The Grey Man, 2023. An excerpt.

The pain was unbearable. My palms and scalp had taken the worst of the fire. Instinctively, I began stumbling through the brush towards the river. Even beyond the levee, the bank of the river was some distance away from my camp. My blurry eyes recognized the tall grass which formed large walls on either side of the narrow path towards the river, guiding me forward towards the water’s edge. With my hands curled into tight fists, I struggled to keep my balance as I stepped deeper into the softening earth in front of me. Soon the walls of grass peeled away into open water. I kneeled and thrust my burnt hands deep into the icy mud, but he momentum of my body was too much for my poor, mangled hands and I quickly tumbled over into the shallow river. Rolling onto my back, I wriggled myself deeper all while trying to unclench my burnt palms. I pressed my burnt scalp deep into the cold water all while keeping my face above the surface. As my vision returned, I found myself looking up at the night sky. It seemed so clear in this moment, as all the stars in the universe laid themselves bare above me. How did I end up here? Never had I felt so violated. All I wanted was to be left alone, and to preserve those memories of my childhood when Shinzo and Fumio and I would skip classes, drink stolen beer, and piss together at this very spot. We’d been as one, all those years ago. The throbbing pain of my scalp had somehow found its way inside my chest as tears rolled over the sides of face and into dark, frigid river.