Here it is, this is probably the end of my life. I have just awakened in a place engulfed in flames. Heart-wrenching screams echo through the room, while someone laughs hysterically in the distance. Perhaps it is madness gripping me, or perhaps I cannot comprehend the horror that surrounds me.
I look around with terrified eyes. I have no visible wounds and I can move, but the fire dances menacingly everywhere. Three human figures flail frantically in the room, with no apparent direction or purpose, as if condemned to wander in a hell with no escape. Desperation grows as I try to understand how I ended up in this nightmare.
Suddenly, my gaze falls upon a white door at the far end of the room. A flash of hope crosses my mind. I do not know where it leads, nor why it is there, but an irresistible force pushes me toward it. Perhaps it is just an illusion, a mirage created by my panicked mind, but it represents the only chance of salvation.
With a courage I didn't know I possessed, I get up and run towards the door. The crazed laughter still resounds behind me, but it no longer has power over me. If a madman wants to laugh while burning alive, let him. I must survive.
I throw the door open and find myself before a staircase. The fire door has saved me, or so I hope. A glimmer of relief illuminates my face as I venture into the unknown, hoping this stairway will lead me far from that inferno of fire and despair.