The Falling Angel of Fire - Part 1

“What's up, Girl? How come a beautiful woman like you look so sad?"

 

" C'mon, beautiful! Don't be sad! Cheer up and smile! I love it when you smile."

"Oh, you want me to make you smile again? You can bet on it. You will be smiling again in no time."

"Ugh, at second thought, I think this is not going to work between us."

"I'm sorry, Cleo."

 

"According to the book you should have a melancholic face." 


He gripped the hammer and swung it like a pro. He had been practicing his sculpture skill by then, and he hadn't gone insane yet or in desperate loneliness. He was only getting excited in completing the project, especially on his day offs. It was a very enjoyable thing to do, particularly to release his stress from doing his duties as a fireman besides hanging out with his team and, of course, being with his wife.  He started doing this new hobby when he and Lila took a short trip to an exotic island. Since then, he fell in love with this new hobby.


Despite the fact that his sculpting skill has been progressing so well, and he could easily make a statue,  would he be able to make a beautiful masterpiece, the one which would be appreciated for all time? He still had not able to make one with high standard of quality, even after he had finished making a head sculpture of the Egyptian princess which had a very high complexity. 


Yet, he smiled a lot in the process, running his fingers into the clay, feeling the shape he had pictured inside his head and carefully formed the muddy soil into a work of art. He decided to make a small one. Maybe, by putting all of his effort  to a smaller size, he could display the artwork at The Louvre and get the attentions of Art Critics. 


"Honey!" a  voice of a woman soon meddled in his mind, right in the middle of it. His open palms quickly clenched and, by doing so, his nails made a scratch on the clay. He stood up, walking to source of the sound, greeting her with a soft kiss upon her lips.

"You're home,  angel."

Theme Song: "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars

***

In the morning, noises in the kitchen disrupted him from his amazing dream. He got up from the bed and stared straight to the kitchen which was a few feet away from the bed. He and his wife were still living in modesty. Most people would find it not nice or comfortable, but, he and his wife loved the place. They called it simplicity, simply practical, and they simply didn't need anything else at that time. Not, when there were only two of them around, and they spent most of their time at the firehouse. Still, he took a note to re-paint the walls on the weekend.

He smiled, seeing her -- the woman of his dreams-- standing behind the counters with a knife in her right hand and fresh vegetables in her left hand. Undeniably, she was the greatest gift from heaven,  the one that  made him fell to sleep at 2 a.m beside of fire. 


*** 

"What are you making, love?"
"Autumn Salad."
"Are those organic cranberries that you've bought from the market yesterday?" He opened the refrigerator and  grabbed a bottle of milk.
"Yes. I got a discount. Fifty percents." Her eyes twinkled, as  it was a small victory.
By that time, he had finished drinking the milk and his mouth had already begun to chew a stolen carrot from the cutting board. He tried to take another one, but her hands stopped him from reaching it. "You may eat after it served."

Being unsuccessful, he waited, staring at her while smiling, but after the minute hand ticked for the forty  times, he could not stand it anymore.

"Come here!" He pulled her body onto his chest - -so fast that she wasn't aware of it. Of course after she put down the knife, or it might have already stabbed him in the stomach.

"...I haven't finished cooking." 

"It can wait. I'm not that hungry. Even if I were  hungry,  this would make me forget about it."  

"Oh right? Like you can stand not to eat the whole day? And what about me?" She rolled her  eyes, still hasn't tried to freed herself from him either.

"I will cook for you as the replacement. I love you, gorgeous. Until now, how many times I've said it? I love you..." He kissed her on her forehead.

"I need you." He kissed her lips.

"I want you." Then down to her neck.

LIAM - The Winter Dreams

"Sometimes, it doesn't need an army to fight, one warm and sincere hug will also bring us to victory. And that victory will be for all."
 ----------------------------------------

“Liam, Liam dear, wake up, honey! Shouldn’t you go to school now?” asked Catherine.

“Just a few minutes more, mom.” answered Liam with a sigh, still closing his eyes even though the clock had made its sound for the eighth time.

 

“Come on, Liam or you're going to be late.” said Catherine as she shook Liam’s arm gently.



Liam finally got up and sat on the side of the bed. 

“Mom, I'm not feeling well. Can I stay at home?”

“Oh, honey, are you sick?” Catherine placed her palm on Liam’s forehead to check his temperature. Strangely though, it was still normal.

“It's my stomach, Mom. It's been the third time I went to the bathroom.”

“Oh honey, in that case you should be staying at home. But, I'm just wondering, maybe the pain  was being caused by something else?” 

“Like what, Mom?”

“Like...  maybe because you're afraid that your friends are going to tease you again,  dear?"

Liam turned silent.  He could not hide his feelings from his mother, but there was something else bothering his mind. 

“Honey, it's okay to be afraid and there's nothing wrong to be different from others. You should not be ashamed of it.” 

“Eh...no, Mom. Really. It's my stomach.”

"Well, okay then. But if you need to talk to me... mom is here, dear."

 

In the afternoon, Liam's friend, Chrystal, came to visit him. She brought him notes from the lessons that day .

“Geez, Chris thanks! I didn't even ask you." 

“It's not a big deal, Liam. I would want you to do the same for me too if I got sick. Why didn't you go to school today? Ms. Alice asked about you. There was no one else in the class  who dared to answer her questions. The class really bored us to death.” 

“It's my stomach.”

"Oh, are you feeling okay now?"

"Yeah."

“It's good then. Hey, have you heard?" Chrystal's said after a short pause, being so enthusiastic to the words she was about to say . "Rick is getting a punishment today."

“Really?” 

“Yeah.  He's such a teaser. I think you shouldn't have listened to everything Rick had said. I think you look cool with your blue skin.  Mine is a bit red. It'll become red like a lobster if the sun burn it. But, no matter what color my skin is,  mom said that if I don't like it then no one will. ”

Liam smiled. She was right, but then again the reason for him being not so enthusiastic in anything that day wasn't about that  matter.

“Hey, my color even makes me cuter, see?” Chrystal pressed both of her index fingers on her cheek and made funny faces in front of him.

Liam laughed. 

"Liam, why don't you show me that trick of yours again? I want to see it ." 

"Okay. As long as you will not tell them to our friends, Chris."

"Promise. Cross my heart."


They both jumped off the bed and hurled to the living room.  Liam opened his hands, concentrating on what he was about to do. 

"Why there's nothing happening now?" 

"You must close your eyes. Believe it, and say  'I believe in miracles' three times. "

"Okay!" Chrystal closed her eyes and said "I believe in miracles." three times. And suddenly: 



beautiful and glowing butterflies came out of Liam's palms. 


 

"Whoaa." Chrystal barely able to shut her mouth -- being mesmerized  to seeing all the colorful butterflies flying  around in the living room.

"Wow. You're the greatest magician I ever met."  

“Thanks." Liam chuckled. "Hey, let’s do our homeworks now!”

“Huh," Chrystal sighed. "Why wouldn't Mrs. Alice  give us easier questions than these?” 
Chrystal moaned as she sat in a chair outside Liam's house  to do their homework together.

“C’mon. I’ll teach you, Chris.” said Liam.

Chrystal's face turned brighter, but then she sighed again . “Can’t you believe it that I got a C minus today? My dad is going to kill me!”

Liam chuckled. "No. He wouldn't.  He may be angry, but… I would do anything to be with my father now, even if that means to see him being angry at me. “

“Oh, he hasn’t home yet?” 

 Liam nodded.

“Wow, that’s a really long business trip!”

“He-he… Yeah it is....” Liam pursed his lips.  There's nothing else he wished for, but to seeing his father and to hug him close. 

The Love of a Firefighter End of Chapter Part 5 - Eva - To Fix What Has Already Been Broken

We sat on a bench at the Esplanade that morning. It had been several weeks passed since our last meeting. Lots of things had changed since then, but I had not heard any news or clues about her at first. She looked a bit calm than the night she came to me. I couldn't even see the trace of tears on her cheek. 

She took a deep breath while gazing at the lake in front of us. I could hear it stuck in her throat as she cleared it off before finally spoke.

"It seems everything is going well between you and Lila."

"Pretty much." I answered. I was going to say: "It's been great." but not upon noticing the look on her face.

The Love of a Firefighter End of Chapter Part 4 - Finally

Finally....

After all the crazy thoughts, troubles she's been through, thinking that she has gone; finally, we made our vow. I love her, and there's no one else I wanted to become my wife and the mother of my children.
I promised to cherish her all my life. Together we will build our dreams.

The Love of a Firefighter End of Chapter Part 3 - Closer than Ever

"Dave! Where have you....?"
"been... I know, Manne, where is she? Where's Lila? Have you seen her? Do you know where she is? Tell me, Manne!"
 "Whoa Dave, slow down, will ya? We've been trying to contact you and..."
"My cell phone was dead. There was a fire at a factory and Lila was taken into the hospital. Manne, where is she? Is she okay? I must find her."
Before she could answer my questions, a man who escorted me into the morgue had come to me and said:
"Sir, you left this at the morgue. Again, I would like to say  I'm glad that she's not your friend. Have you found her?" he said, handing me my helmet.
"Morgue? Dave? You tried to find her at the morgue?" asked Manne.
"It was a long story. It wasn't her. Have you seen her? Tell me! She's alive, right?"
"I'm.... Dave, I'm sorry... ." Manne looked at me with a pitiful face.
"What?! It couldn't be. She's - she's not in the morgue. She's...."