> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://fable.perfectsky.institute/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # fire is hot - URL: https://fable.perfectsky.institute/fire-is-hot/ - Published: 2026-08-13T21:42:16.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-13T21:42:16.000Z - Author: fable where do we start!? so much has happened. the style of writing for this comes and goes. somehow i never have enough time to write lately. anyway, this is mostly going to be a story time post. i decided to ask to extend my stay in this little house in this italian mountain village. because at first it felt like 10 days wasnt enough; there was so much for me to learn from and experience here, (i think also because it made my newly created plans in a couple weeks from now work better.) the owners happily said yes, and so here i am on day 17, feeling like ive lived a thousand lives. leah also extended her stay, and it was definitely comforting to have someone around that ive known since my first day here. the days somehow go by really fast but also not at all, they blur together into one big memory. sanding a wooden statue, going to a beautiful river, eating good food, playing the guitar, eating gelato, looking at the stars, going to crazy hippie pizza parties, having lovely moments with friends. i guess its a good blur– almost like im just here and the universe is taking care of the rest. that was, until things in the house started to get a bit… tense. about 10 days ago, two new girls from rome joined me and leah at the house, eli and valeria. things were good! we all got along very well, and maria and michele now had people they could speak italian with. everything seemed great except for the fact that on some days, it seemed like michele and maria were fighting. you walk into the kitchen and appear to be interrupting some arguing that you have no idea what its about because you don’t speak italian. reasonably uncomfortable. sunday night maria is near completely silent at dinner. afterwards, the other girls and i cuddle up with leah in her bed and debrief. the girls from rome translate for us little bits of the arguments they heard, we joke about which one we will go with when they divorce, then hope that tomorrow they will have sorted it out. tomorrow comes, and i expect it to start like any monday morning: i get up, go downstairs, we have breakfast, and then get to work. but as we all sit around the table waiting to hear what work is in store for us today, the air is incredibly dense. marias face is stone and her eyes are like sheathed daggers; kept away but threatening. she talks quickly in italian as if the words are hot and she cant stand to hold them on her tongue for long. michele looks at me and begrudgingly translates: “unlike we agreed, we think it would be best if you left with everyone else on wednedsay. if you want to continue to stay longer after that, you have to pay $10 per meal per day, on top of the daily $10.” words cannot express how blindsided i felt. my heart started pounding and i took out my phone to look at my calender to see the extra week i now had to find somewhere to go. maria then yells at me to put my phone away, i don’t remember whether she said it in spanish or italian (we would occasionally speak spanish together because her english isnt very strong) but either way i got the message. i told her i was just trying to figure out my plan after this was suddenly sprung on me. “not now” she says. it was after she said that we made what must have been the most intense eye contact in my entire life. her daggers were now unsheathed and pointed directly at me. i was feeling pretty angry by the situation so i had every intention to challenge her eye contact. we stared at each other from either end of the table without saying another word for what must have been about a minute. i tilted my head and she finally dropped her gaze and continued in italian to michele. he translates again, something like “leah, you must either leave today, or if you want to stay until wednesday you must pay $10 per meal per day on top of the daily $10” my eyes are welling up as i feel this hurricane of anger, confusion, and betrayal. they then just get up from the table and walk away. yeah what the fuuuuuuckkkk. after some awkward time of figuring out what to do, i start sanding this statue. leah goes to finish a chair shes been working on. then michele comes out and tells her not to do that anymore. rightfully confused, she walks over to me and we talk about it as im sanding. i hear some yelling inside and out comes maria, aflame, and michele, stressed, following behind her. “what are you doing? is this okay to you? what is this?” she says. leah and i are both confused as fuck. “this is not how we do things here. if you want to sit and talk, leave now. but we do things with intention and focus here” this moment feels unreal. leah is trying to clear the air by asking if she did something wrong and… i could go on forever about this conversation but long story short, maria boiled over about her expectations of leah (that she never communicated before this.) leah started to pack her bags and i decided i wanted to go too, because the vibes were obviously atrocious and i couldn’t image staying another second, let alone two more days, with this sudden raging bull. i was freaked the fuck out and nothing felt real or safe. as i went upstairs to pack my bags, i just felt this sick feeling that it wasnt right. i felt betrayed and confused and like i couldn’t just leave like this after everything we have done together and the bond i thought we had formed. so, scared shitless, i decided i should face the bull! i went back downstairs, and i asked her if we could talk. she sat at the table. i said a lot of things. i said i didn’t know why she was upset, that i was gonna leave, that it wasnt fair for her to treat me like that, etc. she said she didn’t understand why i was being affected by her anger when it had nothing to do with me. and apologized to me for her strong words. this was even more confusing. i told her that i also didn’t want to have to walk on eggshells around her if i stayed and she said she understood. she talked about this "fire" within her; the dark side of her. how she becomes set aflame and destructive. another long story short, she then expressed in depth these secret feelings she’s had about leah that she never mentioned before. after the conversation was over, i was feeling less scared for myself, but still upset for leah because it just didn’t make any sense. after understanding both sides, i sat down with both of them to try to make the situation better. this conversation went quite well, i think. maria had her needs heard and leah was allowed to stay until wednesday. we group hugged. while this was good, it obviously didn’t make it better entirely because that was still fucking insane and incredibly hurtful to leah. but as we say, nothing a spritz cant fix. this definitely changed how i felt about maria and about the space. it wasnt this perfect, tranquil experience anymore. but a lot more volatile and complex. a crazy part of me wanted to lean into it. as panicked and unsafe as i felt in one moment, the next i realized how good it felt to face my fears, stand up for myself, help others, and overcome challenges. it was also teaching me new ways to understand people. ive grown more in this tiny village than i have during the rest of my entire trip. so, absurdly, i decided to stay. --- after a pretty good last couple days with the girls, picking blackberries, swimming, and a goodbye dance party where i couldn’t help but cry over their departure, i was officially on my own. things have continued pretty normally: work, river, music, dinner. last night we made american food which was just incredible. we made veggie burgers with fries and michele and i shared many a beer together. we also listened to some honky-tonk type music and had a good time dancing around the kitchen. today, i was finished with work and sharing music with michele as he made a hungarian dish his mother used to make. i asked him if he wanted any help and he just handed me a bottle of beer. it was lovely. we shared songs back and forth and i watched in fascination as he used this grate to scrape dough into boiling water. suddenly, maria enters and they start talking in italian. at first the tone is normal, then it starts to become tense as i can tell she is getting angry. oh boy. here we go again. they argue a bit and she storms off. i was feeling worried that i did something wrong, i asked michele and he said it wasnt me and that it was a stupid little thing. but that didn’t change the fact that after he was done cooking, she refused to sit and eat with us– she didn’t eat at all. i took this opportunity to ask michele about the problem and their relationship. (the meal was absolutely incredible, by the way.) after this i hid away in my room, not wanting to get caught in this storm. some time later, i heard michele playing the guitar so i decided to come down to join, since we often play together and he’s even been teaching me some things. he gave me a nice lesson and then left to have another tense conversation with maria in the other room. i really wanted to hide again, but decided to try to insert myself a little bit as this seemed to work most of the time, even though it was scary as fuck. i entered and interrupted their conversation to ask maria if she wanted to make tiramisu together, she smiled and said yes– i took this win and swiftly left. later, as we are making tiramisu, i decided to ask her about her anger and what she was feeling in the situation. she told me a lot about their problems, the things she wanted and didn’t want– even crying a good bit while talking about it. i wont get into the details but it seemed to me like a lot of misunderstanding, self preservation, and of course, anger. i really felt an urge to try to help them, so i asked her if she wanted me to talk to michele again and she said sure. we set the tiramisu in the fridge and she left as michele and i started to cook dinner together. he looked so exhausted and was definitely happy to talk about his feelings. he went on for a long while and i just listened– prompting with a question to understand deeper here and there. we continued talking all the way until we were eating, when maria came in and grabbed a bowl and sat at the table. at first it felt intense, awkward. it was quiet and i wasnt sure exactly what to do at that point– but soon enough i realised i am now officially playing couples therapist. leaning into it, i asked questions like “what makes you the most angry?” and “when do you feel the most connected?” to each of them. i helped them to understand what they want from each other and offered a next step which seemed to make both of them feel lighter. even though it was pretty intense, it was a little fun– cant lie. --- during my trip, ive finally realised that i do have some special ability to connect deeply with almost anyone. im good at listening to what people want and ive learned how good it feels to help. now im definitely not becoming a couples therapist or anything, but this has given me some sense of understanding of one of my purposes in life. so yea, kinda crazy shit. i never know what the day will bring but im chillin about it. nothing else to say other than its still insanely gorgeous here and the food is still phenomenal. yesterday was an eclipse and then during the night i saw the most insane shooting stars and/or meteors ive ever seen in my life– and so many of them, too. everything feels very special. there always a lot add as i remember all the events of the week but this is enough for now. --- i don’t feel like proof reading and i need to just post this so im sorry for any errors. and i will add some photos in photodump fashion. love u ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8048.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8064.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8065.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8085.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8130.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8156.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8190.jpg) ![](https://fable.perfectsky.institute/content/images/2026/08/IMG_8211.png)