Time: Midday
Day: Unknown
Location: Unknown
A bright flash, a loud blast, then silence.
The heat felt intense, the sound of crackling fire echoing in his ears, the smell of ash and smoke filling his airways, slowly his eyes began to waver as his vision started to come back. Along with the sense of sight, so too did the feeling of a vomit inducing headache.
The street he was in appeared to be empty, or at least that's what it sounded like, or was it the low pitch hum that was echoing in his head, the occasional flickering of embers were the only sound that broke the silence.
His eyes felt heavy again, almost lapsing back into unconsciousness, only for a short while however as the sound of footsteps came within ear shot range, encroaching on his location, keeping him in a somewhat alerted state.
As the steps grew louder, it seemed that whoever they belonged to, moved with a slight rhythm. The sound that quickly filled the air, so too did it disappear.
Perhaps it's the emergency services, or just locals, curious as to what was going on, he couldn't tell and at that moment he couldn't care. All he wanted right now was the constant agonizing pain, searing in every fiber of his being to just end.
Although he had sensation in all his extremities he had no control to speak of .
Is this what paralysis feels like? Not too sure, he thought to himself.
He could at least turn his head and neck slightly, and as he did, a figure loomed above him as he lay there on the pavement. She seemed to be smiling, not of contempt or malice for his situation, whatever that was right now, but more of a comforting, warm and friendly one as she looked down at him. Then extending a hand, she began to speak, appearing to do so with an excited yet calm manner. As he watched her mouth move as she talked, all he could hear from her were murmurs and muffles, the headache being responsible for the perceived incoherent speech from the newcomer.
"What?" He said, in a hoarse yet polite tone, using every last bit of energy he could muster in order to do so. Just saying that four letter word was enough to wind him, was it the fact he had only just woken up or rather slip out of unconsciousness, or was it the smoke from the nearby vegetation? Almost as if the sound of his own voice was enough to bring sound back into his world, he heard her voice as she repeated the phrase.
"I said salutations friend, my name is Penny. It appears that you may have spontaneously combusted, caused nearby flora to be burned, are the origin of a minor power outage to this street and you yourself appear to be in need of assistance. So I'm here to lend a hand." She explained. Overcoming the pain he raised his arm up accepting her hand, being brought back to his feet, the headache slightly subsided, he noticed that she stood a head taller as she addressed him.
"So tell me friend, what were you doing for this to happen?"
"I'm, not too sure..."
"Are you from around here? Was there anybody else nearby prior to this occurring?"
"I..I wouldn't know..."
"Oh, where are my manners, I forgot that I introduced myself, but never asked you what your name is, so who are you?"
"I...I...I can't remember... anything...at all."