“What about the boy? We haven’t seen him yet!”

“He won’t survive the fire and if he does, we kill him.”

He stayed as quiet as he could. He was so afraid his heart was going to give away his position, considering it was beating so hard in his ears. Could they hear him breathing? The leaves didn’t rustle did they? His panicked mind just continued to race with all the possibilities of being caught.

After what felt like hours, the little boy heard the horses ride away with their riders. When he figured it to be safe, he slipped out of the bushes. He looked in the direction the riders left before turning to his burning residence.

I have to save them!

The boy ran into the fire, holding up his arms he ran through. He tried to navigate through the fire that licked and nipped at his clothing. But he had to ignore it! He had to find them!

“Mama! Baba! Xiaohui! Luli!”

He began coughing as the smoke became too much. He had to stop for a moment. He tried to recover his breath and blink away the tears but it began to become too much. He began to crawl back to the entrance he came through. It was then that he heard the cracking.

He looked up and saw the ceiling began to cave.

He held up his arms and opened his mouth to scream.