The Snake in the Fire

Leaning against the door frame
I feel something on my neck
Slithering as I'm withering
Like a crew mate on a dark deck.

The heat is smoldering
Its snickering at me
The wind is just as horrid as the heat is takes with it

They taunt me.
They watch as I slowly die.
The beast has me by the throat at this point.
Still its slithering.

I try to keep still for fear it may attack.
But I suppose it already has.

Elated by the fact that it all may end tonight.
This place feels like hell.
The heat.
The wind.
The snake.

Slowly it is wrapped
Suddenly I realize I am its prey.
Scared?
Never.
A marine's daughter can never fear anything but fear itself.
Right?
Wrong.

I take one last long breath
The grip grows tighter
The breath becomes shorter
The fear becomes larger.

Dizziness.
Regret.
Hatred.
Pain.

Pain?
Never.
Pain is weakness leaving the body.
A person like me may never come in contact with weakness.

I look around me
Everything in a haze.
Then,
Black.
Everything.
The world around me fades as I fall to the ground.
The realization I'm dying in hell.