The forest was quiet that night. The cicadas had just gone back underground, and you and I were resting under the willow tree that had just started to show its roots as they spread through the soil. The fire cracked like thunder in the silence of the woods, echoing through the darkness, weaving between the trees. My eyes had just begun to close, when you asked me a question. I don’t remember what it was, or how I answered, only that you seemed content with the response.
I rested my head, and began to dream of home. It was strange; everything felt fluid, like there were so many gaps in my memory that my mind couldn’t begin to fill them. I remembered my own room well enough; the desk with the plastic lawn chair, the mattress on the floor, the cardboard boxes that held whatever I could get my hands on and served as a nightstand for a Dasani water bottle that I refilled whenever I could. But as soon as I started to open the door, my surroundings were wobbling on all sides, my mind unable to hold them all together. There were other doors, but they wouldn’t open; I couldn’t remember what was behind them. I went down some stairs- how many were there again? I thought there were 12, but I remember tripping because I tried to skip an odd number. It didn’t matter; there wasn’t much to see down there anyways, just an ice box and a stove. The door was in front of the stairs; I could never forget the last thing I saw as I left.
The light was in my eyes as I woke up.
The fire had been smothered.
And you were nowhere to be seen.
I woke up to the sound of a loud pounding sound from the floor above, and a loud bass that shook all throughout my body. There were other loud noises, but they weren’t registering- my hangover from the night before was still alive and well. My head pounding, I checked the time on my phone, then dropped it as the bright screen blinded me for a moment. Cursing, I felt around on the floor and tried again, bracing myself for the light. What the hell were they doing, playing music this loud at 2 AM? I groaned and pulled on a t-shirt and pajama pants, lazily making my way to the door.
I was surprised to see many more people in the hallway; based on their attire, they were in a similar situation to me. Some people saw me and gave a look of surprise; I suppose I hadn’t left my apartment in a few days. Maybe weeks. Holding my head in one hand to keep myself upright, I struggled down the hallway with a scowl on my face. They could see my anger, and some moved out of the way quickly; others followed, clearly as unhappy with the commotion as I was. We made our way up the stairs, in our shambles of brightly colored cloth and varying amounts of foot coverings, steaming with anger.
We reached the door of our assailant, and I began to slam on it. After about a minute, there was a loud pop, and the floor stopped shaking from the bass. I hesitated on my next knock; they must have heard me, and turned it off. The door opened, and rather than a single stoned high-schooler who’s parents were out of town, more than a dozen half-dressed adults poured out. They saw the mob outside the door and paid us no mind, instead frantically running through, pushing past and going down the stairs. As they were leaving, a sound from all sides told us why- a blaring high-pitched sound with lights echoed around the hallway and the open door, just as the light began to come around the corner of the doorway to the apartment. The heat grew quickly as I fell to the ground, unable to hold myself together with the pain the alarm was causing in my head. I could feel the feet stomping away towards the stairs, and the doors reopening around me as people fled to safety. I felt a tug at my shirt as someone tried to pull me up, and my body reacted before my mind. I jumped up, trying to run away, but fell and crawled instead. I made it to the stairs, and kept myself afloat amongst the sea of still half-asleep residents by holding onto the people crowding the stairwell. We managed to get out the door without trampling anyone, and my body gave control back to my mind, which was now struggling with the flashing lights, intrusive sounds, and the sudden change in temperature; a man from an ambulance gave me a heavy blanket, noticing my shivering.
I watched as the fire consumed what was left of my life.
The sounds of the flames was only barely audible over the sirens and alarms.