Chasing A Wild Dream

The silent night stretched on as I watched the dreamlike entrails of smoke rise into the sky. I perched atop an office building in the center of downtown and watched as the buildings around me burned, returning to the earth from which they came. The sky surrounding my post was dull gray – a sharp contrast to the fierce orange of the fire. That night was a splendid melancholy, filled with bittersweet dreams and long-forgotten memories. The fire flared, a bright and beautiful dream unlike many of the more common dreams. It was always alcohol or work or pleasure. Never fire. Heaven forbid people desire a fire. I wondered who had the audacity to set the fire. They’d probably be arrested for giving these gloomy people some excitement. What a shame.

Sirens wailed in a vain attempt to warn people of the fire. Of course, they already knew about it. Screams drifted up to me on my building. They were inhuman in their primitive terror. I smirked. The slightest sign of danger and people just freaked out. It was disappointing how unprepared they were for disaster.

The smoke rising from the fire became thicker as jets of water struggled to stop it from its rampage. Eventually, the radiance of the fire was gone, only to be replaced by rubble and ash. Men scoured the ruins, frantically searching for survivors. There were none.

Within minutes, people across the city had heard about the night’s “tragedy” and the “heroes” who had died in it. Heroes who had just been in the wrong place at the right time.

I turned away from my place on the roof of my building and slowly sauntered across the roof to the other side. Sat down. Lights flickered on and off in the undamaged buildings before me. On this side of my building I could see lives flickering in the dimness of the night. The sounds of music and conversation and cars coasted skyward. I wondered where the person who started the fire had run. Undoubtedly, they would be in the news the next morning. “This just in: A Pyromaniac Emerges From The Flames.”

I sighed and walked to the edge of the rooftop. Then jumped. I landed in the center of an intersection and set off to find some new excitement. Anything to chase away the monochrome of the night.

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