Flames and Anniversary

Her head laid on his chest, listening to his regular heartbeat softly thud against her right ear, she felt his warm and cool breath on her forehead as he inhaled and exhaled. The scent of his sweet cologne clogged her nostrils and his gentle hands delicately ran through the loose curls of her sandy blond hair. The moment was tranquil.

“Can you believe it’s our second wedding anniversary tomorrow?” his voice was low and raspy, but joy stalled within.

“mhm,” she had said, her eyelids heavy with sleep as she struggled to keep them open. Silence lingered in the room as she felt her head being lifted and dropped by his heaving chest.

“Serenity,” he called her name. She loved the way her name sounded between his lips. It was thick but sweet, it was also soft, almost like honey.

“yeah,” she replied, her voice blatantly exposing her exhaustion,  

“You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me. From the day I met you to this very moment. Never have I ever regretted anything about our relationship.”

She lightly chuckled, her voice flat and tiered “Me too Carson, me too.”

“I love you Serenity,” his tone gentle and tender but he didn’t receive a reply. Serenity had given into her exhaustion, her snores light and airy. “Goodnight bubba, sleep tight.” He placed a small but tender kiss on her forehead before he closed his eyes. Soon they were both fast asleep, their snores disintegrating into the night.

                                    *3 Hours Later*

The heartbeat which originally pounded against her ear gently had been replaced with shrill and violent whines of alarms, and her cologne clogged nostrils now perceived the smell of the thick, choking smoke. Serenity jumped of the bed and ran to the left-hand side where Carson slept, oblivious to the chaos that unfolded around him. She gripped firmly onto his shoulder and began to shake; each jolt carried more aggression than the previous one.

“Carson wake up, somethings burning!”

‘Wh-whats going on,” Carson slurred, fatigue hidden in every word he spoke.

“I don’t know Carson, but the alarms are on and I smell smoke.”

Carson was now wide awake and aware of the situation at hand, “Call the Fire Department,” he yelled as he ran over to the glass doors situated on the right-hand side of the bedroom. He opened the curtains only to be greeted with the glow of orange flames which devoured the grass of their property, “Holy Crap!”

“Carson what is it!” The fear lingering in her voice was clear.

“Serenity please, it’s ok, just call the Fire Department.” Though unconvinced of his reassurance, Serenity unplugged Carson’s phone which laid askew on the nightstand. The light which emitted from the phone was so bright that it pained her eyes and shifted her vision out of focus for a few seconds. Once she had stabilised her vision, she clicked the small button in the bottom centre of the phone labelled “Emergency Calls” and listened as the phone rang the fire department. She soon was assured that help was on its way.

“Serenity you need to jump,” His back was turned on her.

“What!”

“I said you need to jump,”

“I heard what you said,”

“Then come over here and I’ll help you jump down.”

“Carson I’m not jumping. We live in a two-story house and from here to the floor is a solid 9 meter. Carson, I’m not going to leave you here, and plus the fire department is on their way.” Carson still had his back turned on her, unwilling to look.

“Serenity! This isn’t about whether you want to leave me or not. The whole of the bottom floor is probably covered in flames and beginning to make its way up the stairs.”

“Carson –”

“Serenity Please! Just trust me, I’m begging. We don’t even know if the fire department will make it here before it’s too late.”

He turned to look at her, the glow of the flames through the glass illuminated the shed tears which trickled down her weary face. Carson signalled with his hand for her to come, which she did. He wrapped his arms around her as she wrapped her arms around his waist, her face buried in his chest. He stroked her hair the same way he had done that evening before she had fallen asleep.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry, but-“ he paused and staired into their dim bedroom, alarms still screeching above their heads, “please Serenity, you need to trust me, I don’t want to see you get hurt, not today – not ever.” She nodded into his chest before pulling away and giving a faint smile.

Carson pulled open the glass doors which lead to the balcony while Serenity lined up multiple buckets filled with water from the shower on the balcony, next to Carson. One by one Carson tipped the buckets filled with water over the balcony onto the fire, each bucket made the flames die down until there was a clear way in the sea of flames.

“Are you ready Serenity?” Carson asked, she nodded with confidence, she was ready. “Ok, we need to hurry up before the flames devour the clear way. Remember don’t land solid on your feet, that’s going to possibly break your legs,” she nodded once more, the adrenaline was pumping through her. As Carson held her over the balcony, she braced herself for the fall. As he let go, she began falling, instead of lading on her feet once she hit the ground, she rolled on her side through the dampened grass and onto the concreate sidewalk. She quickly stood up; a pain shot through her shoulder but she was unbothered.

“Carson, I made it down!” she yelled to the balcony

“Woohoo! Now grab the hose and put out as much fire as you can so I can jump!”

“Ok!”

As Serenity ran to grab the hose the cries of fire trucks rang out on the street. When she arrived at the garden the flames had already devoured the flowers and the hose which sat coiled up on the soil. Fear began to grip her but she was soon released when she saw the water squirt out of the fireman’s hose. As she ran to him, she gripped her throbbing shoulder.

“Sir, my husband is up there,” she pointed to the balcony where Carson stood – “Carson hold on they’re coming to help you!”

“Serenity hurry up please! The flames have eaten through the door,” Carson’s voice was frantic and fear ridden. Serenity turned to face the fireman once again, her voice was pleading “Sir please, you need to help him, the fire is already in the room,”

“Yes ma’am, we will, we just need to clear the fire obstructing the path so we can reach him,”

“Serenity hurry up, the fire is growing!” desperation penetrated through Carson’s voice, Serenity turned back to the fireman, her eyes pleading, her thoughts scattered and her voice shaking,

“Sir please, just get him, there is fire in the room already.”

Annoyance and irritation grew in the fireman’s tone, “Ma’am we will get him out we just need – “

“Ahh! Don’t you get it, HES SURROUNDED BY FLAMES!”

“Ma’am you need to stand back and let us do our job,” the fire man moved away and fought the fire from a different angle.

Serenity was no longer fearful or scared, instead she was angry, she felt her blood boil as her rage grew. All she wanted was for her husband to be brought to safety, why couldn’t that fireman understand that. She stormed off to the front of the house where two other firefighters were, they had already tamed some of the blaze which roared on the bottom floor, the only thing left was water and blackened ash. Everything was burnt, their TV and portraits, none of it concerned Serenity, she just wanted her husband.

Without hesitation she ran into the house, her shoulder screamed with pain.

“Ma’am you can’t be in the house,” a woman called

“The fire is still burning on the top floor,” a man called, she didn’t care, she just wanted Carson.

As she turned the corner, she saw the fire had completely enclosed the door frame of the bedroom, “Carson, can you hear me,” her voice travelled through the flames,

“Serenity! What are you doing up here? Please go down, its unsafe,” Serenity could here the concern and relief in Carson’s voice.

“No, I’m getting you out of here,” she shouted before running back down the stairs to the laundry room

“Serenity!” Carson called her, but she didn’t listen, she was already gone.

As Serenity filled up a bucket of water, she could hear the firefighters telling her to leave the house, she didn’t listen. As she carried the water, she felt the pain in her should escalate, but none of it mattered, all that mattered was getting Carson out.

As she poured the water on the flames they defused, until she could finally see his face

“Carson,” she called

“Serenity!” joy lit up Carson’s eyes when he saw her,

“Come on we need to leave, there is still fire burning, we don’t want to be caught in the midst of it.” Carson nodded and followed in Serenity’s footsteps. He stepped out of the room, dogging the flames which still burnet on the perimeter of the door. He then carefully walked through the puddles of water which had pooled on the floor and down the stairs before they both ran through their destroyed bottom floor.

They both collapsed on grass drenched with water, their chest heaving as they let go of the fear which once gripped them and attempted to catch their breath. As the day dawned the sky was exquisitely tranquil and beautiful. As they laid there on the floor, their hair and clothes dampened and cold, he turned to face her and smiled,

“happy 2 years anniversary” he said. She smiled back softly and opened her mouth to speak,

“An anniversary that will forever go down in history.”