We were so behind on our evaporation payments they'd cut us off. We were festering. There was no point in towels. The oatmeal lay soaked in its jar. I tried cooking noodles but they were already soft, and anyway the water would get hot but never boil. The air chafed with cat piss. Mildew webbed across my clothes. My roommate started going to her boyfriend's to dry off. I told her I'd take care of it. Take out a loan, put it on credit. I called and called the company but no one picked up. The sound of bubbling floated through the line.

I sat in the swamp of my desk chair panning through Twitter. The iPad still worked though the desktop computer had fallen to mold. My fingers cut through slime with every swipe. I caught up on the news. I streamed pop songs. My shoulders stuck to the chair while I watched Sharknado on Netflix.

I could feel algae in my hair, slick and green. The smell of healthy bacteria ringed my face. Something brown grew under my fingernails. I wasn't brave enough to look at my feet. In the floor, soft welts formed, and the hardwood flaked away with each step.

The windows, pooled with water and grit, rusted shut. Brown holes wore through the blinds. I pressed my wrinkled hands to the glass and watched as the dry world passed. Women in gossamer dresses, men in pleated suits. Their hair looked damp because they wanted it to. Their lips flickered with glycerin. Their bright leather shoes kept time against the sidewalk: clip, clip, clip.