have. If Becca lent a hand, they could salvage more. “Be, I need your help,” July pleaded.
“No time, July! We need to leave now!” Becca’s response was filled with dire urgency.
In the chaos, July managed to secure only her sketchbook before Becca yanked her away. They rushed out of the room. The ominous smell of charred wood followed them. A thunderous explosion echoed from the coffee shop next door.
July’s heart pounded in her chest like a wild drum as she sprinted. She glances over her shoulder. She gazed at the catastrophic sight of black smoke. The flames engulfed the café. The flame inches closer to her boutique.
No, this can’t be happening!
The boutique was her sanctuary, her haven. It couldn’t burn down. She needed to rescue the place, or at least the precious dress that was the fruit of her labor. An urge to break free from Becca’s iron grip bubbled up within her. She wished to go back into the boutique. She went to pick up her client’s wedding dress, but Becca’s grip was unyielding. The gravity of their situation was a harsh reality that forced July to accept it.
They descended the stairs as black smoke drifted into her tiny boutique. Several people screamed as she stepped outside. The flames filled the front of the building. July looked down as the flames tore the windows to shreds.
“No!” she cried out in anguish.
July had broken free from Becca’s grip and tried to make her way back into the boutique. Her legs sprinted forward, and she used the last of her courage to fight her way through the flames. She tried to salvage whatever she could.
“What are you doing?” Becca held her hand to stop her from running through the flames. “Don’t go crazy!”
“I had to go back in.”
“You crazy! You want to kill yourself?” Becca tugged at the girl’s arm.
“I can take one thing from in there. My design, Be!” July almost shouted.
“Can’t you see the fire has even spread to the next building?”
“No, I still can. At least one dress, please.”
“You won’t, July. Open your eyes!”
Becca pointed to the burned-out café building. The fire had consumed most of the boutique and spread to the building next door. July did not blink as she looked up into the flames. An enormous lump of spit ran down her throat. Her legs went weak, and she fell to the ground.
Becca was right; it was too late. Although the firefighters had been on the job for fifteen minutes, they had not put out the fire. It was time to give up, because everything that was there must have turned to ashes.
She wasn’t the only one who stared at it with open lips. The owner of the building next door also stared at the fire. Some people still looked shocked. Some even fainted as their businesses burned down.
The fire did not occur near a residential area. But in a shopping center that was close together on a street in the town of Weinssten. A place where some of the town’s residents, like her, made their living and fulfilled their dreams for the future.
She lifted her head and watched the flames engulf the building.It charred the building in an instant. It destroyed the wedding dresses of her clients, the designs, and all the equipment. The worst part of the fire was that it also consumed her dreams. It shattered the dream that she had been building for so long.
She sat on the curb. She stared at the smoldering remains of her once thriving business. The reality of what had happened sank in. Her phone rang. It interrupted her thoughts. It was her best friend, Be, on the other end.
“What am I supposed to do now, Be?” she asked, her voice shaking with emotion.
