SOMETHING BORROWED SOMETHING BLUE (Day 30, NaNoWriMo HWR

SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE

The snide remarks…

The cackles…

The name-calling…

The singling out…

Because he was different. He looked different. He walked different. He talked different. He was of the wrong colour. His hair was different and so was his skin…

Barbeque night was here and he looked out of his window which faced the neighbor's backyard. There were all there. Now is the time. It's now or never! He went to the garage and flipped open the lid of the canister. The odor was pungent and acrid. He hauled it all the way to the neighbors'. The aroma of slow-smoked briskets, charcoal grilled over lychee wood was tantalizing. He smacked his lips in anticipation. They were too busy to notice him entering stealthily.

After taking care to spill the ethanol in a natural spill pattern, he lit a piece of fabric and dropped it. Dark was the night. Molten and ferocious liquid flames danced and sent red sparks in the October breeze…

Volatile…

Consuming…

Engulfing..

The ear-splitting screeches…

He watched the flames snake across the lawn and scramble to the second-story rooftop. The house looked like a mountain of fire! He stood transfixed in the scorching heat, his face warm…

The night was cold, but his heart was icier. A sense of calm washed over as he watched the destruction stone-faced and with dead eyes. The acrid smoke made him grimace contentedly. He was burning down his memories so it couldn't come back to haunt him. As everything and everyone crumbled into a charred heap, the crackle of the dying fire was all that could be heard in the silence of the night. The crescendo of the roaring fire had simmered down to blue-white wisps of smoke twirling skyward like a slow dance of swirls and flows.

Pic Courtesy: Pixabay

©️ Sangeetha Kamath

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