Ashes

The snow began to fall. It was heavy, coming down in sheets. Petra could barely see the red lights coming from the fire trucks at Forever 21. She slowly sipped on a bowl of soup at Isabella's cafe, unable to concentrate on the burning sensation on her tongue. All of her energy was focused on the life she had. The clothes she folded. Her employees. Petra didn't know what to do next. Her brain was running at a mile a minute.


It was getting dark outside, and Petra knew that she had to check on the now burnt down Forever 21. Petra took one last sip of her soup, put on her jacket and opened the door to the sheets of snow. People on the streets seemed happy. It was the holidays, but Petra wasn't feeling the holiday spirit. Next to the door, the blind man was dressed as a salvation army volunteer. He was shouting quotes from movies as people placed money in his bucket.


"Well in my book, my father died a much richer man than you'll ever be!" He screamed to a man who placed a crumbled dollar bill in the bucket. 


Petra was not in the mood for people like this. She walked as fast as she could to the store. When she arrived a fire man greeted her.


"Ma'am, I am very sorry for your loss. But you are very lucky to be alive," He said with an emotionless glare.


"Thank you. Would you mind if I had a look around?" Petra replied, pointing towards the black smoke rising from the building.


"Go ahead, but be careful of any debris that fell," He warned Petra.


Petra slowly walked to the front of the store, which now consisted of broken windows and black ashes. She stepped over the window ledge and entered the building. Everything was covered in dust. But, you could still tell that it was a clothing store, from the glossy photographs of models that hung from the walls. 


Petra was in shock. She didn't know what to do with her life now. She began to pick up pace as she made her way to the second level. As she climbed the broken escalator, something made her fall. She blacked out.... 


"Can you hear me? Petra, can you hear me?" A woman in scrubs was holding her head. 


Petra was confused. The last thing she remembered was climbing the escalator. She began to panic. Petra screamed, and then she said nothing.