Upon awakening, I re-entered the school, and hung out at the gymnasium, which seemed far bigger than I could remember. There was the girls' basketball team, of whom I recognized Sarah Morely, Jenn, and Sarah Schmidtberger.

After practice I met with Jenn, and she agreed to drive me to her house, for lack of any other pressing appointments on either of our schedules. On the way out, I recall that Mr. Jones was in his laboratory preparing some intoxicating substance, that neither of us cared to question.

We took her car, and she drove, as is not the usual custom, but we were there after a short conversation about our summers, and our lives. I noticed that the house we pulled up to was not her usual house, but it was of no general interest to either of us. The surroundings were heavily shaded by large nearby trees, presumably oaks. Downhill was to the left, though it was shallow of grade, but uphill was to the right, and after a short yard, the hill rose steeply toward someone else's property. A cobble walk led from the car to the house.

We entered the yard, walking on the stones approaching the house, when a chill wind bit down, and when she suggested she was freezing, I covered her with my coat. Coatless, I was glad to get into the warm house. She gave me a tour: The basement, the likes of which were very much like my own; The kitchen, done out in cozy yellows, and quite resembling the one at my old house, though better; And her bedroom, which was dimly lit and cold. She sat on the bed and we talked, though in the words of the White Knight, the words trickled through my head like a sieve.

Presently we were alarmed by an explosive fire on the right side of the house. Flames kicked up, and almost immediately he whole grass area had caught. We and others who had rushed to the rescue were enough to simply stamp out the fire. Relief and celebration followed, and we could not determine the cause of the fire. At a time when everyone else was conversing happily, I saw the embers of one fire blaze up again, followed by many others throughout the yard. I grabbed the hose and turned it on the fire, but this time it was too great; the kindling was as dry as it could be.

It raced up the mountainside to the right, and eventually, though everyone's hose was trained on the fire, almost creating mudflats, the fire could be seen across great distances, engulfing entire hills, hidden by smoke but visible by glow. In the midst of all this, Jenn had escaped, and I grew tired, my eyes heavy. I passed into dreams about toast and ladders, which troubled my sleeping mind...