Fire

What I am doing right now is I am dreaming. I am standing on my roof admiring the orange horizon in every direction.

The first thing I did when I got up here on the roof was start sweating. The second thing was I noticed the sky was glowing orange, like a sunset lighting the horizon on fire. The third thing was I stopped breathing.

What I am doing up here on the roof right now, with the orange horizon in every direction, is I am watching people come out their front doors, onto their balconies or peak through their blinds. What these people are doing is the same thing as me – watching this city burn all around us.

What all the people are doing right now is panicking. They are grabbing their children and the few things they have decided they cannot live without and throwing them in their cars, trying to escape. What these people are doing right now is all wrong.


Floods

Walking down the middle of a road, a freeway at the edge of town. Wet from the rain I say, “It’s like this everywhere." I say, "But here it’s the worst,” monotone and dazed by the weight of it all. I am talking to my friend. He’s walking about ten feet to the side of me. We don't look at each other. We’re looking down, at the running water. This freeway is turning into a river, like all the other streets in town.

There aren’t any cars on the roads now. There is an isolating silence over the whole city. Everyone is sitting in their homes, waiting for this to pass. Patiently sitting around, with their hands in their laps.

What I don’t say is that this is just the beginning. These two or three inches of running water, this is only the start of what is coming. This time, this isn’t going to pass.

I don't say any of this, because I can't explain why I know it.

We both walk toward the sidewalk as the water continues to run. The rain is slow, but the water is rising. This is happening slowly, but it’s still happening.

We don’t look at each other. We walk, looking down at the water, toward the center of town. We don’t say anything now. We both understand. Now we’re just waiting.

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