[ WP ] The park is on fire but no one seems to care .

Carry On 
 
 
 I screamed at them, those two powerwalkers on their lunch break, women in nurse's uniforms, but over the fire's howl and wind's grumble they did n't hear me. 
 
 I chased the loose dog who chased a squirrel who ran toward the alit, sparkling thicket. The squirrel ducked under a burning log; the dog scurried after. 
 
 No sirens. No gawkers milling the outskirts. I could n't see the soccer fields, nor Vann Avenue. 
 
 A man pitched to a boy in a batting cage, the netting behind him smoldering, disintegrating. The boy hit a line drive, and they both watched it roll to the parking lot. He grabbed another ball from a bucket. 
 
 “ What the fuck is going on? ” I yelled. 
 
 “ Batting practice, ” he sneered. “ What's it look like? ” 
 
 “ The fire! The park is fucking on fucking fire! ” 
 
 “ It'll die out. ” He kept throwing; the kid kept swinging. 
 
 A car pulled into the lot, parked under a flaming pine. She removed a stroller, gathered twins, put on headphones, and jogged down the path. I ran after, cussing, but stopped when the heat pushed and I could n't keep my eyes open. 
 
 I ran back to the lot. The man's clothes had burned, his skin black and red, hair gone. And he still chucked baseballs. 
 
 I sprinted across an open field toward the lake. A group of elementary kids, on lunch from Hebron School across the road, threw bread to the ducks and geese, who, flapping wings burning, raced after the morsels, bickered with each other over the scraps. The kids laughed. Their teacher sat on a bench and scrolled through Facebook while her purse and backpack went up in flames. 
 
 I jumped into the lake. “ Hey! No swimming! Hey! Get out of there! ” The Park Ranger, on his mountain bike, rode to the water's edge. The bike was charred black, no tires, his yellow jacket and helmet melted onto him. “ No swimming in the lake! What do you think you're doing?! ” 
 
 I turned and swam toward the middle as he kept yelling, as kids cackled and the trees crackled.
