Silent Flames

They were together at last. After an eternity of searching, his hand found hers. Amidst the strange and utterly bewildering land, his heart was finally in touch with hers once more.

It was three years ago when they met, three years ago when his dark brown eyes met her light green. Three years ago when they hated each other.

Everything he did she despised. Everything she did annoyed him. He would go to sleep every night cursing her name, wishing she would die, hoping that the next day she would be gone from the world. She would lie down and scream silently at him, imagining herself killing him slowly and painfully. They never hated anyone like that.

But with each arising sun, her face never ceased to show, his face never missed a chance to glare. Each and every day they would still see each other, still cringe at the looks of the other’s faces, still curl their fingers into a fist as they walked by each other. It was as if the gods had unleashed a silent hell on them.

They were still there in each other lives, the wound that would not heal.

So they waited and suffered.

Then one day something happened. An accident. A torched house. A collapsed staircase. No way out of the second floor. The fire trucks had their hoses trained on the inferno, but it was as if they were putting out the flames with gasoline. The devil’s vengeance reigned down upon the once humble little abode with no mercy.

And he, not knowing who resided within the fireball, and relying on his deftness as well as stubborn stupidity, decided to climb the adjacent oak tree. In no time, he went in, grabbed someone, and jumped back out onto the tree branch just as the house collapsed in its final dying twitches.

It was a silent night. Not even the screeching sirens could pierce the quiet. Snow fell from post apocalyptic skies as he reached the ground, carrying the limp body of a woman covered with ash. The paramedics were quick as they reached out, putting on the respirator mask, strapping her to the ambulance and flying down the road towards the hospital.

And as his eyes left the disappearing ambulance, he felt something warm in envelop his body, as if someone was hugging him. He felt an invisible force hold his hand soothingly. He smelled a delicious scent that tickled his nose playfully. His lips drew apart in a slight smile.

As the sun set a few weeks later, he was walking by the charred remains when he noticed a woman there wrapped in a cloak, staring at the burnt wood. He strode up to her and stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed, saying how he saw it all go down. He went on to describe the entire scene, leaving out only the part where he jumped in and saved someone’s life. He didn’t need that attention.

The woman was silent as they both stared ahead. A cold breath of wintry wind ruffled her cloak and his long messy hair. It seemed like an eternity before she replied with a quiet thank you. He raised his eyebrow and turned to look at the stranger but could not see her eyes. He asked what she was thankful for.

She took a deep breath in and exhaled, watching her own breath float into the brisk night, and walked away. He looked on as her figure disappeared into the twilight. With a shrug, he turned around and went home. His hands never left his pockets.

The next week, he was at the local grocery store looking through the basket of apples when one unexpectedly dropped onto the floor. Cursing to himself, he bent down to pick it up when his hand met something unexpected. Looking down, he realized someone else had their hand on the apple, a hand warm and soft.

He immediately straightened up and cleared his throat, apologizing. Shifting his eyes to the figure’s eyes, his pupils contracted in shock. He knew those light green eyes. He knew from years of hatred and hell, from all the years of suffering and annoyance.

Yet this feeling was now different, morphed and shaped into something on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. The hate that was once there had dissipated for some unknown reason. The fire in his heart was now burning very differently. The same warmth came back from when he saved that woman a few weeks ago.

She was different now, something had changed. He had no idea that she was the woman that he had rescued, that she owed her life to.

But she did. She knew all along. As his hand touched hers, a flash back of that night when she stood in front of her ruined house and he joined him. Before then, the doctors had only said a mysterious ‘someone’ had pulled her out of the wreckage. No name was ever mentioned. However as the wind blew his scent into her nostrils, she instantly knew. Her heart was confused, for how could he ever save her when he hated her so much?

As she looked into his eyes now, her heart knew the answer.

The fire raged now, with more fervor than ever. As the flames consumed everything in their path, his hand was tight on hers, pulling her through the falling debris. They ran hand in hand as fast as they could, trying to get out. As he reached for the front door, an explosion rattled the night sky, hurling both of them through the living room window into the grassy lawn. Shards of glass as well as burning timber and blocks of cinder rained down upon them, littering the once green with broken rubble.

He breathe a sigh of relief as he felt the wind lick as his sweat. His hand gave hers a tight squeeze of hope.

She did not respond.

In alarm, he whipped over and saw her beautiful face covered in soot. A panic rose from within him as he wiped the ash off of her cheeks and eyes. Slowly, they began to open.

Hey… she whispered weakly.

Hey you… he replied, holding her in his arms. The burning house was now forgotten, a shadow in the darkness behind him. Nothing else mattered now as this panic reached his heart.

We made it…

Yea… didn’t I tell you we would?

She paused, closing her eyes for a moment, then continued… We should go get ice cream some time…

His brow furled in concern. He looked her in the eyes as she continued… I love it when you get a brain freeze…

Hey… he said, the panic now rising to his throat… hey it’s me…

I know silly… I know it’s you…

Don’t worry… you’ll be fine…

Her hand reached up, trembling, and wrapped around his neck… kiss me…

With a small smile, he softly pressed his lips upon hers. He felt that same feeling from before, the same warmth, the same butterflies in his heart, and the same smile spread across his face.

His lips were the most delicious things she had ever tasted. Her mind wandered back to that day in the super market, how when his hand touched hers she cringed in terror. Then she looked back upon the day of the first fire. She knew it was him all along that had pulled her out of the wreckage. She knew that she had hated him, but on that day, something else developed, something most peculiar. And now, she regretted every vengeful thought she had ever had about him. She regretted not giving him the chance sooner. She regretted not telling him each and every day just how much she loved him.

Her lips were just perfect as they melded together. Her breath was sweet like strawberries as she kissed him back. Her blonde hair glowed radiantly against the flames behind them. She shook and he held her tighter, trying to keep her warm against his body. A tear formed and rolled down her cheek, parting away a line of ash. The droplet lingered on her chin for a moment, then fell to the grass and becoming one with the earth. He caressed her hair as they kissed, never wanting to let go, never wanting to separate.

But their lips parted and the warmth was gone.

I have to tell you something…

What is it sweetheart…

It’s very important…

I’m listening…

I…

He was silent.

I… lo…

She was silent.