Imploration

Sharing your love with the fire-

 I implore you to come back to me.

Run into the fire if only to leave a trail of ashes behind you, coating our white sheets in a passion God himself couldn’t drag you away from. Call me command, check into your post, and when the day is done and the glow of the flames dissipate, let your rehab be my lips. I won’t ask you to leave the fire, and I won’t ask you to treat my burns, I only ask that when your heart goes up in flames, you let our love burn with it.

You will be the hero who slays the fiery dragon, in the storybooks I read to our child. The knight, who saved the princess. The sword that remains unbreakable. Through the evenings when your body is occupying the space that fire should be, I will materialize a man into the mind of our son to the point where if he closes his eyes, he’ll be able to imagine you sitting right there next to him. I only plead that you let this story have the happiest of endings.

On the nights when your plate sits cold and untouched at the table, for the nightmares you aren’t there to shake me from, and during the hospital visits you can’t make it to, I promise to never hold that against you. I only ask that you still hold out your hand when you hear our song on the radio, and we dance in the kitchen. I ask that you have ‘band’ rehearsals with our son when he’s convinced he wants to be a drummer. I ask that when the tones drop in the morning and you have to peel yourself away from my body, that you give me a gentle kiss before putting on your cape and mask. I don’t need you here for the big moments, you live through them everyday, I want you here for the small ones. The ones that you do out of habit, the moments that bring a smile to your face years after I’ve gone. The ones our son remembers with a smile instead of tears. My darling, I only want as much time as you can give me.

I implore you to come back to me and this moment. That’s all I ask.

Author's Note

One of the hardest things in this business is to remain in a relationship when at the drop of a tone we might have to go. Our jobs aren't safe but everyone needs a home to come back to. It's not easy to love a first responder, but here is a perfect world in which someone does.

Reviews

[Lorenzo]

Very well written. I can see the supportive wife and the firefighters son who looks up to his dad as a super hero