Prologue
Why’s it so hot?
I pretend not to know, letting myself sink into the muddy ground, humming a comforting tune to help silence the echo of destruction.
I feel the cool droplets seeping through my clothes from the grass and I welcome coolness of the dew, a stark contrast to the blazing heat creeping up my legs, pretending not to know.
I hear nothing, I feel nothing, I am nothing, just grass.
I tell myself, pretending not to know. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to block out the sounds of gunfire for long, impossible to act as if they didn't storm my house and shoot my people, impossible to act as though I can’t hear their stomps getting closer. An impenetrable line of destructive chaos.
I breathe, ignoring the metallic stench in the air, ignoring the soot I’m breathing in, pretending not to know. My heartbeat is pounding in my ears, faster than the stomps of these animals holding guns.
I try to act as if nothing happened, pretending not to know, but the heat is spreading, I feel it in my neck, it’s growing, it’s getting stronger, the only place I ever knew sure does create one heck of a fire.
Why is it so hot?
I try once more, pretending it’s not happening, pretending I am safe, pretending not to know.
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