DESCRIPTION: Grainy picture of a car on fire, taken by Jenna Campbell a.k.a. Soup
RELEVANCE: Written report based on interviews with Soup about the night this picture was taken.
"Soup was up too late thinking about her gray little town. Lying in her bed, well past midnight, Grayhaven’s quietness was somehow more pronounced. Everyone had long gone to bed, and it was like the town existed only for Soup in that moment. Soup's eyes caught on a sudden glow coming from her bedroom window, which caused her to forget about any continuing thoughts on levels of grayness. She adjusted her position to a full sit so she could get a better look, and from the new angle, Soup could tell a fire was in full bloom. Which, on its own, wasn’t odd; being on the outskirts of middle America, bonfires were a common pastime. But, based on the hour that was brightly illuminated on Soup’s alarm clock, it was Monday now, and everyone should be tucked away, sleeping in preparation for the new work week.Â
Living on the 3rd floor of the only apartment building in town, Soup’s bedroom window had a nice view that overlooked the town square and the rooftops of the white picket fence homes just beyond that. And now, she had a nice view of the large blaze that was burning much too bright and much too close to be the centerpiece of a yard gathering. It almost seemed to Soup that the fire was burning in the middle of the dark, empty town square. It certainly wasn’t the place where leisurely, flame-lit hangouts happened. Not that Soup knew much in the way of where hangouts happened, but this was just common sense. Even from her distance, Soup could tell something was wrong.Â
Soup rose gingerly from her bed, as if not to disturb the scene outside her window. She crept closer until her face was nearly pressed to the glass. She could finally see the full scale of the blaze. Right there in the middle of Main Street, something was burning, and it seemed to be only getting larger. Soup could feel her breath lodge in her throat as she waited for anything, really; For the growing sound of sirens as firetrucks sped towards the heart of their little town, for the rush of people to gather at the edges of the square, already spreading whispers, or even for the sound of crackling and groaning to echo from the fire towards her.Â
But Grayhaven remained ever peaceful, not even the slightest movement pricking at Soup’s peripherals. And maybe it was that familiar panic caused by nothingness that spurred Soup into action, quickly shoving her shoes on, as she raced out of the cozy shelter of her home. Before she knew it, her feet were hitting the pavement outside, where she froze in place, pleading for the nothingness to disperse into chaos. But the quiet town slumbered on as Soup watched the glow of the fire illuminate the silhouettes of the trees that now blocked her clear line of sight.Â
She was moving again, not taking the time to consider the logistics of running towards a fire that no one else seemed to be running to. But her pace increased anyway, feet thumping against the concrete as she closed the distance between her and the town square. Soup finally rounded the corner, skirting to a stop when she broke from behind the trees' shadows. No longer protected by their darkness, the bright light of the fire overwhelmed Soup’s vision, causing her to blink and rub at her eyes until it cleared.
Once Soup had regained her sight, she was finally able to take in the whole picture in front of her. There, right in the middle of her small town's quiet main street, was a car that was set ablaze. Even though she stood many yards away, Soup could feel the heat from the fire pressing into her skin. She had never seen a fire this destructive before.
The car cracked and groaned under the weight of the fire, shifting as it melted and causing embers to shoot out in every direction. The small fires landing on Soup's exposed arm snapped her back into the reality of the moment. Soup couldn't be entirely sure how much time had passed from when she first noticed the fire to when she arrived on the scene. But it was more than enough time for the other people of Grayhaven to notice. And still she stood alone on the street.
"Hello?" Soup called out in the quiet night. She hadn't made a conscious decision to yell out, but it was like her body wasn't able to come to terms with the reality of this. Like her mind couldn't handle that a car was burning loudly in the middle of the night, and she was the only one there to know.
"Hello? Anyone? Help!" Soup had officially lost all her composure. She began walking in a radius around the burning car, trying to see if anyone was inside, but the flames were too bright to see past. All she could hope was that no one was in the car. Not knowing what else to do, Soup turned on her heel, ready to run to the fire station for help. Just as her back began to turn away from the burning scene, a movement across the street caught her attention.
Despite just screaming into the night for help, Soup felt a panic creep up the back of her throat. She dropped into a squat behind a bush, suddenly having an overwhelming feeling to not be seen anywhere near the town square. Peeking from her hiding spot, Soup directed her attention to the area where the movement came from. Across the street was the town hall. Because Grayhaven was such a small town, a bunch of city offices and services all lived in the town hall building, as there wasn't enough budget to afford them their own offices. But none operated at night. And yet, Soup watched as a light on the outside flicked on. Like someone needed the light to see better in the dark, as if there was a blazing pyre already lighting up the entire night.
The light flicked on towards the right side of the town hall building, and Soup couldn't be sure exactly what office took up there area, but she was sure they shouldn't still be at work. What was even more haunting, though, Soup realized, was that whoever just turned that light on had been there this whole time. There was no way that they didn't know the fire was burning. But they sat in silence and did nothing until they heard Soup's voice.
Soup didn't know what that could mean, but she did know she didn't want to stick around and find out. She started to rise, making sure to stay bent at the waist so she could run out of the square behind the cover line of bushes. Soup checked one last time over the bush to make sure she saw no one else. Just as she took her first step, her foot knocked against an object on the ground. Soup could tell it must be a bag because she heard things scatter. From the glow of the fire, Soup looked down to find a backpack spilled open at her feet. She must've missed it in the adrenaline of everything before.
Soup didn't recognize the bag; there wasn't anything that gave away who the owner might be. No labeled belongings or specific clothes, and even the backpack was plain. The contents of the bag were odd, though. There were rubber gloves, sticks tied together with twine, a butterfly hair clip that could belong to any girl in Soup's grade, and a disposable camera. Maybe Soup should have been more concerned about the backpack that was seemingly ditched in the town square next to a crime scene. But it was honestly the least concerning part of the night.
Not thinking, Soup reached down and grabbed one of the weird bundles of sticks and the disposable camera. Soup wasn't sure what she was going to do next, but her gut was telling her that whatever she did, she was going to need proof. She fully stood from behind the bush, exposing herself to the light of the fire and whoever might be watching from the town hall. She snapped a picture of the burning car as quick as she could, no technique involved. Soup just hoped she got something.
The hairs stood up on the back of Soup's neck; she could tell her time was running out, and staying anything longer would be pushing her luck. With the camera and sticks gripped tightly in her fists, Soup ducked back down under the bush line and ran as fast as she could towards home.
The apartment was just as Soup left it, nothing to hint that anyone else had seen the fire burning in town. All the lights were off, and her grandparents were still sleeping soundly in their room. They were none the wiser about what Soup had just witnessed. Soup entered her bedroom, the fire still visible from her window. She walked over quickly, sparing the still-burning fire one last glance before yanking her bedroom curtains closed. She looked back to where she had set the sticks and camera on her bed. Soup wasn't sure what this all meant or why this would happen. But she had a feeling that Grayhaven would be drastically changed when she woke up in the morning."
