They listened as a river of incandescent margarine ignited fuel tanks and burst the tires of abandoned vehicles.
This may be the most evocative sentence I've read this year.
This may be the most evocative sentence I've read this year.
incandescent margarine ,{{ ignited fuel tanks and burst the tires }} of abandoned vehicles
> Me too!
The agent: "river of incandescent margarine".
What it did: "ignited fuel tanks and burst the tires"
What it did it to: "abandoned vehicles"
I do find "incandescent" hard to imagine. Because it's just fat, and it'll carbonize before becoming incandescent. Maybe "flaming margarine" or something. Also, "listened" indicated that they heard, but didn't see.
It doesn't really need punctuation. But maybe this would be clearer:
They listened as a river of incandescent margarine ignited the fuel tanks, and burst the tires, of abandoned vehicles.
Or maybe:
They listened as a river of incandescent margarine engulfed abandoned vehicles, igniting fuel tanks and bursting tires.