Hi, my name is June Mara Catalant. Where I live has, like, no water and is so hot, like, all the time. It's so annoying! The people here are so sensitive. I mean, like, they like to complain when lava spews and one hot ember, ONE! Falls onto their arm. Like, guys, it doesn't even hurt!

Ok listen, you either don't agree with me on this, or you think that I'm some mutant who can't feel heat. Who didn't get a weird, horrible gift from her ancestors that makes everyone in my entire school hate me because whenever I play basketball and the ball is passed to me and it gets obliterated by flames, and everyone starts side-eyeing me like I'm one of the weird kids who play chess in their free time? Like who would say that?! (right?)

Ok, so today I may or may not have ruined one of my classmates' $500 purse and got sent to detention. With PRINCIPAL ONATA. The meanest person in the school.

At recess, if I were to simply touch a ball, it would immediately obliterate into ash. My classmates would side-eye me as if I had giant oozy zits all over my face. One day I came home crying, saying, "Why are people so mean to me?!"

Papa is always bugging me when I ask that question. He's always like, "Can you walk into a fire and not get burned?"

Well, no dur, but of course I can't say that, so I said, "Yeah, I guess."

"Then why do you let people make fun of you for it?" he asked.

"Because people in our town don't like different," I replied.

Papa shouted back, "If everything stayed the same in our city, we wouldn't have anything we do now!"

Wanting to change the topic, I said, "Papa, why did I get this gift and not you or Mama?"

Papa left the room after saying, "That question is not ready to be answered."

After I heard this, I became very furious. My fingertips turned the color of fresh hot coal. My hair turned into flames! Just before those flames touched the roof and almost burnt our house down, my mama splashed a whole gallon bucket of molten milk on me to extinguish the flames.

"CALM DOWN, CHILD! You're not quite ready to hear the answer yet. Now go change, then come to the kitchen to help me prepare dinner," said Mama.

"Yes, Mama. Sorry, Mama," I said with a deep sigh.

I quickly got changed and went into the kitchen with my mama. As soon as I stepped into that kitchen, I caught a whiff of what she was preparing for dinner that night. My heart filled with excitement at what I smelled. It was my favorite: shredded fire hog and pepperbread soup. After 10 long minutes of shredding the hog, Mama and I called out for dinner, and Papa came rushing as soon as he heard. We ate our dinner in silence. Then I finally spoke.

"May I be excused from the table? My plate is clean, and I am full."

My parents excused me. I rinsed my plate and went to my room to go to bed.