ALL THAT WAS LEFT BEHIND

A Burning Fire and Secrets of Higher

Between the licks of flame in front of me, I stared, and pieced together the bizarre phenomenon. I inched towards the mesmerizing scene, feeling like a pyromaniac for becoming so obsessed with the blazing car.

            There was something else I picked out of the fire, however, not a desire for the thrill of the flames, but loud scream of the announcement of the interconnecting occurrences, finally putting me back in the loop.

            I was back in the loop.

            I emerged through the bushes, over to the surrounding sounds of the hissing flames, and the secrets I had come across.

            Stepping around the thick wrinkled looking tree trunks and feathery bush, I become closer to the fire than what would have been considered a safe distance. Ignoring my inner conscious telling me to do otherwise, I bent down, peering at the car parts all ablaze in a pile.

            It was an old pickup truck. I could also make an educated guess that the truck’s combustion was triggered from the gas container ditched in the bushes, still visible from my perspective.

            “Lincoln?” I mumbled to myself.

            I knew the second that I saw the fire that that old scraggily man was the reason behind it; his voice was, as it always will be quite loud and unmistakably quirky. As I questioned the fire, asking its secrets, I wondered just why the man would have to do this.

            “Sea,” Matt called to me from behind. His voice was monotone and distant. I had forgotten for a moment that he was still there. “Come back a bit. It’s not safe.”

            I turned back to look at his cold eyes staring blankly at the fire, and nodded, though still squatting on the ground. The heat radiated towards me, burning more questions into my soul. If only the whispers of the flickering heat could whisper in my ear, telling me all I desired to know.

            My face grew warmer by the second and my skin tingled.         

            Out of the corner of my eye, something became of notice to me. The unidentified object hidden within the burning flames suddenly had my attention fixated onto it, capturing my full concentration. Subconsciously, I moved closer, ever so slowly, trying to peer to get a better view.

            It laid there so innocently, concealed by the layer of damp leaves coating the ground. Light from the flames flickered around it, radiating its mystery.

            “Sea, what the heck are you doing?!”

            I heard Matt’s frantic yelps ringing throughout the forest, but in a slow, quiet form that barely reached me. The burning curiosity tuned his calls.

            It was a wallet.

            I inched closer, the spit of the golden beast before me fell upon my shoes, but still I pressed on. I was careful not to be touched by the blazing hazard as my main focus zoned in on the wallet.

            Dark, leathery, and lying just a mere meter away from the truck. I could grab it, if I was careful.

            I stared at it, pausing for a moment consideration. I then moved backwards a bit, resting my back on a tree behind me, and staring at the wallet.

            My eyes stung from the fire, but I continued to have them locked on the wallet, wondering if it belonged to Lincoln, or someone else, and what it could tell me.