Fixed fire: blades forged in fire, revenge, steadfastness

For the proper adherence to ritual we had shaved our hair ultra-close, and smeared on a square of silver zinc.

Mutable fire: emergencies, cinematic glimmers, glowworms

The dark spools forward and I grip the branch. I lunge into the deep mud and my holy communion dress is ratted at the hem.

Mutable fire: wild fire, contamination, neon.

Anna and Melissa ate with some ceremony, taking tiny bites and washing them down with tea.

Mutable fire: flickering light, limit experience, neural reactions

Like the experience of being on a psychedelic trip, whether you perceive bliss or horror is down to your state of mind.

Mutable water: liminality, precarity, recklessness

Emma Cline’s novel The Guest is a thriller where nothing much happens. The tension and dread are evoked from the seemingly impossible drama of trying to live from moment to moment.