His anger burned fierce and deep as he sat in his apartment alone.  The rush of it threatened to suck him in like a raging river.  Thoughts tossed around in his head faster than he cold catch them.  He contemplated everything that had gone so wrong in his life.  His family had fallen apart, his perfect job gone straight to hell and all he could ask was how.  He searched for meaning in the words of others.  Only to find anger, even in his kindness he was given malice in return.  Thinking back he remembered when his wife told him that she never really loved him.  He was so angry with her, it almost seemed as if she waited until he was secure in their relationship.  She waited until he thought things were getting better, only to rip his heart out.  It almost seemed as if she enjoyed his pain. His job was great too, until the boss’s sister decided she didn’t like him.  From that time on he received nothing but dirty looks and a cold shoulder, even when he accomplished what others couldn’t.  He received nothing but problems, and their seemed to be no end in sight.

All he wanted was happiness and it seemed other people had to steal that from him.  People fed on his kindness and his strive for excellence. They kept him down so they could be up.  The anger in him swelled at all these thoughts.  It swelled more when he realized that most everyone he knew was this way.  He could not take it anymore.  He began to feel hot, and sweat beaded on his forehead.  The anger built even more as he  reinforced with hatred towards those who wished him ill.

Leaning his head back and closing his eyes, he allowed himself to slip into the river of emotion.  He took a step forward in his mind, and he could swear that the anger burned him up to his knees.  Another step into the torrent of emotion placed him up to his waist.  The heat from his anger almost seemed to blister his skin.  He reveled in the imaginary pain of it.   Taking a deep breath he dove headfirst into the raging river.  His false flesh blackened and charred, falling off and being consumed by his anger.  He loved every minute of it.

The next day the police found a charred skeleton on a burned couch within a vacant apartment.  The Fire Marshall couldn’t figure out how the fire didn’t spread beyond the couch, likening the evidence to that left by a flash fire.

 The moral of the story, don’t swim in anger.