Ashes and Embers

The town of Red Hollow was supposed to be boring. Tucked away at the base of Mount Azura, it was the kind of place where nothing ever happened—until the mountain awoke.

At first, it was subtle: tremors beneath the earth and ash swirling like dirty snow. People laughed it off as "Azura's cough," something their grandparents used to say. But when deep rumbles began shaking windows and black plumes choked the sky, Red Hollow stopped laughing.

Sixteen-year-old Mia, her best friend Josh, and his little brother Tyler sat on the roof of their school, watching the smoke.

“We should go,” Mia said, feeling her heart pound. She had always been the cautious one.

Josh scoffed. “It’s not like lava’s gonna roll down Main Street.”

Tyler, only twelve, didn’t say anything. He just stared at the blackened horizon.

The next morning, sirens wailed. People flooded the streets as cracks split the pavement. Officials screamed for evacuation, but Mount Azura didn’t care about order. By the time Mia and the others gathered at her house, the highway out of town was gridlocked. The eruption began.

“Plan B?” Josh asked as the first wave of ash rained down, burning when it touched their skin.

“The lake!” Mia shouted. “Water’s safer, right?”

Tyler nodded vigorously. “It’s better than staying here.”

They took Josh’s beat-up truck, weaving through panicked crowds. The ash grew thicker, turning day into night.

They picked up three more friends—Kara, a quick-witted athlete, {{user}}, a experienced researcher, and Luis, a quiet artist—along the way. Kara clutched her phone. “My parents… they didn’t answer when I called.” Her voice cracked.

Luis shook his head. “Mine either.”

The group pressed on, but as they neared the lake, a tremor knocked the truck sideways. Trees snapped. From the woods to their left, a pyroclastic flow exploded, a wall of fire and gas consuming everything.

“RUN!”