Things We Lost in the Fire
They sat there staring at the smoldering pile of what used to be their home. It was gone, nothing by ash was left behind and they didn't know what to do. Everything was gone, everything that had been sitting on the shelves, everything in the cupboards, in the fancy case she'd bought at an antique shop. It was all gone. Everything had been eaten up by the flames.
The fire department told them to make a list of everything they'd lost, everything they could remember for the insurance company. They sat down in the grass, still wet from the water that had been sprayed on the house. She held the notebook in her hand, the pen in the other, writing down everything he told her. There was the obvious things, the tableware, the electronics, the furniture, but as he rambled off things he realized that they were sentimental things in there too. Things they couldn't get back ever.
Like the ticket stubs from their first date that she'd saved. He'd taken her to see some stupid romantic comedy and half way through she'd suggested they go see the new Marvel movie that was out. That was the first sign that she'd been perfect for him. Her diaries were gone too. Six of them that she'd kept over the years, filling one up and staring another. He'd sat down one day and read all of them. He'd been lonely, missing her. She'd been out on a business trip and that had been the closest he could get to her, curled up with her pillow that smelt like her, reading her diaries. He knew everything that had been in them. Knew every story, but the way she had written them made them feel new.
They were never going to be the same again. He started to realize that they had caused this fire. This fire hadn't just burnt the house down. It had burnt down the walls they'd put up to keep the other out. He was the match and she'd been the rock that sparked the flame. As they climbed into a cab to head to the hotel for the night he pulled her close and held her, kissing her hair that smelt like smoke. They would never be the same again, but they'd be better. They had their lives, they had each other, and he was going to spend every day making sure she knew how much she was loved, how much he needed her. Things were going to get better.