“Birthday Fire”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Apparently, my birthday just seems to bring bad luck and a large amount of uncontrollable fire.

“Toby!” Jake shouts before collapsing into a fit of coughs. “Toby, are you still in there?!”

With a sigh, I reply, “Yeah, I’m here.”

Jake emerges from the smoke, one arm over his face while the other extinguishes burning pieces of furniture with Water Reactions. “Dude, what are you doing?’

“Thinking.”

“In the middle of a fire?!”

I look around and shrug. “Seemed as good a place as any.”

Jake sighs and sits down next to me. Without his constant Water Reactions, the fire burns even brighter around us. The heat hasn’t gotten uncomfortable yet; it’s more like a little tickle right now.

“Okay, what are you thinking about?” Jake asks.

My chin drops onto my knees. “It’s my first birthday without him,” I whisper. “And then this happened again.”

“You’re not seriously saying that this is your fault, are you?”

“Well why not? It was my birthday all those years ago, just like it’s my birthday today. There was a fire then and there’s a fire now. All that’s left is for me to find out who I hurt this time.”

Final Comments: This section is actually related quite closely to an idea I’m probably going to use in the real novel. Actually, I might even rewrite this part to use…

Overall Rating: 😏