THE CRYSTAL HOUSE

¶Fire and what else?¶

October 20th, 2021

Mareike

After the game, Marcello came to cheer her up, but Mareike knew better. It was only sheer luck, and nothing else that got her through the first game. Sure, she would be playing the second game but Crystal House awarded them points based on their performance, and after finishing at tenth place hers were next to nothing. If she didn't do well in the second game, she would be leaving whether she took last place in that one or not. Mareike didn't want to leave yet, this new reality was much better than her real world. She had acquaintances who weren't forced or cajoled into talking to her for fear of her mom, including Marcello. The first guy who had genuinely expressed an interest in the ordinary girl she was here.

Mareike wanted to continue dwelling on the positive, but with all the grime and sweat she had accumulated from doing jumping jacks and push-ups, she desperately needed to shower and eat. Her hunger won over the dirt and she sauntered to the kitchen, looking around and mentally flipping between her options. She sighed, ultimately settling on her first choice, noodles. After all, it was the only thing she could make without a recipe book. Her ever-caring mother decided long ago that she didn't need to bother herself with the hassle of cooking, because, in her words, You'll marry a rich and strong man who won't let you lift a finger to work.

She couldn't totally blame her mother though, the woman probably never expected Mareike to run away from all the luxury because who would? But from personal experience, she knew being born rich didn't automatically make you feel happy and loved.

She turned her attention back to her food and lit the gas after a few tries. Mareike was still intrigued by how it all worked, sure she knew the physics and chemistry surrounding it but in real life, it felt wrong to her. Anytime someone talked about fire or brought it near her, she felt uneasy and this situation was no different. She always preferred processed or already made foods, which contributed to her size and lack of culinary skills. Her stomach grumbled in protest, so she put the pot and moved downstairs.

Mareike made it very easy for the pot to light up in yellow flames. She had neglected to add sufficient water, instead putting just enough to satisfy a bird then went down to have her bath, with the assumption that her food would be ready when she came back up.

She was about to start singing one of the few catholic songs she remembered from her childhood, when her roommate's voice rang out.

"Something's burning upstairs, I can smell it. Mareike, didn't you go up to cook something?"

"Oh my God." Mareike squeezed her body into a bathrobe and shimmied out of the bathroom, soap still in her hair. The smell of burning noodles filled the air and the growing commotion outside could smell it too.

"What's that?"

"That smells like noodles."

"Someone has decided to end it and end us too."

She didn't even have the sense to be embarrassed as she hurried on upstairs, tightly clutching the bathrobe that was a size too small. Luckily for her, someone was already upstairs dousing the fire. Mareike groaned helplessly and watched as the smoke increased, till only a blurry figure of the person inside could be seen. At that point, she realized she hadn't put enough water to cook the noodles.

Chiara

When Chiara was asked later about her efficiency in stopping the fire, she told them she didn't know what she was doing or it was sheer luck. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was more surprised by the fact that she hadn't run to the front door banging and begging for an escape. She was alive because three years ago, she ran away from a burning building before it collapsed but today she had stepped into fire and quenched it in less than five minutes. With no water nor extinguisher.