DAVID MEANS

The first house he torched that day went up in beautiful colors, fantastic, bright, lasting for an hour before the fire department got there. It didn’t matter. The three feet of snow on the ground rendered their tire chains useless. Best thing was vinyl siding: burning hot as it gooped and melted, flames sweeping the sides with fantastic swiftness. A house is built from the outside in, but fire makes its way from the inside out, eagerly, until there is no more inside and just outside. That’s what he liked about it ....