Sirurie's new life

The forest fire raged on behind her as she floated unconscious on the raft. Sirurie woke with the sound of something knocking into her raft. She was not sure how long she had been floating since the forest fire. The fire that had burned everything she knew everything she built. She closed her eyes on the memories.

Looking down from the coast guard ship onto the strange raft holding the single survivor, the sailor noticed her long tangled black hair, light skin burnt and blistered, as well as, her to thin body. Swiftly, John swung his six-foot frame over the edge of the ship climbing down the ladder. As he gently lifted her into the harness, a small moan escaped her lips. He signaled and they lifted her into the ship.

John walked into the hospital room. It had been a year since he found her. He noticed that she looked much better than the first time he had seen her. He could not believe that she was still alive considering her physical state then. It was as if she didn’t exist before she had been found, floating on that tiny raft.

Sirurie awoke; this was definitely not the raft. Turning her head, she saw a stranger sitting in the room. She had never seen anything like him before. Short light yellow hair framed his angelic face. He sat tall in the strange chair. This room, the bed, the stranger, was all so confusing. She tried to sit and the man was on his feet, speaking, though the words made no sense to her. The confusion turned to panic, as she could not sit up. Her arms were restrained was she some kind of prisoner. Several people came bustling through the door, all wearing some sort of white uniforms. Her panic heightened, as she tried to get up from the bed.

John could see she was terrified, the confusion was clear on her face. He moved to the back of the room hoping that the doctor would give her a sedative quickly to help her relax. She acted as if she had never seen a hospital before. It sounded like she was speaking, French, or something closely resembling it. John dug through his memories for the couple of years he took French in high school. He hoped he could communicate with her. He found the words to relay that everything was ok, and she relaxed a little staring at him oddly.

Hearing the words that the man spoke she could not be sure, though it sounded like he was trying to get her to calm down, that these people were going to help her. Soon the people left the room they removed the restraints once she calmed down.

They had to release her to someone, and John was the only one that was willing to take her. John arrived the day they were ready to leave. He had brought her some loose fitting sweatpants and a tee shirt. John had to explain the elevators to her before she would venture into them. When they walked out the doors, her eyes grew large as she took in all the cars and tall buildings. How could he ever explain everything to her? Where exactly was she from?

After a week of not being able to get her settled, he decided to take her home to his parents after explaining the situation to them. He packed up the car and headed to the hills of Kentucky. That might be a better place for her away from the city. John kept himself occupied most of the trip singing since Sirurie was silent only asking an occasional question. Her mind occupied by thoughts of her new life and her memories of before. John was as close as she had come to anyone ever.

He was not sure he could leave her. The attraction was something that he had not told his parents, though he was sure, at least his mother would see it. John decided to stop at a gas station thirty minutes from his parent’s home when the sun began to set. Sirurie, looked over at John, taking in every detail of him, a tight feeling hit her. She jumped from the car and ran, as she passed the bathrooms she knew, this time she would not be able to stop it. She could not let it hurt anything else.

He could feel something wrong. He followed her. He could not let her leave. She headed for the woods behind the gas station. John called her name. She did not stop. John realized as he headed deeper into the woods that it was completely dark. He had to find her. Dragging onward, she found a river. John came to a staggering halt as he watched her leap into the air above the river. Fire engulfed her before she could reach the water’s edge.

She fell as a burning mass into the water. The water hissed and steam rose in the shape of a white bird. It had tears in its large black eyes as it looked at John frozen in shock. The bird flew straight into John. When the steam cleared, Sirurie lay face down in the water, and where John stood was a pile of ash.

Word count:883
**I realize this piece could use a little bit of work, to make it flow better. Now that the contest it was written for is closed I might go back to it in the future. However it is not an item I am currently working on completing.