As soon as my mind comprehended the image of the kettle, I found myself pushing the book away from me, scrambling to wrap my fingers around the object in question. It still felt warm, just as it had in the limo on the way to the compound. This time, it was definitely the kettle. Or my hysteria. I still wasn't sure. With shaking fingers and bated breath, I began to peel at the seal on the stone surface. The ring clanged against the surface and I nearly cried. Swiftly, I checked it for any damages. Seeing none and thanking the Lord, I continued. I couldn't seem to peel the paper off fast enough and I nearly ripped it in the process but I didn't and laid it out tenderly on my bed.
When it finally fell away, I pushed open the lid. For sure I wasn't imagining it anymore. The kettle was a warmer temperature then it should have been. Hot air filled the entire room and the sun seemed to have gotten brighter and stronger. The temperature continued to rise until it felt like a sauna within my room. My breath was coming out in heaving gasps and I struggled to catch fresh air into my lungs. I grappled the side of my bed to get to my feet and attempted to get to the door but I could barely hold myself. It was so hot. Why was it so hot?
The kettle fell from my lap as soon as I began to flounder to my feet and rolled uselessly on its side. Sinking to my knees, I reached for it, figuring that if I put the lid back on, the torturous heat would leave. I pulled at the neck of my kimono as I crawled. I reached the lid just as something began to hiss. Sand was pouring out of the tea kettle, filling the room. Soon, not only was I choking on the heat but my own fear, which was filling up the room in a thick smog. Great, I was going to boil to death in a tea kettle made sauna and drown in a large quantity of sand. Perfect. Just my luck.
Wilson Mizner had said, the only sure thing about luck is that it will change. I better be winning a jackpot after this because I was going to die. Or at least, it felt like it.
I was going to join Uncle Hizashi sooner than I thought. Would people think it was a suicide, that getting taken in by my father was the last straw for Miss Hyuga Hinata and that she couldn't bare being away from her beloved guardian any longer.
It terrified me, that no one would know the truth. As attributed to James A. Garfield, the truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.
I was miserable.
I was going to die.
And that was the truth.
At the point which I figured I was going to pass out, something began to happen with the sand. It began to grow together, lifting and forming something. As it did so, the heat began to leave and my whole body began to grow light, despite the heavy layer of sweat that was covering me beneath the kimono. The first time I wear something priceless and I nearly die. Perfect.
Collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, I could only watch as the sand formed a humanoid shape. After the shape was formed, it was if someone had dipped it into color, for pigment began to wash over the shape but I only saw until the estimated height of what should have been the creature's knees before my vision began to fade, tears falling from the relief of the fading pain. Soon, I saw nothing.
There is much in the world to make us afraid, Frederick W. Cropp all but reassured. There is much more in our faith to make us unafraid.