I didn’t recognize the room. It took a few minutes for me to remember the situation I was in. The sun shone through the window and fell across the bed brightly. I lay there for a while, unmoving. My stomach wasn’t really rumbling anymore. It was aching. All of my insides ached. My mouth was so dry, I was sure that if I moved my tongue, it would stick to the roof of my mouth. Faintly, I could hear Ron across the hall clicking away at the keys of his computer. Deciding to call to him, I tried to lick my lips, but it was no use. In fact, calling to him was no use either. My tongue was dry as a bone and so was my throat. Maybe that was why my voice refused to work. An ungreased wheel won’t roll. It was too much work, too much effort. I just couldn’t do it. I closed my eyes, exhausted. The next time I opened them, the room was orange with the angry glow of the setting sun.
