A Is For…

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Good morning 🙂

The sun is just beginning to shine here in my corner of Kent (which always puts me in a good mood) and today is day one of the Blogging A-Z Challenge!

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Which means…..its A day and my random word generator gave me the word “Ablaze”…..

“Hello?…” Alan removed his oxygen mask. “Is there anyone in here?”

There was no reply, but he knew from experience that it didn’t automatically mean the floor was clear. It was then that he heard her. A feint cry in the smokey darkness. Had he heard correctly? Or was it sound travelling from the group of neighbours who had gathered outside.

“Can you hear me? Tell me where you are?” Alan stood motionless, straining to hear the direction the sound had come from. He knew there wasn’t much time, they’d already lost ceilings on three of the five floors. This was his job, his life. How many times had he returned home to Bonnie and the kids and hugged them so tightly they’d begged to be released.

Replacing his oxygen mask he scanned the room, knowing what to look for, how to tell the difference between a body and a pile of rags. Twenty years had taught him the places people crawled to when surrounded by heat and smoke.

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surachai @ FreeDigitalPhotos

And thats when he saw her, just a tiny movement in the corner of his eye. She was curled up under a small table, whimpering. Scooping her up in his arms he ran back to the door way just as a huge beam fell from the ceiling, crushing the table and sending a blanket of fire in Alan’s direction. He turned and curled his body around his charge, shielding her from the flames.

Stumbling blindly down 2 flights of stairs, visibility was down to inches, but he remembered the way out and as he ran down the last corridor he could hear his colleagues on the radio calling him, telling him to get out. It took his eyes several seconds to adjust to the daylight when he fell into the street. Someone grabbed him, pulled him over to the truck and removed his mask.

“You ok boss?”

Alan looked up into the blackened face of trainee Joe.

“Yeah, I’m good son, you go help Pete.”

Joe patted him on the shoulder and was gone.

Alan leant back against the truck and opened his jacket. Two small brown eyes looked up at him. He removed his gloves and pulled the tiny Yorkshire Terrier up so that she could breath fresh air. She trembled and crawled up his chest and licked his ear.

 

I enjoyed that 🙂

 

**Please note – All fiction that appears on this blog during April has been written LIVE and is in first draft form. No editing, spell checks, research or rewrites have been done.

33 thoughts on “A Is For…”

  10. LOVED IT! Not only is it fantastic to see you back on the blog again but it’s lovely to be able to read some of your writing. You’ve not lost your touch. 😉 Great start to the A-Z challenge. Looking forward to the rest!
    Cat x

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  11. Oh be still my heart, I had a feeling it was just such a precious creature under that table! I really enjoyed this, Vikki, you got the timing and suspense bit going on. Well done, indeed!

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    • Awwww, thanks Kirsten….*whispers* perhaps that has something to do with the fact that I was tearful as I wrote it, thinking of the poor, frightened little bundle of fluff *gulps* 😉 xx

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