Tiffany 2

My breath drifted from my nostrils like wisps of smoke as I walked along the path. The park was quiet and empty. The dim street lamps made the snow the sparkle and a gentle wind shifted the limbs of the leafless trees. Sirens echoed in the distance. I felt the plastic bottle in my pocket with my mittened hand. I had let my companions go home early but my mind was restless and I knew I the night wasn’t over yet.

On the park bench I finally spotted what I had been searching for. A pair of boots poked out from a pile of ruffled newspapers. I stopped and looked down on the unconscious body with a tight lipped smile. He finally felt my glare and roused. A hand emerged from the pile to lift a flap of paper. A weathered old face was revealed. He sat up sending his makeshift blankets floating to the ground.

“You lost little girl?”

He rubbed his eyes with closed fists.

“Little girl like you shouldn’t be walking around on her own this late at ni—“

He sputtered as I squirted a thin line of fluid from the yellow bottle into his mouth and all over his face.

“What the hell you doin?”

 He clumsily tried to get up but tripped on himself and fell to the ground as I continued to cover him with the fluid. He rolled onto his back and looked at me. I smiled at him as I lit the childproof safety lighter. I held it to the spout of the bottle and squeezed streak of flame shot onto the man’s drenched face and ignited it. The flames frolicked around his body in a beautiful chaotic dance.  I watched gleefully and emptied the rest of bottle on him as he rolled around in a vain attempt to extinguish himself.

     He stopped moving a few minutes after I ran out of fluid. The smoke rising from his charred, twitching body was exaggerated by the cold, creating an eerie floating fog. In the bush nearby I discovered a hefty rock which I manage to carry over to his unconscious body. I dropped it on his skull, producing a satisfying crack.

     In the distance the sirens had not stopped. I smiled as I thought about the fire we had set growing beyond control.

     I continued on my walk, my mind finally at ease.