Heart Set on Fire

Chapter 1: I woke up to a bright and sunny day. Looks can be deceiving though. I stand up and walk to the closet, pulling out a pair of black dress pants, a purple top with delicate lace near the neck, a lighter purple cardigan, and some long socks with jack o'lanterns on them. I take off the clothing I slept in and head to the shower and turn it on. I’m standing under it. The water pours out cold. It’s not going to change though. The electricity doesn’t work. I’m not sure that it will ever again. I wash my hair and body as fast as I can. In the summer the cold water would be refreshing. It’s October in Iowa, it’s not refreshing, it is downright cold and stings the body. Finishing, I get out of the shower and throw my long auburn hair in a towel, grabbing another for my body. I stand in front of the sink to brush my teeth with my fingers, I don’t want to use someone else’s toothbrush and decide that I should braid my hair. I have a job interview this morning.  After dressing and doing my hair, I walk downstairs. The house is deserted. It reminds me of the world now. I go to the kitchen and remember there’s no food that I can eat in this house, only canned goods and I don’t have a way to open them. The house is really nice but I think they took the knives and can openers with them when they left. I grab my backpack and head out into the world. I did see a small corner store a few blocks from here, maybe there’s some food left there.  It’s early morning. There’s no one walking the streets. I’m not from this small town so I’m not sure that anyone would be walking them anyway. I briskly walk the three blocks to the corner store I had seen yesterday. The door isn’t locked. I open the door and wait a few seconds. No sounds coming from inside. I enter the quaint little store and see that it still has food in it. I grab a few boxes of poptarts and open them, spilling their contents into my backpack. I grab gum, candy bars from the candy aisle. This place is a gold mine. I turn the corner, yes, it has jerky! I take all of them, even the flaming hot ones I don’t like. I stop dead in my tracks. There’s a woman’s body on the floor.  I go to her, she hasn’t been there very long. She is dead but not long. I recognize her but I don’t know her. I look at her face then down at the clothes I’m wearing. I know who she is. I slept in her house last night. She has a purse on with keys dangling on the side. There’s a van outside. It could be hers. I check the brand on the key. Dodge. Yep. The van outside is a Dodge. I whisper my gratitude to her lifeless body and take her purse.  I walk outside to the van and try to open it. It’s locked. I use the keys. I put my backpack into the van and walk back into the corner store, making  many trips back and forth, taking as much as I could with me to the van. During these trips was when I decided that I would make her house my home now. At least, for now. I check the watch attached to the keys. It’s about time I get going. The corner store still has plenty of things I’d like to take with me but I don’t have time right now.  I get into the driver’s seat and use the key to start the van. It’s newer and still quiet. It is loaded too. I decide to check the gas right before I leave. Almost a full tank. Driving back to the house I came from, I think to myself how normal this may have been back in the day. I pull into the driveway and hit the garage door button. It opens. I pull the van into the two car garage and the door starts to shut behind me. The other car isn’t inside but there is another key. Since I now have the keys to the house, I decide to go lock the basement door that I was lucky enough to have found unlocked yesterday before sunset. While I’m in the house, I decide to check the locks on the other doors and windows too, locking every one that I find unlocked. At every door and window I whisper out loud, “This is my house now. Unless you are invited in, you are not welcome here.” I look at the watch again. I’ve got to go now. I go out the back door in the kitchen. I see the other car, a compact. I’ll take that if it’s got gas. Unlocking it and getting in, I whisper, “This is mine. Unless you are invited in, you are not welcome here.” The blue little car starts right up with the twist of it’s key. It’s got about half a tank of gas but it will get me two towns over...but maybe I should stop at that corner store to fill it up. I head that direction, it’s on the way.  My heart starts pounding as I approach the corner store...there’s a man… no a teenager standing at the pumps filling what I can only guess is his car. It’s a flashy red sports car, not what I would be driving these days but hey. I decide not to stop. Strangers can be dangerous now.