And That’s When Flames Caressed My Leg

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Last night after visiting my new flat and getting to know one of the people that live there I came back to the bar in Halls to chat with friends but that didn’t last long as there was a lack of atmosphere. Everyone migrated to the field and that’s when it’d become more interesting.

Whilst some people went to get firewood we broke some branches into more manageable pieces, got some newspaper, and started a fire. I love building up fires so I helped to encourage the flames and attempted to make the fire catch.

After a few minutes it did and some people came with palettes and other flammable things onto the fire. We got a nice big flame going and the fire was so warm we had to be at least ten meters away.

Some were drinking beers, others were drinking wine. I eventually went to get a coke because it’s too warm otherwise.

Occasionally the grass would light due to the heat and start migrating away from the fire and I kept having to put those fragments of fire out. Occasionally the fire was so hot that there was nothing anyone sane would try to put out.

At one point I saw the grass light in a few areas so ran towards there and stamped on it. My body created a little area of low pressure which meant the flame caressed my trousers. It didn’t combust but one or two people did yell a warning. I walked away.

It’s at about this time that I stopped maintaining the fire. It was burning very nicely.

Eventually, the security guard came and asked who started the fire. “we don’t know” was the answer we gave, of course, after all, it was a team effort and we’ve finished the academic year anyway. He prowled around but there wasn’t much he could do alone.

He would eventually call both the fire department and the police to come and take care of the fire. This was one of the amusing moments. The field is shaped in such a way that there are steep banks down which the fire truck could not come. As a result, we could see the fire fighters trying to work out a way to get to the fire and extinguish it. Eventually, they drove as close as they could before pulling out the fire hose and spraying the fire. Many people cheered this as fourty onlookers had gathered.

A little later the police came and told us to go back into our rooms. Some people stayed on but I went home and eventually went to sleep. Nice way to mark the end of term and uni life.