#laurel things

I dreamt the house flooded from the storm which wouldn’t matter to you, but I’ve been breathing fire for most of my life. But that image of you yelling underwater made no sense nor did the words coming from your mouth

I woke up right after you punched out the window letting all the water out of the house and me with it like some play on that phrase “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”

So I got up out of bed, and I walked outside to get as far away from the house. To clear my head from all the rapid thoughts I was drowning in. Still, something inside of me sparked as if the thoughts were actually fueling the small fire already burning within me.

Like a fool, instead of stopping, I ran through the forest, setting every tree and every flower on fire. And out of anger, the wind pushed me forward until the earth tripped me in retaliation, and I tumbled down the mossy hill into the water. I waited...to drown.

Then I remembered the dream. You were yelling “Get the fuck out of the water!”

I shot up, relieved that I had only landed in a puddle. With mud caked to my body and the rain slapping me in the face, I climbed back up the hill, through the partially burnt forest, and waded through the water in our backyard to wait out the storm on our back porch.