On this dark long night, the wind whispers, leaves crumble throughout the night. I sit beside the window admiring nature. Suddenly, the woods go silent. 

I feel alone. 

But not for long. 

The doorbell rings. I try to stay calm, race up the stairs. I go into my room and hide under the blankets. All of a sudden, I hear a loud slam. I could feel  goosebumps all over my body. 

“Hello?” 

No reply. 

Lights flicker. 

The ground quakes.

I start to freak out. Am I being paranoid?

I’m not sure. 

I check outside the window.

Nothing. 

Just the tree's shadow growing and coming towards the house. 

What should I do? Should I stay or should I leave?

Nobody is nearby. Miles away from help. One of the most frightening things about living in the woods. 

I quickly grab my phone and jacket and head out of my bedroom. I heard something in the hallway, and stopped  in panic.  

“Ashley get me out of here, I'm in the attic,” Kevin calls down to me.

I had forgotten Kevin spent all morning in the attic, trying to fix a few things. But I didn't shut the door, so who did?  I panicked 

At that moment I started going crazy. I needed to help Kevin get out of there so we could leave and go somewhere safe. 

“Please hurry!Get me out of here!”  

“ I'm coming, just hold on a bit “ 

He sounded panicked and scared so I quickly ran down the stairs. I wondered if he heard any of the sounds from up there too. 

“Ouch” 

I twisted my ankle while running down the stairs. But I still managed to get up in pain to  find the spare key. Everything felt so unreal of what was happening at that moment, It felt like it was all a nightmare. First I was hearing sounds, Kevin getting locked up in the attic, now my ankle. How could this night get any worse? 

I went to the kitchen and looked through the drawers to find the key. 

“It has to be somewhere around here, I couldn't have misplaced the key.” 

I felt fearful at that moment. I get terrified easily with such little things, feeling the pressure of being the only one who can get Kevin out. My heart was  racing so fast, faster than the clock ticking. I see the plates and the furniture start moving. I couldn't believe that I was in this situation, there was no alert of earthquakes, so there had to be something else going on in this house.  

I had to start thinking quickly, but I couldn't think of anything. My  brain just went blank. But I knew I  had to do something. I limped back up the stairs to check in the rooms for a spare key. I started hearing sounds again as if someone else was in the house. I tried to stay focused and avoid getting distracted. 

I went to all the bedrooms upstairs and bathrooms to find the key, nothing to be found.            

          “There has to be another way to get Kevin out of there!” 

“Kevin, are you okay?” 

I didn't hear any replies from Kevin. I was concerned if something had happened to him. The last time I saw Kevin was early morning. When suddenly I start seeing light and white smoke coming from the attic. 

“Kevin, Kevin, THERE'S A FIRE ! Are you okay?” 

 No replies from Kevin. At that moment all that was going through my head was why I didn't just take action sooner and try to get help.Or at least tried to call someone for help.  If something  were to happen to Kevin it would be all my fault.   

Everything was happening so fast, I blinked once. When suddenly everything was burning and falling apart. 

I had no choice, but to save myself. 

My face filled with tears,pain, and guilt for leaving Kevin behind. Trying my hardest to run down the stairs, racing against the fire, who would win. Me or the fire. 

“ Come on, I want to get out of here!” 

It took me a while to get the door to open. But I was luckily able to make it out before something worse could happen to me.  

I walked a few feet away from the house where I wouldn't be at risk. I felt disappointed in myself. I stood for a minute with disbelief of what had happened. I dialed the fire department to get help, they were on their way but kept me on the line trying to calm me down while I explained to the dispatcher what had happened. 

“Is there  anyone inside the house?” 

The dispatcher asked. 

“Yes, my friend Kevin is locked in the attic.” 

I suddenly feel heat coming towards the back of me. 

I  hear something.

 I stay  still. 

When I heard someone say,

“Ashley i'm right here”