“A return to a more natural way of life,” is how Grayson rationalized it to himself, but he knew the truth deep down. He feared it all. The idea that in one moment the power could go out. That summer, most of his electrical system found its way to the end of a sledgehammer.

He removed the lightbulbs, the television, and even abandoned his cell phone. Flash lights were from the devil. Anything carrying a charge found a place in the trash.

Afterwards, his house had a sign outside that read, “No phones, lights, and electricity.” He erected a fence with a lock to ensure no one would just walk onto his property with an item he deemed filthy.

He ran a campfire outside his house. The house looked more like a mess of torn boards at this point. He removed all the electrical wires. The evenings were for roasting meat over the fire outside.

The summer turned into fall, then when the first snows came for winter, he bundled up in a hooded coat, mittens, and boots.

With all the changes, he never stopped to question what would happen during a blizzard. His campfire refused to keep lit outside. His house didn’t have a chimney, but who needed a chimney he said to himself. He felt like making beans. He moved the furniture in the living room to make the center into a place to hold a fire. He figured lining the bottom of his campfire with dirt should keep the process safe.

He shoveled past the snow outside until he found frozen dirt. The dirt filled his living room. He cut some logs for a fire. He lit the fire and used his rig from outside to hang the pot. After he started to feel the warmth of the fire, he shed his mittens to use the fire for his hands. He waited for the water to boil, but his eyes grew tired. He fell asleep.

As he slept, the fire found its way to the floor through the dirt. His carpet caught fire. The flames warmed the area around him until he woke to a room filled with smoke, coughing for air, barely moving, running to get out of the room. He burst out into the snow a burning mess, a flaming juggernaut whose stop, drop, and roll found only icicles and the sight of his house going up in flames.

With a cough and clothes that bore the marks of fire, he left his natural reserve to go next door and knocked on the door, but everyone slept so hard no one woke. They found him on the doorstep the next morning. Not knowing what to do, they called an ambulance.

He woke later in a hospital on a ventilator, an old rerun of the Big Bang Theory on TV, and a nurse changing his bedpan.

He wanted away, but figured he’d rather breathe than not.