Well Lit

Inside the conversations snapped from right to left and my head felt like it was enclosed in an eggshell.

I walked outside and smoke hovered above my head. I crouched down like my parent's dogs and peered through a crack in the gate. The street where I had parked my car was lit up, not with lights, rather with a blazing fire. The heat danced on the asphalt and slapped me across the face to break my gaze. The fire was intimately close like a lover's hot breath. I shuddered and quickly ran back into the house to warn everyone. Everyone was gone except for Stella. She was chatting to herself about the luke warm pinto beans smeared all over her highchair. She was still strapped in.

I unstrapped her, picked her up, and fled the house as she calmly chattered away. I ran in the opposite direction of the inferno, but I didn't have a plan. I didn't know where we were going. Where did everyone else go? Were they really gone or just so deep in the house that they didn't hear my shriek? Did I scream? Did I say anything at all? Was there really a fire?

Full steam ahead and the weight in my arms got lighter. I looked down and Stella was not there. I looked ahead and I was in a Mall parking structure. The smell of rubber tires and gasoline permeated the air and the sounds of tires swishing into spots and honks tapering off in the distance cocooned my head. I was alone with rattling bags in my hands still running.

I ran into the mall. I bumped into shoppers with my shoulders as the smells and sounds shifted to cheap perfume and slow rock. I kept moving as people I know made appearances in the corners of my eyes and spoke to me in whispers. My cousin Samantha told me not to worry. A couple of ladies from my work talked about sharing a burger from McDonald's. My appetite was spurned by this conversation. I suddenly craved meat. I asked them to get me one. They were shocked.

The running never stopped. I never got a cheeseburger. My abs burned and my quads, hamstrings and calves tightened like brand new rubberbands. As I sped by, my spirit got tired and left my body. My soul stared after my frame as I raced off into the distance.

I woke up tired. I am still tired. I can picture myself getting out of bed and deciding what to wear.