I sat in the steam sauna long after the building was evacuated. At first, the steam kept rolling, slow-waves of eucalyptus mist beading my skin with damp. Until my chest ached for breath, the air too heated to for oxygen; panting and sweating I sat, no longer basking, far from relaxed.
Then generators whirred a final time, though I didn't know that until after the purring engines stopped. So I forgot to savor the last moments, unaware. Resolutely gasping I sat, moisture thick upon the air, and dreamed of a room more icy.
The transition was too long to notice firstly, the heady molecules of life sprouting in my chest, a few more here and here again. One less drop of eucalyptus water beading on my body.
Instead, I noticed first the heat. A few minutes, and I felt a prickle. A tightening of skin on my arm, a tingle on my breasts. A smattering of goosebumps pervading my flesh. Anticipation, as the air cooled from boiling to hot, and my cooking process slowed.
Tepid was when I began to miss the heat. A damp fog blanketed my chilled skin, sending shivers rattling all the teeth in my jaws. A dream flickered, as I stared at my new bane of cold mist. A tropical room once powered with a dew, flicked with eucalyptus, heat squeezing the air from my lungs in fierce, heady pleasure.
I licked my lips, consumed by cold and wet, naked and shivering. Remembering, in a disbelieving daze, how I had longed for the cold in the heat. Sensing, or remembering, how I would long again, and again, never content.
And in this circle of dreams, I dreamed anew - of a place where contentment led me to love and tranquility, not these dreams of what I didn't have.
But uncertain, I waited instead for the generators to come on again.
Then generators whirred a final time, though I didn't know that until after the purring engines stopped. So I forgot to savor the last moments, unaware. Resolutely gasping I sat, moisture thick upon the air, and dreamed of a room more icy.
The transition was too long to notice firstly, the heady molecules of life sprouting in my chest, a few more here and here again. One less drop of eucalyptus water beading on my body.
Instead, I noticed first the heat. A few minutes, and I felt a prickle. A tightening of skin on my arm, a tingle on my breasts. A smattering of goosebumps pervading my flesh. Anticipation, as the air cooled from boiling to hot, and my cooking process slowed.
Tepid was when I began to miss the heat. A damp fog blanketed my chilled skin, sending shivers rattling all the teeth in my jaws. A dream flickered, as I stared at my new bane of cold mist. A tropical room once powered with a dew, flicked with eucalyptus, heat squeezing the air from my lungs in fierce, heady pleasure.
I licked my lips, consumed by cold and wet, naked and shivering. Remembering, in a disbelieving daze, how I had longed for the cold in the heat. Sensing, or remembering, how I would long again, and again, never content.
And in this circle of dreams, I dreamed anew - of a place where contentment led me to love and tranquility, not these dreams of what I didn't have.
But uncertain, I waited instead for the generators to come on again.
