Creative Writing #3

      Elizabeth stirred, her breathing quickening out of the steady, quiet pace, her eyes fluttered open. All she could see were the blurred shadows of her room around her, her eyes adjusting to the light flickering through the door. It looked like it was very late, she lay in bed wondering what woke her. Suddenly, her eyes flew open, she could tell something was wrong. The smell of smoke, and burning filled her room. She ran to her bedroom door and peered through. The flickering light she saw was actually a blazing fire, travelling quickly up the stairs. She stood at the doorway shocked, and unable to move. The dark smoke rising to the ceiling, making it hard to breathe. She gasped in the black smoke, which led to her choking, and dropping to the ground. The stairs collapsed, and under the roar of the flames, she could hear her brother, Timothy, yelling her name. She crawled across the floor, she could barely see her brother. He was at the bottom of the stairs,  by the door, but he was cornered, and there was fire all around him. She blinked back tears, the smoke rising off the ground, carrying black ashes of furniture with it. She knew she had to make a decision. If she could get to the bottom of the stairs, she could escape, but she couldn't leave her brother behind. The fire was travelling quickly, the smoke was becoming unbearable. The floor was beginning to collapse around her, she would have to jump. Panic and fear filled her eyes, her heart pounding, the red-yellow flames eating up everything. She stood up, her head aching, took a running start, and jumped of the stairs, plunging towards the flames.