Maria pulled out the large silver pot that her mom always used. She filled it with water, andset the stove to high. She went into her room, took off her cleats and shinguards, and lay down on her bed.

//I'll just lay here for a few minutes, until I have to put the pasta in.//

Darkness hit her the second she closed her eyes.Maria slept peacefully, dreaming of Michael. He was standing on a field of dead grass. Steam was rising from the ground, and Michael was yelling something to her. She couldn't hear him over all the noise. She tried to move closer, but a blast of heat hit her in the face. He moved towards her, and leaned his face in close to hers. She closed her eyes, thinking he would kiss her, that deep, hungry kiss that she loved.

When she had had her eyes closed for about five minutes, and no kiss from Michael had arrived, she opened her eyes again. Michael stood there laughing at her. "What?" she screamed at him, outraged for laughing at her.

He kept laughing. //If he doesn't stop laughing at me, I'm going to knee him in the groin.//

"Maria, you're kitchen's on fire!" Michael giggled like a little girl as he yelled this.

Maria, the real Maria, abruptly sat up in bed. A horrible odor filled the air. "Oh, my God! The water!!"

She dashed into the kitchen, the smoke was thick and choking. She ran to the stove. Her mother's favorite pot was liquefied! Silver material was running down the side of the stove.

Once she had turned off the heat, she glanced at the clock. //My Lord, I was asleep for four hours!//