LET IT ALL BURN

The shop was small and cluttered. Janey ground her teeth, trying to maneuver around the gossiping women in front of the pasta shelf. God dammit! All of this was humiliating, forced to hide like this. Shopping. She detested shopping.

Someone ran their cart against her hip, and Janey cursed. Not even a word of apology. Uncivil peasants, all of them. She snatched a couple of steaks from the shelf and moved forward. Wine, this place had to have some wine. Dear gods, let them have some wine. She couldn’t go to yet another store just for the wine.

To her relief, she spotted the small section of bottles close to check-out and headed towards it. The line blocked half of the aisle, but at least they had wine. Janey settled down to wait. Someone had bathed in cheap perfume, and the stink burned her nostrils. Why did people do that? Had they destroyed all sense of smell in themselves already?

The line moved abysmally slowly, and Janey tapped her foot. She yearned for some fresh air, preferably somewhere high in the mountains, away from the smog of these cramped cities. The line nudged forward, and just when she was about to move, a man in a nice suit cut in front of her. Janey cleared her throat, but the man just kept talking to his phone. No, he wouldn’t be long. No, the market didn’t have fat-free yoghurt. Yes, he looked.

Janey cleared her throat again, and the man threw an irritated glare at her. The nerve. He should beg for her mercy, insolent fool. Locking her teeth together, Janey kept the words inside. He wasn’t worth it. Not worth it, she kept telling herself when the line moved.

There, finally, was the wine. Nothing but crap, but it would have to do. She reached for a bottle and was jostled again. One of those gossiping hags pushed her cart past and smiled smugly. You seem to be taking your time choosing. You won’t mind if I go first. I got only a couple of things here. She kept jabbering as she forced her way further.

She did mind. Minded greatly, but the fire crackling at the back of her throat forced her to keep her mouth shut. It would be unwise to open it now. It would be glorious, clear the stench, clear the clutter. But unwise. She needed to remain unnoticed. Hide. How galling it was to swallow all these insults.

Somebody needed a price check. And then their card didn’t work, so they counted out the coins. Slowly. How could they have only one checkout open on a Friday afternoon? Maybe this was some kind of clever torture experience. A test to see when people would reach their limits and snap. That would make more sense than this being a normal, everyday occurrence.

Over here, over here. The gossiping hag waved her friend over. Her shopping cart was filled to the brim. Deceitful bitches. Their smiles said it all. They knew exactly what they were doing. But they didn’t know to whom they were doing it.

Janey took a deep breath in through her nose. She took it all in. The smell of shitty perfume, underlying sweat, sewers, exhaust fumes, mildly rotting fruit, the human arrogance.

She breathed out.

Burn. She would let them burn.

It was marvelous, a thing of beauty and power. She looked around, her eyes almost closed and felt them shift and change. Janey blinked. The world turned sharp, and the scene in front of her eyes was a thing of glory.

Everything around her was bathed in fire. Everyone around her was on fire. 

Shrieks of agony filled the air; they were trapped. Every breath poured more fire out of her, sealing them in. The smell of charred flesh made her inhale deeply. No more cheap perfume clogging her nostrils. She let herself revel in the purity of the air. 

The fire kept raging, burning, scorching. It cleansed.

Janey dropped her groceries and slowly walked towards the door. Sirens wailed, getting louder. The parking lot was in chaos, and no one paid her any mind when she slipped outside. Janey took it all in and smiled.

She kept walking, leaving her car behind. Images played in her mind, even after the soothing aroma of charred flesh, thick smoke, and acrid flames faded. The wet pavement shimmered under the flashing lights flying past.

She could still faintly hear the screams. Sweet, sweet screams.

They couldn’t tame her flames. No amount of water was going to douse her fire. The sky shone red, but Janey didn’t turn around. It was time to let the world know the dragon bitch was back. She had been pushed down long enough, and they had forgotten.

Now it was time to burn it all.