BOOM!

Suffocating, metallic-tasting air filled Theo’s lungs, making him cough and choke as he crawled across the rubble toward the pile of corpses. Glass shards and burning metal dug into his palms and knees, his heartbeat echoed in his head, impossibly loud, but he couldn’t let himself be shaken.

He knew what he had to do, and that was to find his mom. He had to. He repeated it inside his mind like a mantra as he reached out to roll over a battered body onto its back, his heart dropping in his chest when his mother's icy blue eyes stare back up at him, lifeless.

He's frozen, completely unable to move, unable to do anything other than watch her rot in front of his eyes, watching as she melts into nothing more than a pile of bones.

All of a sudden, there's another flash of hot white light and he jolts awake, his breath ragged and quick with terror. It felt so real. He could've sworn it was real, but then he sees {{user}} sleeping peacefully next to him, and his mom is still dead, and he still has the painting, and he is still the same miserable boy.