A Moment in Time Read Online Free

hell, Clarke."   Chewing her lower lip, she gathered a few of the smaller pieces of wood and stuffed them into the stove.   Then she tore the last few pages out of the script and crumpled them, placing the paper beneath the wood.
           Muttering a prayer, she struck a match and tossed it in, watching eagerly as the greedy flames devoured the paper, then went after the dry wood.   She studied the stovepipe.   So far, so good.
             She shot Lolita a questioning glance.   "Well, what do you think?   I could've been an Eagle Scout.   So, now what am I supposed to do with myself?"
           It was getting dark outside.   Hoping the darkness simply meant dusk instead of more snow, Jackie went to the shutters and peered outside.   The snow had stopped and patches of sky showed through the clouds, but she wouldn't be going anywhere in the dark.   The sun slowly disappeared behind the highest mountain peak, bathing the small valley in shadow.
           A dark shape ran by, contrasting against the snow.   Was it a deer?   She wiped the glass and looked, but whatever it was had disappeared around the side of the building.
           It grew darker by the second and Jackie shivered from more than merely cold.   She was alone in the mountains, stranded.  
           "Thank goodness I found the lamp."   She turned around and noticed the script she'd left on the bar.   With a shrug, she dragged a battered chair to the stove and wiped some of the dust from the seat.   "Please, don't let it be a horror story."   Her imagination was fertile enough without feeding it any Stephen King-like fodder.  
           It promised to be a long, cold night.   After placing a few more splintered pieces of furniture on the fire, she settled into the chair with the script in her lap, scooting the lamp closer.
           "Cast of characters," she read.   "Lolita Belle?   Hmm.   So somebody wrote the bimbo's life story."   Relishing the fire's radiant heat, she allowed herself to be sucked into the story.   It was an old-fashioned romantic adventure, but when she reached the end she groaned.  
           She'd used the last few pages to light the fire.   Now she would never learn what happened to Lolita Belle.   "Shoot."  
           An odd, crackling sound came from overhead.   Frowning, Jackie looked up at the ceiling, bewildered at first by the bright orange fingers spreading across the cracked surface.
           Reality finally registered and she dropped the script, jumping to her feet so fast the chair crashed to the floor.   The building was on fire.   She had to get out fast.   The crackling became a roar as the greedy flames lapped up the old structure.   She was surrounded.
           Jackie dropped to her knees–the heat became unbearable.   Coughing, she crawled toward the bar, remembering a window along that wall.   Her skin stung from the intense heat and her throat burned.   Tears streamed down her face as the same prayer played through her head again and again.
           God, help me.   Please help me.   All she'd wanted was some heat and a miracle.  
           Behind the bar, the air was somewhat cooler and the smoke less suffocating.   She drew several deep breaths before she rose.
           Blazing timbers collapsed into the center of the room and she screamed.   Regaining some control, she felt along the wall for the window she'd seen earlier.   Somewhere...
           Another crash–the building was falling down around her.   She was going to burn.   Freezing out in the wilderness would have been better than this.
           "Where's that frigging window?"   Tears and smoke blinded her as she felt along the wall, ducking lower to escape the intense heat.   She felt something and straightened.   A frame, but not the window.  
           Something large plummeted to the bar, struck her shoulder and slammed her against