I woke up on fire.
Well, not literally, but it sure as heck felt like it. The roar sounded painfully in my ears, and my heart had apparently decided to run a marathon. I was drenched in sweat, and every inch of me burned like I was in boiling oil. I forced myself to calm down. The battle, the snow, it had all been so real, so loud. And that roar...
Reality slapped me in the face. That was just a dream, it couldn't have been real. I shouldn't even be awake anyway. The night was cold, and the moonlight shone through my window. Wind buffeted my house, wailing like a ghost in his grave. It all seemed, I don't know, clearer then before. Weird things have been happening all week, and no one seems to notice. The tree burst on fire at the market when I was getting food, my steps have been burning holes in the ground when I get angry (I'm on my 8th pair of shoes already), and for some reason the neighbor's cat keeps watching me like it's...hungry.
All in all, weird.
After a while the wind's siren song lulled me back to bed. I fell into the sheets, and prepared to sleep. The morning was still hours away, and there wasn't much of a point staying up. As I close my eyes, I can't help but feel something...different about tomorrow. Eventually I found myself back at the asleep. The roar still echoed through my mind, sad and longing. The thought lingered long after I slept. The dream didn't come back, but I dreamt of wind, of might, and of soaring on wings of fire.
Yep.
With my luck I'll wake up as toast.
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The smell of hot, fresh off the pan pancakes can bring anyone back to life. I woke up to it wafting through the air, warming me and the room right up. I threw on a shirt and some shorts and ran down the stairs to the kitchen, hoping to see my mom frying the batter. Her pancakes are legendary, and if there's one thing I could use after last night, it's food. I got to the bottom and swung around to pastry heaven.
Instead, all that greeted me were cold pancakes and an empty house.
A note was folded next to my plate: Called to work early, won't be back by tonight. I slumped a little in my chair as I started on the pancakes. This had been going on for a while. The last time I had seen my mom was a week ago. My dad was another story entirely.
I looked around the house as I chewed. It wasn't big, more like a two-story cabin then an actual home, but it was the nicest place we'd ever lived in.The only reason they were even working so hard was to keep it. I turned back to my breakfast. A Non's life never gets easy.
Then my eyes landed on the clock.
Gulping down the last of my pancakes, I rammed my chair back and made a grab for my stuff. I pocketed my N-touch and wallet and got my coat. Looking back on it, I wish I had overslept, because if I had, none of this would of happened. I'd probably even be working my old job at the market.
As I stepped out of my house, I didn't think twice about how I could smell fresh pancakes hours after they had gone cold.
Ah! Wait, I almost forgot! My name's Roland, Roland Raiaruk James. Nice to meet you.
