The Haunting Memory

by Zulema Flores

As I awoke from the horrifying screams, millions and millions of particles filled the air. I could not see the rest of my body, but I knew it was still intact. As I tried to follow the voices which had startled me, I fell immediately to the ground; trying to make my way to the door, I felt the hot flames trying to make their way to my room. My house had never seemed so strange to me, I could not even remember were things were placed, as I bumped and crashed into them. I knew that if I panicked, I would no longer exist and that fear would swallow me up, so I tried to stay calm and took a deep breath, but it hurt as the smog entered my lungs. While crawling on the floor, my eyes watered and tears rolled down, not knowing if the others had made it; I made my way out of the maze - I had never been so happy in my life to see light again, and my family waiting for me.

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Zulema Flores, author of The Hobo, is a student at Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton, Oregon.