The Burn

Tim Steven is making me nervous. Why did I think it would be a good idea to have an impromptu bonfire at my house? Who are all these people? I glance up nervously at my neighbours, the brick flats seem to loom down over me. My garden suddenly feels very small. Claustrophobic almost. I grab for another beer; I clutch it to my chest. It is my lifeline. I take large swigs at regular intervals, trying not to think about the cardboard box the beer came in, which is now in flames in ‘the burn’. What the fuck is a ‘burn’. Almost lost my bloody shoes. This is the last time I tell a pyromaniac that he can make a bonfire at my house. I wish he wouldn’t keep manically glancing around my lawn though. And twitching. Why does he keep looking at the door? If he tries to burn the door, I am going to lose it. Jesus. Just keep swigging the beer, everything will be alright

. Emily Why was Steven being so obnoxious. This wasn’t his house. He’d commandeered the whole situation as soon as they had arrived. First throwing wood and things that were meant to be burned into the fire before getting all revved up and burning their host’s possessions. Like the cardboard box for the beer that wasn’t even meant for them. And then Tim’s shoes. She rolled her eyes and looked at her watch. Only 1am. This could go on all night. She started to think about ways she could politely make her escape. She felt sorry for Tim, but he’d been droning on in their ears for hours. He was sweet but his genuine shock and fear of Steven and his unbridled enthusiasm for all things that burn was beginning to annoy her. She was bored and she wanted to go home. She noticed Steven kept staring pointedly at the door in the garden. Good, maybe he’d open it and then she could finally leave.

Olivia I’m sorry, she tapped out the message on her phone and sent it to Emily, he invited everyone back here as soon as he realised he could make a bonfire. You don’t want to be here; Tim doesn’t want us here and Steven just wants to burn things.

All he had done since they arrived was systemically burn all of Tim’s stuff. She looked at him, he was staring at the small door in the garden wall. Typical. He has no clue how uncomfortable he is making everyone; his focus is somewhere else entirely. A door.

Anything to liven this party up. Emily’s response.

Olivia glanced back towards the fire; it was almost out. She knew he would never let the fire go out. She watched, like everyone else, and waited to see what he would do next.

Steven The flames now only occasionally jump beyond the border of the metal drum that holds them. The cardboard that I ripped from the beers, the beers Tim bought for the impromptu burn briefly ignited the flames again. But now they are simmering down, to a slow gentle burn. At least I think Tim bought them for the burn. Maybe I should have asked. People are starting to sit down around the fire again; they are no longer restless. There is a slow murmur of talking. I can feel the energy of the flames diminish. Everyone is listless now. Except for Tim. He is sat in conversation with Emily and Olivia but keeps throwing glances my way. I am not sure why. It’s not like I threw the beers into the burn. But the cardboard was flammable. I needed it, there was nothing else left. Maybe Tim didn’t buy the beers for tonight. Probably not actually, it wasn’t exactly planned.

Nobody makes any movements towards the fire. I twitch, I am agitated. I can’t let it go out, there will be nothing then. There must be something else here to burn. I cas a glance around the small backyard. If I gets some people to help me, I am sure we will find something. There is a small door in the side of the garden, it leads into the street. That’s it, we will find something out there. It is too small in here, too close. I have already burned everything there is to burn. I see Tim glance at me again. Does he actually look nervous? Alright I probably shouldn’t have tried to burn those old shoes. I just got caught up in the moment; I’d found the beers, the cardboard was alight and I wanted – no needed – more. The shoes were lying right there. Tim ran up and grabbed them, just as I started to lower them by the laces into the fire.

The fire is dangerously low. Things must escalate. I glance at the door again; it will have to come down. And then we can take the burn out onto the street.