Combustion Man

Flash Fiction.

He did not have time to repent of his crime, or even remember what it was. The curse was as swift as it was thoughtful, and his substance transmuted to meet its grim syllables:

“Die in EVERY fire.”

The magic churned through his substance until every nanoscopic iota of his being was transposed into the universe’s supply of oxygen molecules. Not atoms, for that would have been a mercy and granted the offender a life that could endure all but the heart of a star. No, his curse was far more dire: to become oxygen molecules, whose duality made them just impermanent enough to hurt.
And every fire, everywhere, until the last lights in the universe blinked their final flashes. would rend him in two with a carbon blade, forever.
Molecular diagram of carbon dioxide, showing how it is a carbon atom between two oxygen atoms.
Forever.
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Combustion Man
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