Today is much like my usual day after the fire. I’m dressed and cared for by my new aid Angelica, and I’m rolled to school in my wheelchair. I still try to grasp at the straws of my previous life before the accident, but I know it’s a lost cause. The same thing happens as usual. Angelica does everything, and I wait to arrive at school.

Whenever we arrive Angelica gets me out of the car. I thank her as she strolls me around the school, and Luke walks up to me to say, ”Hey buddy, how’re you doing?”.

I’m long past getting angry at the slightly derogatory tone he approaches me with. 

So I respond with, “I’m just thinking about ordering my underling to go and run laps, or work in the salt mines while I’m in class.” Thick sarcasm is in my voice as I move my face slightly to the direction of Angelica.

“Not again sir!” Angelica claims in mock horror.

“I don’t have a choice Angelica. Think about the lack of salt people are allowed to have around me! Why, I’d say they feel like if they utter the smallest complaint, or show even a slight bit of anger around me it would warrant their utter annihilation. Salt’s important! I don’t wanna die because of a lack of sodium do I?” I say with a thick crackling laugh that I’ve had since the accident.

“Of course not Braxton, God forbid you be put in such a perilous situation,” Luke says with thick sympathy and a slightly humorous attitude.

The usual dialogue has somehow been reignited between me and Luke after the fire, and it’s become incredibly important to me. My heart overflows with warmth unlike ever before during these everyday events since the fire, and somehow I find it in me to be thankful for the fire that has almost taken my life.

After class is over, Kinslee takes me on our usual walk. She opens the doors to the school, and as we get closer to the park she says,  "I can't really put a nail on it, but it seems odd. You seem happier now."

"I think I am. It’s easy to once you get enough perspective." I say while coughing.

"How did the fire even start? I never asked that did I..." Kinslee says while looking downwards and gripping her bag.

"Nobody knows. The police told me it looks like a fire was started by some kind of radiation. Nobody knows where it came from...Really mysterious..." I say while reminiscing about it.

The funniest part about the whole situation is that I’m nowhere near as bothered by my new look as everybody else. I have vast amounts of experience with dealing with a failing body. So this is nothing new. It’s just more severe than before, but Since I'm already trapped in my head what difference does having a hideous head really make?

These thoughts dance in my head as I hear, "BRAXTON! Are you there?"

I snap out of it and see Kinslee leaning over my chair gently grabbing my face.

"Careful love! Not in public!" I say while somehow cracking a smile.

Kinslee turns bright red and pretends to pull out her hair while saying, "You are an absolute idiot. Here I think you're going into a coma, and bam! I'm the pervert."

"I can always find a way to turn it on you Kinslee. Or maybe it’s just you can never turn it on me?" I ask while teasing her.

"Haha, or maybe. I'm just not as easily entertained. Larger brain and all." She says while lightly tapping the top of my head.

"Careful! You know what they say about playing with fire? and imagine if you knocked this gigantic head off its shoulders. If the bigger they are the harder they fall holds true, then we both want to keep it steady." I say while rolling my eyes.

"Haha, At least the world knows you're smart now..." Kinslee says.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"I like to think the worlds always subconsciously known how smart I was. Waking up to it can take awhile is all. "I respond while trailing off.

“So what are you going to do now? Graduating so early, seems like you’ll be bored.” Kinslee says while playing with a flower in her hand.

“Working on world domination. The first step is to conquer a university called….Anton.” I say while waiting for a response.

“...That’s great! I...I can’t go there because they don’t have any athletic teams...”She says while slowly looking down as we get very close to our usual spot on the lake.

“They have the best architectural school in the entire country!”I say.

“Ugh. You really want me to feel terrible about it huh?” she says while sitting on a bench next to me.

“Terrible?...Excited? They can be closely related emotions...I want to take you there with me. I have the money.” I say.

A cloud gently floats across the sun. A large shade covers us during the otherwise sunny day. I hear the bird chirp as she responds with now familiar warmth, “You are the kindest person I have ever met...I just don’t get it. Why would you want to do that for me? I’m just a normal girl, you could talk to anybody. Do that for anybody. I can already go to almost any college I want, why help me?”

A breeze passes through. Treetops sway with god’s loving breath. Ripples pass across the lake, and the sun is revealed. The lake reflects ethereal wisps of light onto her face. I wait for the moment to set in before I reply.

“I love you.”

She stares at the lake with a light smile. Her happiness might be greater if the fact was not already known. She might leap for joy, or even cry. Now she just looks like her life had been filled to the brim, and now she’s trying to hold it as tightly as possible. As if this memory could disappear at any moment.

“You know I doubt anybody feels as happy around somebody else as I do around you.”She says while clutching her chest.

I snicker and reply, “Is it like sitting around a campfire? Maybe reading in front of a fireplace?”

She looks shocked and entertained at the same time when she says, “It’s true! and don’t say that. Even if you're strong enough to get over it, not everybody else is. Superman is only super because not everybody else is….How do you do it?” She asks with some almost mystical haze covering her eyes. Like she’s looking at something that just doesn’t make sense.

“Do what?” I say with a slight amount of genuine confusion.

“Remain so human, after so many terrible things have happened to you.”

“....I just think...Well...If we all let the terrible things that life throws at us define us...We end life defeated by it.”

She opens her eyes as though solving an ancient mystery. Like a mathematician finally cracking the code after 5 years of hard work. 

She replies, ”Yeah….I think I’ll take you up on that offer. Besides...You’re the one who always says doing the hard thing is what makes you happy. ”

After that she softly places her hand over mine. She dances her fingers softly on my completely numb hand. We stay like that for a few more minutes. She leaves for practice. The national track meet she is practicing for will almost assuredly be dominated by the girl. I laugh as I think how lucky I am to have met someone who understands my soul.

Afterwards, Angelica comes to pick me up and I am brought back home. Sleep embraces me while I think about how the anguish of the fire somehow creates as much as it destroys.