What Burning Feels Like By Yohanna Ostrowski
I raised my face to admire the few, dim stars that were scattered across the black sea of space. The white glow of the August harvest moon floated in the center of my vision, outshining all the other celestial objects around it. I breathed in the darkness surrounding me and, for no reason in particular, smiled to myself. I always got the giggles when I was under the influence. “Luna!” I called out. I received no answer. Of course I didn’t. What did I expect? I wasn’t going to find my designated driver by breaking my neck looking up. I let my eyes travel back down to earth, and was disappointed to find that nothing had changed since I had last looked upon the scene. The great stone wall that encompassed the property still made it very clear that only the chosen elites of society were welcome at a place like this. The tall, twisted iron gates at the front of the estate were still wide open, welcoming all of California’s most affluent teenagers to come enjoy a night of damaging their parents' bank account balances. The circular, cement driveway at the entrance was still littered with sports cars of every make and model, awaiting the return of the intoxicated drivers and the plus ones they had picked up for the night. The fountain that sat in the center of the padlock still gurgled peacefully, lulling the guard dogs to sleep inside their shelter. The gravel path leading from the driveway through rows of well trimmed shrubs up to the porch still seemed just as long as when I had walked up it the first time hours earlier. The mansion hosting the end of summer celebration was still unnecessarily exuberant and practically screamed the words “disposable income”. The guests were still either skinny dipping in the pool, taking shots, throwing up in the bathrooms, smoking weed on the balcony or having sex in one of the bedrooms. The porch I stood on was thankfully still the quietest place in the whole house. Even I was the same as I had been a couple minutes ago. While I couldn’t see my own reflection,
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