Altsoba felt the cold embrace of death, but it was not what he had expected. He thought it might be a peaceful passage, a moment of profound enlightenment or a deep, quiet understanding of the self. Instead, it felt like slipping into a heavy, dreamless sleep, adrift in a void.

  His thoughts drifted back to earlier that day—he had been driving to pick up his little brothers and sisters. They were supposed to go to the movies and later grab pizza. It was supposed to be an ordinary day. But when he arrived at their home, the scene before him shattered everything. The house was engulfed in flames. His heart sank as he saw the familiar shapes of his family gathered outside, except for one—Sachi, the youngest of his sisters. She was still inside.

  Without a second thought, Altsoba rushed into the inferno. The smoke hit him first, thick and suffocating, blinding him, but he pushed forward, relying on memory to guide him through the labyrinth of hallways. His only thought was to find her, to save her.

  His breath came in ragged gasps as he staggered through the smoke-filled house. He couldn’t see, couldn’t think clearly, but he knew where she would be—Sachi's room. He reached it, throwing open the window to gasp at the fresh air, but it was distant, far from his suffocating lungs. Outside, sirens screamed from the woods as the crowd of onlookers watched in helpless horror.

  Screaming her name, his voice hoarse, he pushed forward, moving toward the closet. There, a tiny, trembling whimper rose above the roar of the fire. His heart leaped into his throat as he flung open the door. In the corner, cowering and sobbing uncontrollably, was Sachi.

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  He didn't hesitate. Lifting her into his arms, he began to descend the stairs, but the flames were growing, relentless. He felt the heat sear his skin as he shielded her with his body, charging through the smoke and fire. The world around him was chaos, crackling and groaning under the weight of the flames.

  A sharp crack above him—then another. He forced his legs to keep moving, each step like a hammer against his chest, but the collapse was inevitable. He felt himself fall, but he managed to push Sachi forward, just as the ceiling buckled, shoving her into the arms of waiting hands.

  She screamed as she was pulled away from him, her small body kicking and struggling, but her cries slowly faded to nothing as her voice drowned in the distance.

  Altsoba looked up to see the entire section of the house collapse onto him, the weight of it pinning him to the ground. He lost consciousness as his mind spiraled into darkness.

  His thoughts drifted again, detached from the pain. Oh, I forgot Sachi hates pizza. Mitch hates fantasy movies. Maybe I’ll make it up to them tomorrow. It’s Sarah’s birthday next Saturday too. I should get her that new album she’s been raving about…

  The world around him blurred into an unrecognizable haze. The fire, the heat, the suffocating weight of the fallen beam—it was all drowned out by the numbness spreading through him. His back was pinned to the floor, his body weakened, and the buzzing in his ears only grew louder.

  Then, in an instant, as if a switch had been flipped, the last flicker of life in Altsoba’s body extinguished. The cold seeped in, and the silence was complete.