"Stories are a communal currency of humanity."
-Tahir Shah
Lucky 13! Let's keep this train rolling!
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Today's Prompt:
Write about a firefighter who is secretly an arsonist.
Regina's 15 minutes:
The flames licked higher, orange tongues shooting from the 2nd story windows. The head was intense and I hadn’t even gotten out of the truck yet.
“Let’s go, men! Oh, and women...” Chief Tucker’s orange hair shone brightly under his yellow hardhat, already slick to his neck in tight curls of sweat.
“Shut the fuck up, Chief,” Sarah Sable roared from the back of the truck, “This is no time for sham equality.” As normal, she was the first one off the truck, the fastest into her gear, and the first into the fray, wielding her axe like a seasoned murderer with a life long vendetta against all front doors and windows.
“Hold, Sable! Tits or no tits, you don’t go in alone!” I watched Sable turn and flip off the Chief with her oversized fireproof gloves, but she stopped, lowered her axe and waited on the front doorstep, eyes wild as she stared at the flames.
Fuck I wish I had her mindless nerve. I expected it came from being the only woman on a 15 man crew, and the shit she took on the daily for it. I tried not to participate in the hazing, in the snide remarks and dickhead comments, but the boys were a fickle bunch – and you were either with them, or against them, and I couldn’t risk my respect for Sarah stand in the way of team moral. It sucked, but it was life in Station 22.
Of course, it had eased in previous months, as Sarah showed herself to be the baddest mother fucker in the bunch, crazy fearless, with a maniacal bent that made even the toughest of us cower a bit. Plus, the incident with Maloy.
Maloy had filled her locker with dildos and written Dyke on her locker in Sharpie. Sarah had seen it, called him on it, and advanced. He’d denied it, backing into the truck, but Sarah was done. She’d raised her fist and before he could duck started wailing on him with such fury that we were all stunned. She beat him unconscious in a matter of minutes then shoved one of the dildos in his mouth before turning on the rest of us.
“Last time,” she had whispered, blood dripping from her fists – Maloy's blood mixed with her own where one of Maloy’s teeth had cut her skin. I’d never seen anything more terrifying than the look on her face.
She’d been given a week’s suspension, and had still been back on the truck before Maloy got out of the hospital.
Here, in the face of the flames, with the gathering crowd and the hiss and crack of the fire, she looked like an avenging angel, even covered head to foot in 75 lbs. of gear.
I dropped my face shield and ran to her.
“Let’s go!” I shouted through the roar. Behind her mask, I watched her face light up, pupils blown wide. With a roar, she kicked through the front door and we both turned to the side to avoid the first blast of flame and smoke that shot towards us as the fire found a new oxygen source.
Even before the blast had faded, Sarah was racing into the house, and I had to kick into gear to follow her. We cleared the hall, the living room, the kitchen. There was a closet and bathroom on the ground floor, all empty nightmarish versions of their earlier moments, now twisted jokes of themselves cast into hellish relief of the fire.
Sarah turned to me and motioned to the stairs. Her eyes were full of glee, but mine were tight and squinted in fear. I hated the fire. I hated the flames. I just loved to watch them go out, and if it took standing in the midst of them for that last satisfying second when the last ember stopped smoking, I would do it.
Then we were on the stairs, each one a smoldering smoking wreck. I tested each one with a tentative step, but Sarah was already bounding up them, racing ahead and into the bedrooms above. 5 doors.
1 linen closet full of carefully folded sheets and pillowcases that would reek of smoke forever.
1 bathroom pink and dated as my grandmother’s blue rinse.
3 bedrooms. Sarah cleared the first, I cleared the second, checking the closet with rough jerking movements of my arms and gloves, checking the corners carefully. People often hid from fire, like it was a monster in a movie, rather than going outside. Even with years of experience and training, I could understand the urge to get away from the deadly crackle.
I looked under the massive 4 poster bed. Nothing.
“Chase!” My head came up and I squinted through the smoke. Had Sarah called me?
“CHASE, you fuck! Come here!” Definitely called me.
I stood and lumbered in the direction of the 5th and final room. Crossing the threshold my guts went icy and loose. Bunkbeds filled one wall, two tiny desks and piles of books and toys were shoved against the wall.
A high pitched wail snuck past the roar of the flames from downstairs, and stopped my heart. “My babies!” Jesus fuck, don’t let there be dead kids.
“Over here!” Sarah was half hidden in the closet, kneeling and struggling with something limp and ungainly. “There’s two of them in here!” she shouted, her voice preternaturally calm, as she yanked the child into her arms.
I panicked and shut the bedroom door behind me. Like that would keep the fire out of the smoke filled room. Then I headed for the window, and gave it a rough yank. Nothing. The damn thing was painted shut. Fuckers! The carelessness rose in my gullet, making my vision go black. With a roar of frustration I closed my fist and punched a hole in the window, then recovered my senses and pulled the hatchet from my belt. Two good swings and an effort to clear the rest of the pane left us an exit to the outside world. Through the window I could see the boys dragging the ladder from the truck, I waved once, knowing they had already clocked my position and the need.
“Two coming out,” I shouted down to them, and watched my message be relayed back to the truck before turning to Sarah. A child hung limp over her shoulder, her massive glove looking almost comical as it fought to secure the child’s arm and leg over her shoulders.
“Get the other one,” she shouted, shouldering me out of the way and struggling through the window, the small human curled around her like an obscene mink stole.
“I can do this,” I muttered, fighting the urge to run. I can DO this. It wasn’t like last time. It wasn’t going to be like last time...
My legs started forward without my consent, icy sweat dripping down my spine. “I don’t have time to freak out now. I can have a panic attack as soon as I am outside.” I snarled into my collar, then closed my eyes and dove into the closet. Sure enough, there, behind the clothes and a barricade of teddy bears, a small pale face glowed through the smokey air. “Shit,” I murmured as I reached in. “Please don’t be dead. Please!” I shoved the toys out of the way and closed my hands around her tiny arms, tugging her forward, she sagged into my arms like a sack of water and I almost screamed. Panic clouded my vision and I stopped breathing. “Not the time, Chase!” My training, all those years of facing my fears took over. I stood, clutching her to my chest. Then I was out the window, down the ladder and handing the limp body over to someone on the front yard.
Then I turned my back on the scene as they checked the children’s vitals and started CPR. I dropped my helmet and tanks on the lawn, stripped of my protective layers around my face and head, rounded the corner of the burning building and threw up in a bush.
***
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See you tomorrow!
With Love,
Snow White and the Wicked Curse: Chapter 1
Snow White and the Vicious Curse: Chapter 2
Snow White and the Seven Thieves: Chapter 3
The final chapter, Snow White and the Poisoned Apple.
Prefer to read the whole story at once? Grab your copy of Snow: The Complete Erotic Series now! All five books available now in ebook and paperback.
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With Love,
Check out her books:
Snow White and the Wicked Queen: Chapter 1
Snow White and the Vicious Curse: Chapter 2
Snow White and the Seven Thieves: Chapter 3
Snow White and the Poisoned Apple: The Final Chapter
Prefer to read the whole story at once? Grab your copy of Snow: The Complete Erotic Series now! All five books are available now as ebooks and paperbacks. Coming soon in Large Print format!
2nd edition coming 2025!
