Elizabeth tossed and turned in bed, her face contorted into one of pure fear. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead as she thrashed in the mess of her blankets.

    Elizabeth laughed happily as her brother face planted on the floor, groaning softly.
    Pulling himself off the floor, he glared at his sister.
    "It's not funny!" He protested.
     Elizabeth giggled, "It is too Peter!"
     Peter harrumphed.
     "Dad! Tell her it's not funny!" He whines and their father chuckled.
     "It is a little funny," Their dad managed to get out between laughs.
      Peter pouted.
      Elizabeth stopped laughing, and her gaze traveled to a picture of her mother, which was placed on the mantle above the fireplace. A pang of sadness struck her. Her mother was smiling brightly in the picture, as their father tickled her. Elizabeth sighed, catching her father's attention. He placed a hand over hers and looked at her, brown eyes meeting blue.
    "I miss her too," he whispered softly, pulling Elizabeth and Peter in for a hug.
    Elizabeth melted into the embrace, sighing as she remembered that fatal day. The day her mother had died of heart cancer.
    Suddenly, a haze of smoke rolled into the room, hiding the ceiling from view. Their father looked panicked.
    He grabbed the picture of their mother and handed it to Elizabeth.
    "Go! Take your brother and get out!" With that, he dashed into the kitchen, which was now enveloped in smoke. Without hesitation, Elizabeth dragged Peter out the front door and into their yard.
      He whimpered, "Elizabeth. I'm scared."
      Elizabeth hugged him tightly, "I am too."
      Making a split second decision, Elizabeth handed the photograph to Peter.
      "I'm going to find Father. Stay here! Do not move! I'll be back soon. Understand?" She ordered and Peter nodded. Holding the neck of her shirt over her mouth and nose, Elizabeth dashed back into the house.
      "Father? FATHER!" She called out, her voice muffled by the shirt. Smoke stung her eyes, and she blinked away tears. Determined to find her father, Elizabeth made her way to the kitchen, where she had last seen her father.  
       There, a gruesome sight awaited her.
A support beam had fallen from the ceiling and run her father through. His eyes stared, unseeing, at where she stood. In his hands, her mother's old necklace. Her father had kept it in the kitchen, safely tucked away in a drawer where no one would find it.
     Choking back a sob, Elizabeth gently took the necklace from her father's still warm hands and kissed him on the forehead.
      "I love you, Dad,"  she sobbed out and dashed out the door, to where her brother was waiting, tears streaming down his face.
     "Ellie!" He jumped into her arms, sobbing. She hugged him tightly as the blaring alarms of a fire truck grew closer.
     "W-where's Dad?" He sobs out and Elizabeth's heart shatters.
     "He..he's in a better place now," She slipped her mother's necklace around her neck and held her brother close.

      With a start, Elizabeth jolted awake, her eyes frantically searching the room. Her gaze landed on her brother's bed, where he too tossed and turned. She crept to his bed and cradled his head in her lap, running her fingers through his hair.
     "It's okay Peter, it's okay. Calm down. I'm here," she whispered soothingly.
       Peter's eyes flew open, tears welling up in them. He sobbed into his sister's shoulder.
       "I miss him, Ellie," he choked out, sobbing softly.
        "I know," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. She rocked him in her arms.
         "I do too."