Anger: The Better Calm

One: The igniter caused sparks. The tide grew, beating the rocks. Tick.

The water and fire fought. I kept my eruption contained while my opponent unleashed spoken vipers that dug their canines into my heart, battling the water and coaxing my demons to spleen. I focused on the remaining water. I was praised for it all my life; my parents, my friends, and God himself all loved this calm part of me. They all loved the water, and I did too. But I always wondered why a low hum of violence rang throughout my days, why every time I held in this rage, it came back with fervent vengeance. I glanced behind me analyzing the demon triangle, in which magma sloshed about, tectonic plates increased its bubbling hate and earthquakes coaxed its action. The demon wanted to be released; it was only a matter of time.

Two: The sparks rose the flame. The tides drew back Tick. I stood there, allowing my adversary to mock me.

“You don’t listen to instructions; everything you do is a forlorn attempt. You're a sorry scum.”

Three: The flame made the volcano hum. The water blackened. Tick. Why can’t they understand? They’re blinded only to their perspective, their dirtied human lens. I hold my tongue. They persist, demanding an answer they have no interest in hearing. Layering their spoken vipers, still like a wave of blades piercing my heart, wrenching out the little remains of God and cajoling my demon. There was no more water, only replaced with a palpable darkness, an abyss whose fall was eternal. The demon called for its escape, and so it was. Tick.

Four: Eruption. The rumbling was deafening, the magma sloshing about, the grinding of the tectonic plates, the earthquakes coaxing its eruption. Millennials passed; it was calm, but now it's calm no more. My mouth opened; I couldn’t speak for the demon spoke for me. The swirling dragons of hate and anger I thought I had tamed coursed through my blood, jerking it about. They puppeted my actions, pleasing the humming violence. The snakes that pierced my heart burned, for my eruption was far greater than my adversary's, equal only to its suppression. The demon laughed, satiating the thought of unleashing its own vipers to rip the water out of hearts and coax their volcano. Havoc, fire, perdition—a curse humanity gave one another. Shared as if it were a gift on Christmas Day. If one was given it, they were destined to give it to another, a hot potato game between humanity. My potato was burning; I had no other choice but to pass. Tick, Tick, Tick.