WHY, I OFTEN WONDERED, do my dreams always end in fire?

Without warning, without mercy, the flames came and fed hungrily on my bright, colorful world, turning it into a dark, murky, ash-covered place. 

Soft grey smoke slithered through the tiniest of cracks. Quiet, so quiet. I never even smelled it. 

But eventually I would wake. In the end, something would always wake me. A distant voice — his voice — calling my name. And every time I opened my eyes, the fire was already there, as if it had always been there. And I stood in the middle of it all, trapped and afraid.

I sank to my knees. "H-Help," I uttered as hot red embers fell like snow. "Somebody help."

That's when I heard his voice again, calling out to me once more. He sounded so close now, like I could reach out and touch him. I turned toward the sound and saw the figure of a man, his face obscured by shadow and smoke. 

He held out his hand to me. Hesitantly, I reached toward it. "Who are you?" 

Like always, I received no response. Instead, I was gently lifted off the ground and drawn into his arms. Why? I asked. You don't even know me, ... so why? Tears had escaped my eyes as he pressed my head against his chest, as if to shield me from the nightmare around us. 

"Don't be afraid," he finally whispered into my ear. "I'll keep you safe, I promise." 

My eyes widened. I had heard those words countless times, yet they still brought me the same comfort and confusion.

"Who are you?" I asked, but I wondered if the words would ever reach him. In the past, they never did, and they weren't now. It was foolish of me to expect anything different. His voice was like a long-forgotten song, his face a silhouette in the setting sun. The memory was there, somewhere, sometimes even close enough to grasp, but it always slipped through my fingers, somehow.

Why can't I remember? WHY? 

The question lingered in my mind as the fire slowly burned away everything else, but soon that too crumbled and turned to dust.

And then there was nothing.