The heat

I sit in my room blanketed by the summer heat, drinking a cup of hot tea. An unwise choice. 45 degrees outside. The sweltering heat is unbearable.

My brow drips with beads of sweat. I try to wipe it away, but it’s an endless waterfall of the salty substance. I must do something about this I cannot survive like this. The spinning fan is useless, and the air conditioner is an old heap from a far-gone century. I take my shirt off. Momentarily I feel fine. Once again, the heat overtakes me. My body feels like a blown radiator, my mind is thumping, my sanity slowly dripping out from my sweat glands.

I take my pants off. The warmth caresses my legs. I scream in desperation. I cannot take this anymore. I run to the freezer to grab as much ice as I can. As soon as I take the ice out of its frozen fort, I can see the solid melting. I put the ice on the back of my neck. Release from the heat momentarily. What a sensation, but alas a few minutes later I realize the ice has melted and I’m standing on top of a puddle of lukewarm liquid. My eyes widen. The whites of my eyes have turned red from the intensity. I look at the freezer with vitriol. In a state of fury, I throw away all the racks inside the freezer and try to fit myself inside. I once prided myself on having a wide back, but in this instance, I wished that I was a scrawny nerd. Attempt after attempt I unsuccessfully try to shove myself into the freezer. Frustration spills out through my sweat. I charge towards the standing freezer with such force that I am finally able to fit inside. Granted the freezer was heavily deformed, but I count this as a win. I shut the door. The freezing air cascades over me. A smile slowly creeps on my face. I am finally safe from the dastardly heat.

A mere few minutes later, the freezer grumbles. My eyes open. I can feel the temperature rising in this ice box. My tundra in the midst of hell has forsaken me. I cry and I cry for I know the inevitable is coming. The heat returns. I bust open the freezer. A primal scream erupts deep within the gullet. I drop to my knees and dig deep into my own flesh. I must take this flesh away in order to escape my enemy. I rip pieces off from my body. I rip and tear until only a crimson visage remains. The effects of “fleshlessness” finally give me some sort of solace. The pain is immense, but my body feels ice cold. My brain cannot decipher the temperature around me. I shiver in this hellish heat. I have won at a great cost, but won, nonetheless. I try to smile but I am unable to do so. I lack the necessary tools to form one. Instead of sweat blood drips onto the floor. Better than the sweat.

 I do not have long to live, a few days at best. But I have beaten my primordial opponent. I have beaten the heat.