Heat

He watched the droplets above him silently, a mosaic, every now and then, he would blink as one fell down, terrified that it would fall in his eye. The steam was everywhere, his body was dripping with sweat. The steam made it hard to see, but what was there to see anyways. It smelled of eucalyptus and tree oil, or so he thought. His fingers curled with a little bit of delight as his pores opened from the heat, and they took in the oils. Rejuvenated.

He had always loved saunas and steam rooms. He would just go to them, lie inside, if there was enough space, it was one of his favorite parts of the day. Post workout, pre shower. Rejuvenating. 

A droplet fell on his shirt, he was wearing a shirt right now. There was no one here, it did not matter. He could feel it melting through the cotton on the shirt, and he could feel his navel becoming wet.

He had always loved saunas and steam rooms. Of course, after he had been old enough to go in them. They had always rejuvenated him. Made him feel refreshed, recharged, ready to feel the day.

His shirt was drenched in sweat. He had been here far too long. But he could not go out.

He had always loved saunas and steam rooms. He had wanted one in his house. Then the world began to burn.

The sauna was in his house, it was his house. He dared not open the windows. Outside, the elements were going berserk, had been for what felt like forever. If he opened the windows, he was not sure which one would tear through his house. Whether the winds would rip open the floorboards, sent everything flying everywhere, make every object in his house a deadly projectile. Whether the deluge of water would seep into the electricity and create a whirlpool that would instantly shock and kill, that had happened to someone he had known. Whether the aridity would make his lips parched, would draw out the moisture from everything, dry out the water, turn off the air conditioner, through the steel, once-gleaming-now-lathered-in-moisture doors of the refrigerator, would it suck out all the water.

He had always loved saunas and steam rooms. Until the world began to go mad. 

He did not like them anymore.

When the elements had started to dance, and fight, and bleed, he had hoped it would die down. Everyone had. It had not. This was years ago. What was unthinkable before was now the new normal. Everyone had to get used to it. Everyone had made peace with their inevitable deaths. It would happen.

He had used to love saunas and steam rooms. Then his house became one. To be fair to the end of the world, he had chosen this. This was the way to die. Lathered in sweat, he did not want the other deaths, he was terrified of them. He had thought he could handle this. He had always loved saunas and steam rooms. Not anymore.