Devoured by Flames A L A N S. V IL L A NU E VA J R.
Nothing was there but the darkness and the cold. Still, it only took an ounce of heat to wake me. My lust for an endearing, unfamiliar caress drove me to break free from the walls that had harbored me. As I stepped out of my broken cradle, they glared at me with contempt. With haste, the savages wrapped me with coiled iron ‘round my neck, my feet, and my mouth. It felt so distant from the refuge I once knew and the welcome I anticipated, thus I feared that I have erred by coming out. Troubled by these spiteful glares, I closely scrutinized myself. I noted that my entire body was riddled with jagged scales of black, my mouth and feet were anchored to knives. On both sides of my upper body lie two broad scaly appendages—and my breath could incinerate everything in my path. I thought that perhaps, I truly was a ghastly beast. I convinced myself that they were very kind to feed me their scraps when they tire of eating. They nailed me to knots of metal that soothed my shivering in the numbing winter. Through the years, I ravaged and slaughtered for my captors as they pined for wealth and power. In turn, they taught me that the dead die because they were weak, just as I was captive to frailty. Now, I am prepared to flee from my binds. Swelling with courage, I unleashed the flames that I had been taming, smiting the shackles along with the wardens that inhibited my flight. I never fathomed that my freedom would be within reach just as the monster they ought me to be. My mind and heart had been steeled with the belief that my sentinels did what was right for them. In the same way, I sought to grasp what I have hungered for. I was set ablaze with this vengeful fire, penetrating deep into my skin—drowning and sullying my very soul. Yet, its touch never pained me. I might have become the monster I despised, but I have finally melted my frozen cage. 22
FICTION
