He was engulfed by the fire but he did not feel the flames. What the heck was going on? He thought to himself. The brightness of the fire was blinding, but with a squint he could make out a dark shadow in the distance. Since there was nothing else around him he headed towards the shadow. What is it? He thought to himself. And as he got closer the image got clearer. Then, he saw her. His wife was tied to a cross in the middle of all the flames. His heart sank and fear enveloped him. "Lisa!" He called out, but she did not hear him. He ran through the blaze and just about reached his wife when the ground ripped open, like it had been struck by an earthquake of the highest magnitude, revealing a burning hell chasm underneath. "Lisa!" He called out one more time. Damn it! Why won't she wake up?! His mind raced. Then, she opened her eyes. But her eyes were not full of fear. They had a little twinkle of happiness in there, a sorrowful kind of happiness. She smiled and even though she did not say anything the man could hear her whisper into the air, "Goodbye…"

"NO!" He screamed with all his heart, but she had already plummeted.

John Sanders found himself upright in his bed, covered in cold sweat. "What the…?" It had all been a dream. He was at home, a three-story mansion in Europe, and his beautiful wife Lisa next to him, sound asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that nothing had happened. I'm only 30, damn it. I shouldn't be having psychotic dreams about hell until I'm around my father's age. He thought to himself, smiling slightly. He crawled out of the warm bed, stretched a little, and headed out the door. He checked in on his 12 year old daughter, Lily, across the hall and saw her sound asleep as well. He smiled again and headed downstairs to the first floor, where the kitchen was. He grabbed a carton of milk out of the refrigerator and poured it into a glass. He took a sip and looked out the big bay windows into the night sky. It was still pretty dark, though it was a beautiful night, cloudless and full of stars. John gave a deep sigh and got a little light headed. He must still have been a little tired. He finished up his midnight snack and proceeded upstairs again. He was thinking to himself right then that his life was perfect. Suddenly, a thunderous explosion shook the entire house. John was thrown off his feet, landing on his back on the steps. He looked back down into the first floor seeing that it was ablaze. Shit! There must have been a gas leak! That would explain why John had gotten dizzy. Something must have sparked the gas to explode. He hurried back to the top floor and saw that Lisa and Lily were awake. "There was a gas leak in the kitchen!" He called out over the roar of the quickly spreading flames. "We have to get out!" The girls nodded in agreement. He could see the shock in their eyes. He grabbed both their hands and led them towards the stairs that led to the main entrance, knowing that the kitchen stairs would already be in flames. The fire was growing way too fast. It ate up the expensive carpeting like a hungry demon on a feeding frenzy. Luckily the front entrance into the grand hall was made of ceramic tiles. The fire would not be able to get there. Suddenly Lisa tripped and fell to the floor. "Go! I'll help your mother!" He shouted to Lily and pushed her towards the door. She was reluctant to leave, but she knew her father would not take 'no' for an answer. She hurried out the front doors just as John had helped Lisa up. We're almost there… John thought. As if to spite his thoughts, some of the ceiling gave way and collapsed right in front of them, flames blocking their entrance. "Damn it!" John cursed; his rage was getting as hot as the flames. "We'll have to find a way out from upstairs!" He called out to his wife. He grabbed her hand again and led the way back upstairs. The second floor was in terrible shape also. If the flames did not block his way, they might have been able to jump out a window into the back yard pool, but he could see by the bright flames that it was out of the question. There was another window in the recreation room that pointed out into the front lawn. It would be a hard landing, but there was no other means of escape. He made his way to the door down the hall that would lead to the recreation room, his wife by his side. "We'll have to jump out this window!" He shouted. He had just finished saying that when his wife shouted, "Watch out!" He looked above and saw that the ceiling was going to collapse again. He reached out to throw Lisa out of the window, but something he did not expect happened. She had pushed him first. The strength of her shove was surprising. He flew past the falling wreckage and burst out the window. He was falling, but everything seemed to slow down. From mid air he could see Lisa smiling, her eyes saying 'Goodbye'. All the memories he had of her were flashing through his mind. And they shattered as the entire mansion crumbled in on itself before John could even hit the floor.