The cost of a burning monk

Yes, ma’am, you’ve got it right:
he is in fact burning.
No it’s not a stunt. There’s no flame
absorption on his skin.
His body is on fire, shedding
a fresh layer every second.
The flames have swallowed half of him
at this point. He’s turning into ash.
Yes, ma’am
he is, in fact, burning.

Well, yes, by the look on his
face I could see why you might question it.
But it’s actually not a stunt.
Yes, ma’am, I’m sure.
He is calm because, well,
at this point he is gone.
No, not dead. Not yet.
But he’s far away; the flames don’t
exist where he is. He’s…
just far away.

Okay, that’s natural ma’am,
I can’t ask you to understand a monk in flames.
What’s a monk, you ask?
Well ma’am I…
Oh, well they’re not helping him because
they can’t and he doesn’t want them to.
They’re all in the same flames, you see.
Okay, sure, I won’t bother.

Oh wow, your husband is a stunt man?
Oh, for Father’s Day?
Well okay… No I don’t think we have
any larger frames for it
but I can check in the back.
No problem, ma’am.

Mallory Massie