LXXXVIII | Some Appearance

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Third last step
and I finally get it.

Ashes

like black wisps of paper,

float
through the air.
Dark clouds

rising from the ground

like the world's
turned

upside down.

Rain is pouring
from above

into the clouds below.

The heat burns,
like I've entered
an oven.

Flashes of colour,

amber,
white,
orange,
red,
black.

Flickering lights.

A foul smell.
Choking.

My throat is raw.

I'm coughing, I think.

Can't hear
over the siren.

It continues to pulse
against the hand

I'm pressing against the wall.

Warmth wraps round me.

Who put Singapore
inside the oven?!

The taste of blood.
My own.

I'm retching.

Vomit.

FIONA, STAY UPSTAIRS.

The voice manages
to be louder

than the siren.

(Of course, it does.)

(It's coming from the walls.)

Tammie!

I wipe my spit
on my sleeve

and remember.

My head swims,
it's getting hard to breathe.

Queenie's fairies

multiply
in front of me.

They're screaming

with the voice
of the whining siren.

Someone tugs on my arm.

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