The Release

I would watch him. Alone in his apartment. Sitting on the edge of his bed. Silent. Staring off into some other place, some other world, some other time. Beyond his intended silence, the steady thumping of his heart. Thump. Thump. Thump. The fire inside, boiling his blood. Tension steady growing. Thump. Thump. Thump. His eyes, which began soft, become hard. This place he sees. Not the place for him. Thump. Thump. Thump. Lowering his head into his hands. A release. Silently screaming. The thumping of his heart. No more. It roars. The fire inside. No more. With closed eyes and an open mouth he releases that which longer can be held in. The paint on the walls around him begins to boil. The sheets on the bed below him begin to smolder. Curtains covering the windows begin to smoke. His silent screams, growing louder. The fire. Rages. Slowly, he raises his head from his hands. He opens his eyes. In an instant. All around him is incinerated. A world destroyed from that which was within. He finds himself without.