Emma used to fall asleep the same way millions of people do — exhausted, phone in hand, wrapped in a blanket after another long day. It was a habit she never questioned. Her phone was always beside her, always plugged in, always warming softly under the pillow as she drifted off. She never imagined that a tiny, ordinary decision could rewrite the entire course of her life. But one July night, everything changed in a way no one could forget.
She remembers the sound before the heat — a faint pop, like a spark escaping from somewhere it shouldn’t. Then came the burning smell. Within seconds, the pillow beside her ignited. The charger she’d used for years had overheated under the pressure of fabric, trapping heat until it became a flame. By the time she jolted awake, the fire had already reached her blanket, swallowing it in orange and blue. Emma stumbled off the bed, tried to smother the flames, but the damage had already begun — her skin blistering faster than she could understand.