Putting Out Fires

The scene near the classroom where I’d left Fionna was chaotic, to say the least. Students were running past me down the hall, going as fast as they possibly could, looking for the nearest exit. When I got right to the classroom, door, the kids running past me weren’t just scared anymore. No, the ones fleeing the scene of the incident had more pressing issues, other than fear--many of them were on fire.

My eyes bulged from my head as I stared at them, coughing myself from the smoke. I needed them to stop, to slow down, so that I could help them, but none of them were capable of thinking clearly at the time. It was clear to me that no one had ever taught these kids, “Stop, drop, and roll,” like I’d learned as a little kid.

“Hey, wait!” I shouted to a few who burst past me, their shirts on fire, one of them with her hair