Week 21, 2026: King of Spain

There were fireworks on the same night a guy moved into the room across from me. It was the long weekend and people were so happy about it they were lighting up fireworks. We didn’t talk the night he moved into the lodge, or the next night. We didn’t talk until I set the fire alarm on after my shower. I ignored it because this was not the first time and I had come to accept that this was now a part of my post-shower routine. He didn’t know about the post-shower routine though, the guy who moved into the room across from me, so he left his room and started yelling is this real, is this real, is this real down the stairs, to nobody. I opened my bedroom door, clad in a white towel and slightly agitated at the commotion. This is just what happens when you shower, I said. Don't worry about it. Since then, he’s had a shower. So has the guy that moved in downstairs at the end of the week. The fire alarm did not, in fact, go off when they showered. It continues, however, to go off whenever I…