“WE NEED MORE HANDS.. ITS A MESS HERE, AND WE ARE NEARLY OUT OF WATER.…"

The shoutings of a firefighter over his radio dies off by the sounds of sirens and the commotion of the mob; who like every good civilian, have gathered here giving a hard time to the police. Everyone wants to witness the mystical spectacle of the fire that seems to be alive. People have started broadcasting the incident live on social media and its gaining likes and RTs in aww over the dancing revolving fiery tornado. Every now and then, occasional hissing and blasting sounds an be heard, and they are just adding the music to the

performance.

Another red vehicle arrives amidst the crowded road just as mysteriously as the fire had in the building. After an intense battling the fire starts yielding to the fighters paving way for the rescue operation. In the crowd there is also this woman in her 20s trying really hard to break free of the police barricade. Tears are falling down her eyes and her voice is broken, perhaps because of her constant screaming or

maybe it’s just due to her helplessness. Two hours and the helmets have doused off the fire completely, except on the top floor, where it is still holding firm.

Another loud blast shrieks and shatters a glass wall, raining down the shards on friends and foes alike. The policeman and fire fighters who have just started to feel relieved and mob that was enjoying the show, are all shown what power the fire holds. The police isn’t sure anymore to what to do. Civilians are running in every direction. The firefighters are somewhat unfazed but the presence of confusion can be clearly witnessed in their eyes.

The women, however, seems unaffected by all the pandemonium surrounding her. Her only focus is on her family and if no one has yet rescued them, that she is going in. Her tears are blocking her vision yet she is determined. She must do something and this is her chance. She dashes towards the entrance and a firefighter follows hoping to stop her, only to fall down after tripping over a grass knot.

She is in. Surrounded by thick black smoke.. Through the deafening roar of fire she hears now, all the sirens and commotion are like whinings of a mosquito. There is no light and even the power of the full moon seems inefficient in penetrating that darkness. Fortunately she knows the apartment at the back of her hand, and goes straight up the stairs easily, that is, if you ignore the various burns from touching the railing and injuries from a trip.

She reaches the top floor, the 23rd one, and sees two firefighters being toyed by their adversary. As soon as they finish with one spot in the corridor, the fire emerges resurrected. The woman runs past those men but for some reason they don’t even try to stop her. Maybe they are too occupied with the fire but

that’s no way to be a firefighter. At least they could have saved her dupatta from burning, after all, it just passed brushing one of them before it grew those flames. Now, her breaths are exposed to the black soot.

“MOM!! ZAYAAN!! ANYBODY?? Where are you??”, she keeps calling out hoping for an answer. She slams

open her apartment door, as she had done many times in her training. When it opened, ashes and smoke starts blowing through as the heat is pulled toward her. There’s fire behind her, and she sees nobody upfront. Apart from the smoke and heat, the smell of that fire is something that has reached its peak. It

is not the cozy smell of a campfire but the putrid stench of synthetic carpeting, drywall plaster, and household appliances melting, the toxic cloud of the life disintegrating. Just then she hears a familiar voice, “RUN!! GET OUT OF HERE!! RUN!!”

Hearing the panic in the voice, she is even more determined to rescue her family. “Hold on! I’m coming," she shouts back and follows the voice to the dining room. The fire is leaving no stone unturned to stop her in her tracks and she is coughing badly. But she is determined, so determined as if some roohani power cheering up her spirit.. However what she sees breaks the determination, or should it be said, destroys it. Her brother is completely surrounded by fire a snake emerges from amidst those flames; a snake made of fire, or a fire that has been moulded in the form of a snake. Whatever that thing is, it hisses and engulfs Zayaan in one go, before turning towards her, as if to show off its eyes that are even darker than the dark she has ever seen in her lifetime..

She is frozen but the burns and smell make her regain her senses and she runs for the door which is closed again somehow. She swings it open, and gets blown back, knocking down a potrait that resembles the Bigg Boss logo. She screams in pain and cries for help but no one is coming, not even those two firefighters. She gasps for breath and crawls across the floor with blood drooling from her ankle, hoping to make it out this time. Unfortunately, the snake has caught upto her. It makes another hissing sound and attacks. It is just about an inch away, when the searing heat and black smoke and the injuries overtakes her and she collapses.

Twelve hours later, she is awakened by the sun rays falling on her face. “She’s awake..”, says someone and from what she could make out with her half open eyes, a figure wearing white clothes advances towards her..

_________

Vocab

Bigg Boss: Indian version of reality TV show Big Brother. Google/Bing/Baidu for its logo.

Roohani: Holy or spiritual